Letter From The Editors: September
By Alex Ramos & Birdy Francis
Dear Sunstroke Community,
We missed you! It’s been a summer chock full of reflection, deconstruction and decolonization for us here at Sunstroke. We hope it has been for you all, as well. We’re happy to announce our return today. Our webzine is up and running again, and this time around, things will be different.
Prompted by personal conversations and the larger movement for black lives, we decided it was time to take Sunstroke apart, piece-by-piece, and build it back together with a new set of goals and standards. In order to truly live up to what we’ve been promising—an inclusive space—we had to deconstruct Sunstroke. We’re veering away from purely being a teenage DIY art zine, to becoming a creative community, home for advocacy and guide for and about GEN Z. It’s a massive undertaking, but Sunstroke thrives on tension— between the personal and professional; realism and imagination; the pull of raw nostalgia and push of futuristic forward momentum.
In addition to the overhaul of our goals, themes, and vision, there were major changes in our staffing (peep our new page: This is Gen Z) and website (courtesy of Lukita Maxwell). From now on, we’ll be primarily working within our team of editors, writers and artists. Despite this, submissions will remain open to the public. You can learn how and what to submit here.
We also opened up the Editor-in-Chief position to a be a two-person project. Working alongside Sunstroke Founder, Birdy Francis, is Oakland-based artist and writer, Alex Ramos. You can learn more about Alex this Friday, during their day-long takeover of our Instagram.
Sunstroke’s deconstruction is an ongoing project; nothing can change overnight, but we’re in it for the long haul.
– B + A
Birdy: May I just say: Alex has been everything both myself and Sunstroke have needed and more. This summer was filled with constant messaging back and forth and brainstorming WHAT SUNSTROKE IS.
Summer really flew by, especially because it was unlike any summer I had lived before. I stayed pretty much indoors the entire time, worked hour to hour in front of a screen both for my University job and our Sunstroke deconstruction, and watched a whole lot of Love Island tipsy in my bedroom. If that doesn’t scream the outcome of a college girl’s self-isolation journey, I don’t know what will. Ultimately, I spent a lot of time sitting alone with my own thoughts, as well as growing my obsession with TikTok. I encourage you all to continue with your quarantining. The pandemic still exists! Continue to utilize this time for self-reflection, in any and every way. Do you guys have a Quarantine Journal too? Use it.
Alex: To be real, it was hard to look forward to summer vacation. I held onto a smidgen of hope that, after four months, and by the time August began, the world would be “normal” again. Instead of celebrating in the spirit of my Leo sun—in style, breakfast at Zazie, spending the day at a museum—I stayed in with my curtains closed. The night I turned 23, lightning stormed throughout the Bay Area and fires spread across California. I was stuck waiting out a heatwave with no AC, while trying to keep toxic air out. Summer has always had a chaotic slant in my lifetime (I grew up blowing birthday candles during monsoon season), but this was next level. I don’t know if I’m particularly conscious of these signs right now because it feels like Mother Nature is literally screaming into my face, but it feels like a reckoning of some sort. Maybe we’re reaching a new low, but we’re finally at the point where each low is only marginally different, and it’ll eventually plateau. I’m knocking on wood.
Regardless, I’m incredibly happy that Birdy reached out to me for the Co-Editor position. What I learned from that encounter, and all the work we have done so far, really, is that a leap of faith builds confidence in ourselves and in our imagination. Trust is contagious and necessary in building each other and our communities up. I trust Sunstroke. I think we can get somewhere together. ★
Follow Sunstroke on Instagram or—you guessed it—Tiktok for more updates and mischief.