Before The Books Do, We Must Write This History

In these unprecedented times take the time to learn, write, reflect, and grow

My morning is never complete without freshly brewed coffee, a good stretch, and a diary entry. Before I consider perusing the flood of emails in my inbox or tuning into mostly heartbreaking headlines, I need to record this moment. When I say, “this moment” I mean everything that I am witnessing in the world. History is full of flaws. It’s no secret that the victors of war, the authors of what we know, skew the narrative. But if there’s one thing I can say with confidence in this time of uncertainty it’s that writing has never been more democratized.

I don’t think that since the invention of the Guggenheim press have people been able to both write and share their work. And when I say, “write” I mean any kind of content. Just like the printing press allowed anyone to write, social media and modern tech have invited the world to write. In this moment of a global pandemic, anti-Black violence in America, and protests demanding change, we need to put pen to paper and not fail the future.

I’ve heard many of my older friends and colleagues say, “history is doomed to repeat itself, look at L.A. in the 60s.” My heart aches for them because I hear them. For people like my boss, who was in his 20s during the L.A. Riots of the 1960s, he’s living in a deja vu. But I think, and I hope, that this moment in history its just a carbon copy of the past.

As a millennial living through this, I’m doing my part to educate myself and take action to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Social media is both my tool for education and empowerment.

Like I said, every morning I take a few minutes to write. I jot down what were the headlines the day before. I’ll talk about the images I saw on the news that resonated with me. When a friend calls me or I hear a sound bite that struck a chord I whip out a writing device.

Sometimes I’ll scribble down thoughts in a leather-bound journal, other times I’ll just tap away on my iPhone’s notes app. I try my best to describe what I’m hearing. With precision and clarity, I record this moment.

I can only speak on my own embodiment of this point in time. I don’t want to make the mistakes that history has made. I cannot and I will not speak for all people.

Writing has been my tool to process this moment. Through putting words on a page I go deeper than when I try to speak. We’re all different and I know I am a writer. Some of my friends are photographers, others videographers, whatever your art is I say use it.

The most important thing to do right now is create. Create a diary of your day-to-day. Vlog your experiences either at home or in the field. Capture the voices of people who you haven’t seen in history books before. As long as we speak our own truths I think we are speaking truth to power.

Should you feel inspired to follow along in my millennial journey trying to record the world, my YouTube is @ William Samayoa and my Instagram is @ Willsshowem