Introducing OC Oraciones' 4th issue. The theme: Hope

Hi all --

For 2 years now, the Psi Alpha chapter of Sigma Kappa Delta has published a literary journal for Odessa College, OC Oraciones. The latest issue, our fourth one, is about hope. Before I launch into the remarks I wrote for it, I think it is important to put this journal–really, this 2 year endeavor–into proper context. The staff at the college have discovered numerous other literary projects Odessa College students made over previous decades. When I've perused those artifacts, I realize I have a lot of work to do in learning the history of Odessa and the college. They're parts of another world, one which defines the area I live in but can feel awfully distant at times. I sometimes imagine that the writing and art in them complements lost yearbooks, ones packed with inside jokes and slogans pertinent to local legends formerly known. While I would love to tell you that good writing and art stand on their own, little or no context required, that simply is not true. We have to take the effort to put it all together, to understand what it is our students and community grapple with and want.

And to that end, it helps to publish regularly. What happens, in that case, is one issue shapes the context for the next. There's a dialogue the various writers and artists have among themselves, even if they themselves cannot see the form entirely. To take a not-so-small example: note how many photographs in the publications below try to capture the natural beauty of the desert. This is not just indulging a hobby. People are keenly aware of the byproducts of running the economy the way we do. They see the shredded tires, the interminable windy gatherings of plastic bags, the eternal flame of a refinery. And they choose to see those flowers which seem to bloom against all odds in this landscape. In like manner, you can pick nearly any theme and see what our various creatives are thinking through from a number of angles.

The value of context is not limited to documenting a specific time and place. It is for framing a discussion of our highest aspirations. Again, our latest issue is about hope, and I'll read now from my opening remarks to it:

“Hope,” the theme of our fourth issue, has a special resonance for this particular time and place. No, there hasn’t been a devastating slowdown in the oil industry, not yet. But life is more than work and the conditions within which we live are questionable. Texas, if considered an independent country, is the 8th largest economy on Earth. At this moment, it leads the nation in hunger. At least 10,000 children in Ector County are food insecure. War, poverty, and abuse are everywhere if we care to look. The great secret of our emphasis on careerism and productivity is that they let us look away.

I am grateful to our editorial board for being productive in a different way, a way that can beget change. They solicited, collected, read through, and organized the work by various writers and creators on campus and in the area. Dylan Garcia, Valerie Gonzalez, and Sylvia Medrano once again helped a community find its voice. I absolutely loved engaging with everything in this issue, from reflections about finding healing after heartbreak to confronting the loss of one’s elders. This little journal is a testament to those who will not look away.

I would be remiss if I didn’t say something about what hope means to me. For years, I have wrestled with Mariame Kaba’s words: “Hope is a discipline.” It isn’t a feeling. It is doing the work in order to learn how to do the work. I don’t think people, in general, fail to demonstrate effort. Some work exceptionally hard and literally can’t find the motivation or focus to do anything more. “Hope is a discipline” speaks to the subtle ways we must move beyond a dichotomy of “hard work” vs. “laziness/scams.” For me, this entails the strangeness of helping publish a literary journal 30 years after I edited and published one in high school. Life isn’t repeating as much as I’m realizing how I might have helped make an experience, decades ago, valuable to a community. The discipline, in this case, entails taking the time to understand my own life.

OC Oraciones is published by the Psi Alpha chapter of Sigma Kappa Delta. This chapter has done so much beyond the pages you hold. They’ve held multiple writing workshops, taken every opportunity to spread positivity on campus, donated hundreds of pounds of dry goods to a food pantry, hosted events where the community can come together and speak. As Senior Advisor, I can tell you it is a marvel to watch more and more lives orient themselves around hope.