When W.B. Yeats began writing essays on his culture-building agenda during the Irish War of Independence, he was not just writing about poetics and dramaturgy as an intellectual; he was outlining a journalistic principle. Yeats was informed by the notion that language and narrative in the hands of his own people would be central to achieving cultural sovereignty. I first encountered this notion of storytelling as civic labor while studying the Irish Literary Revival in my second year of college, but it remained largely theoretical until l began working with The Indypendent. The Indy is where I put that idea into practice. 

I came to The Indy with little journalism experience and little direction. Coming off the heels of an English and History degree, I had spent most of my post-graduate life working in kitchens as a line cook. Writing and studying my literary icons were to be done as a side-hobby — not as a meaningful public practice. 

I found myself engrossed in kitchen culture: a volatile and hierarchical environment that seemed to imitate larger societal power structures. Studying the works of Yeats — and other giants who were working amid brutal sectarian division — against this backdrop forced me to ask how I could work with this intention of culture-building for my community during our own period of fragmentation. Cooking felt constructive in a material sense, but The Indy offered a more direct solution: journalism rooted in accountability and lived experience.  

New to the city, The Indy also helped me integrate. During my time at The Indypendent, I have been on the ground tackling New York issues, from staffing cuts at VA hospitals to the mayoral race and the Borough-Based Jails Project. I have spoken with organizers pursuing tangible, action-oriented initiatives that respond to the needs of their communities. 

Since joining the publication over a year ago, I’ve gained many practical reporting and writing skills. Perhaps the most significant thing I’ve gained, however, is a belief in publications that don’t concede to the media culture of institutional deference — their responsibility as storytellers is entirely towards their communities. 

What really sets this work apart is not only the subject matter, but the approach behind it. Reporting at The Indypendent doesn’t begin with policymakers and institutions. Rather, the point of entry is those most affected by policy changes—or lack thereof—and the local organizers working to challenge the decision-making bodies responsible. I have found this to be a rewarding expression of Yeats’ principle: restoring cultural agency to the public through narrative power. 

This kind of journalism is only possible through independent outlets. Supporting The Indypendent means supporting journalism that recognizes the significance of cultural power as belonging to the people it serves.