The Sahira Collective: Identity.
Read more to learn about who we are, and why we're here.
Sahira. A word that may remind you of another Arabic word—Saher—which means, ‘magician.’ We’re sort of magicians/witches, but read on to learn who exactly we are.
Moving on, Sahira is an Arabic word that means one who is ‘vigilant, wakeful, or aware.’ Ironically, it also means ‘one who stays up at night to tend to the sick.’ Now that is who we are. The Sahira Collective is a group of young people from all over the world, working to tend to this now-ill world, hoping to play a part in changing it for the better. Ripely founded this April, it’s the sister (metaphorically speaking) of another magazine you may know and love—The Cassiopeia Review.
I, Aaroosh, the Editor-in-Chief of both magazines, have always had that feeling in my chest. The feeling of wanting to scream to the world that they do not define who I am. As a Pakistani and a Muslim, it’s quite hard to see even one foreign movie, especially older ones, where we are not evil in some way. And that’s not where this issue ends—countless other people, for their gender, race, country, religion, or whatever ridiculous reason, face hurdles in day-to-day life, and some even fall into the hands of wars and genocides—such as the most resilient people in the world, the people of Falasteen.
Going forward, there’s another thought plaguing my mind—censorship. Meta and other platforms (the cowardly flock) love censoring anything related to the truth, but we will not stop because of that. All people, from any walk of life, are welcome to join our cause and our team. The Sahira Collective is a place to be loud, raw, and unforgettable for everyone, whether they be from South Asia or Antarctica—if you have something impactful to say, we’ll say it with you.
Enough of sharing my thoughts and/or doubts—you’ve learnt who we are, but now, it’s time to learn what we’re here to do.
The Sahira Collective is a multi-media zine, meaning we’ll be tackling many social issues through different forms of art, whether that be journalism, poetry, prose, painting/drawing, mixed-media art, videography, film, theatre, or photography. This is still a small list, but you get the idea.
Moreover, we’ll be having literary issues focusing on one theme, open to all writers and artists to share their works with us for free publication in our Issues, along with our blog, which will be here on Substack and/or BlogSpot. Different types of content will also be available across our social media platforms, and we’ll be working around the clock to share the stories that matter.
If any of this resonates with you, consider this a sign to join our community, or even better, join our team. Applications to join our staff are open, and we encourage all young creatives (writers, editors, researchers, historians, graphic designers, and visionary leaders) to become part of this small but tight-knit group, using this form.
That’s all for now, and we’ll see you in the next one.
QUERIES OR SUGGESTIONS?
—contact us at thesahiracollective@gmail.com or DM us on Instagram here.