Mesa Refuge writers and activists focus on pivotal issues facing our world—from healthcare, reproductive rights and mental wellness to mass incarceration, homelessness and the global climate crisis. By focusing on key issues like these, our residents and alums are courageously imagining a more equitable world. Their visions are more necessary than ever, especially as long-established rights and democratic norms are being overturned.
A residency at Mesa Refuge is transformational. Writers grapple with big ideas and develop innovative solutions for intractable problems. They are challenged to “write at the edge” and stretch themselves to imagine a brighter, more just and fair future for all.
This spring, as we launch our spring campaign to raise $75,000 by the end of June, we’ll send you emails that introduce you to five Mesa Refuge champions. These alums have agreed to be the “face” of our campaign, to show you some of the amazing impact our alums have in the world. We can’t wait for you to meet them!
Will you join our five champions—as well as hundreds of other donors, our staff, and our board—in support the bold and courageous writers and activists who will be writing “at the edge” at Mesa Refuge in 2023?
This week, meet Mesa Refuge Alum Shimica Gaskins
“Writing at the edge for me is about reflecting the world in which I have actually lived while daring to imagine a liberated future, free from systemic racism and poverty.
Having grown up in deep poverty, books opened a world beyond my day-to-day struggles and the limitations of my circumstances. I feel in love with illustrations, the poetry of words, and the joy that a story could spark on an otherwise bleak day. Yet, there were few books that reflected my reality or the challenges my family faced. I was only an observer to these stories.
Watch this video of her talking about her baby bonds initiative (2022).
Today, my work focuses on pushing aside the roadblocks of racism, sexism, classism (and more) so all our children are safe, loved, nourished, and free. It’s my mission to tackle systemic oppression through policy advocacy and in my writing.
The ability to address issues like poverty, hunger, and domestic violence and name the experiences of marginalized children is not a traditional path for children’s literature. But I believe that speaking directly to children and recognizing their ability to know and have agency in circumstances that they may not fully understand is the bridge to hope and healing.
At the Mesa Refuge, writing at the edge manifested itself for me as words flowing through a river of truth where the self-critic, editor, and overthinker have no place. They are each left at the threshold of the writers shed, giving space for the magic that only solitude and uninterrupted time can create.”
Shimica Gaskins (Alum 2023) is the president and CEO of GRACE and End Child Poverty CA. She has worked in law and public policy specializing in legislative, regulatory and policy issues associated with criminal justice reform and children’s rights. Shimica serves on the boards of Impact Justice, California Budget and Policy Center, as well as the Liberty Hill Foundation and is a commissioner on the LA County Commission for Children and Families. She formerly served as the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Legal Policy of the U.S. Department of Justice where she worked to develop and implement innovative policy initiatives of the department and administration in areas such as smart on crime, law enforcement and emerging technologies, prison reform, reentry, and issues affecting children with incarcerated parents. At the Mesa Refuge, she worked on a children’s book of poetry and a chapter for an upcoming compilation on sisterhood and leadership in the nonprofit sector.
Campaign photos by Jean Melesaine