Rife - Edited by Nikesh Shukla

It made me so happy to read this brilliant collection of essays, all written by people under the age of 24. I remember when I was a teen the general consensus from “adults” was that we should shut up and grow up before having an opinion, something that I don’t think I ever listened to, nor did my peers. I know now that we were lucky – today’s youth are branded before they even open their mouths to voice an opinion. Instead of listening to those who will be making real change we try to silence and erase them. I know that at 41 I relate a lot more to what I read in this anthology than I do with many mainstream media types, so I am sure you will too.

I had personally never heard of Rife Magazine before picking up this book, but fell in love with the content and the approach. This is a platform created for the youth of today, by the youth of today, to talk about issues that directly affect not only the youth of today, but all of us. The essays in this collection are all brilliantly written and discuss a wide range of topics from racism, ableism, sexism, and ageism, housing, gentrification, family, tuition fees, economy, mental health, and many other important subject matters. I was born in England, but haven’t lived there since I was a kid, but I still related to most of the content written in the essays, as I’m pretty sure many people of different ages and backgrounds would.

This is what hope looks like – while a lot of the content discussed in these essays is bleak, it is not without optimism, and courageous fight to make real change together. Listening to these voices is important. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the copy, and thanks to Nikesh Shukla for compiling and editing such an eye-opening and important collection.  .