About - InLight Magazine

“Stories matter. Many stories matter. Stories have been used to dispossess and to malign, but stories can also be used to empower and humanize,” explains Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in her TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story. This sentiment is especially true when individuals, specifically students, tell their own stories about their identity, communities, and experiences. InLight magazine is dedicated to creating a space for students to share those stories. By sharing diverse perspectives and experiences, we hope that articles can help raise readers’ awareness about lived realities other than their own. Students can gain the network, knowledge and empathy to stand at each other's borders and stand up for what matters.

Students are often told they are the leaders of tomorrow, but as we learned from the Civil Rights Movement we are the leaders of today. Adichie concludes her TED Talk by saying, “when we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story…we regain a kind of paradise.” Let us work together to eradicate single stories and begin building that paradise in our schools and in our society. Stories matter – partner with InLight and help make them heard.

InLight magazine does not try to tell the story of the “other.” Instead, the articles in InLight, whenever possible, attempt to tell the story of the “self.”

In telling their own stories, authors bravely present pieces that allow readers to go beyond the headlines and understand what authors see, hear, and feel. Their personal stories, written in conjunction with larger statistics and within historical contexts, work to explain greater narratives in our country. It is important to note, however, that each article is written through the lens of one person and does not necessarily represent the viewpoints or experiences of an entire community. Through the articles and artwork highlighted on InLight's platform, readers can see the beauty and reality of one another's experiences, identities, heritages, and cultures.

Recent high school graduates Max and Sam Strickberger founded InLight magazine in the fall of 2014. Shortly after matriculating at Sidwell Friends School of Washington, DC in ninth grade, Max and Sam were struck by the school’s diverse student body and realized the importance of participating in and valuing such a community. At their former school, a Jewish day school, they learned the urgency of standing up against injustice, and at Sidwell they discovered the power of stepping back to listen to others. InLight stemmed from those ideals.

At their high school, there were school publications for news, comedy, and literary and art, but -- like high schools nationally -- there was not a forum devoted to diversity and the exploration of students’ cultures and experiences. InLight was created to fill that void.

Our vision is that high schools nationwide will become a part of the InLight community. By using InLight’s publication format and website, together we can create a nationwide partnership where students – hearing directly from other students – can delve into different cultures and topics surrounding social injustice. We see this expansion occurring in three components. First, schools, like almost a dozen in the DC area have started to do, can create their own InLight publication (we have resources to make this process simple and accomplishable). Second, students can collaborate on an annual interschool issue with other regional schools, as proved successful in DC. Third, schools can contribute to the InLight website, which will connect students from around the country. As a student in Arizona describes her experience with immigration, one in Alabama discusses mass incarceration and one from New York City highlights a recent religious holiday. Distant issues are made personal.