Guyana Times Sunday Magazine spoke with Of Note Magazine’s editorial director and founder, Grace Aneiza Ali, also a professor and prolific writer who has never forgotten her Guyanese roots despite living among internationally renowned writers, artists and activists.
Below is an exclusive interview with Ali, who tirelessly promotes artists through her online magazine which features artists using their work for global social change.
Sunday Magazine: In Guyana, where did you grow up? What were some fond childhood memories here?
Grace Ali
Grace Ali: I grew up in Georgetown, on Middle Road in La Penitence. When I was a little girl, my father would take our family to the seawall. It became our Friday afternoon ritual. It was family time. My father would always get us a bag of roasted peanuts.
Often, we would sit on those washed out benches in silence as we watched the sun set on the Atlantic Ocean. We would stay long after sunset, watching the tiny lights of the ships twinkling on the horizon, creeping slowly across a darkening ocean. It was a peaceful time; a time when our family really felt whole.
Sunday Magazine: Why did you migrate, where did you migrate to and how old were you?
Grace Ali: We left in 1995. I was fourteen years old. Our family of five migrated to the Washington, DC metropolitan area. My family left, like many other Guyanese, to make a better life.
Sunday Magazine: What are your academic achievements?
Grace Ali: I received a Master of Arts in Africana Studies from New York University, where I was the recipient of the Henry MacCracken Graduate Fellowship. I have a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and a Certificate in Women’s Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, where I graduated magna cum laude. In 2003, I received a prestigious Fulbright Fellowship to work on women’s and girls’ literacy in India.
Grace with children in india. She was documenting her work and travels in india as a Fulbright scholar.
Sunday Magazine: Have you visited Guyana since you left? If no, will you return?
Grace Ali: No, I have not been back. Yes, I do want to return soon with my mother and my sister. Returning with my entire family is very important to me.
Sunday Magazine: Tell us about your career and philanthropy work.
Grace Ali: My work is steeped in using the arts for social change. I consider myself an arts activist. I founded an online non-profit publication, ‘Of Note’, in 2009 to spotlight global artists using their work to champion social issues. It’s a platform to honour artists whose work value compassion, inspire us, speak truth to injustice, humanise us, and compel us to act towards change.
I am also a writer, frequently writing for various publications on the arts and activism. I am also an adjunct Professor of Literature for the City University of New York (CUNY). Prior to moving to New York City in 2006, I worked in social justice advocacy for the internationally recognized Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and The Sentencing Project in Washington, DC.
Recently, I was selected as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper for my leadership and commitment to shaping the global future through fresh ideas and solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
Working on the 'Guyana photography project' and the 'Digital Diaspora project'
Regarding my philanthropy work, I grew up among women (aunts, cousins, neighbourhood friends) who didn’t know how to read. I was often the reader and writer for them. I would set up a makeshift chalkboard in the back yard and teach my cousins what I had learned in school that day.
Now, after travelling to places in Asia and Africa, I am committed to the work of educating girls in developing nations, especially girls living in rural communities.
Sunday Magazine: What motivated you to choose your field of work and what makes you successful?
Grace Ali: I think it chose me. Starting a magazine on the arts and social issues wasn’t in my plans. But there came a time that I saw a need for this kind of publication and decided to meet that need. Every day, I focus on the work, on producing work of substance.
Every day I work to stay committed to the integrity and quality of the work produced.
Sunday Magazine: What are some highlights of your life so far?
Making a presentation at an art forum
Grace Ali: I’ve created something – my magazine. That’s a huge highlight for me. So many people go through their lives not having created or built anything. I’m really in awe of that blessing. I’ve created and built something that not only fulfils me but has come to be meaningful to other people as well is immensely gratifying.
Sunday Magazine: What are your immediate and future plans?
Grace Ali: Now 30 years old, I plan to continue to build and expand this magazine. Our next issue is focused on artists who are using their work to tell the stories of Guyana. As you can imagine, it’s very close to my heart. It’s my way of saying thanks to my birthplace for giving me a foundation, for rooting me in the values and a worldview that I carry with me every day in my personal life and in my work. I may live in New York City, and travel to distant lands like India, Ethiopia and so on, but I’m always a Guyanese girl at heart.
Sunday Magazine: What’s your advice for youths in Guyana?
Grace Ali: Stick to the integrity of the work. Whatever that work may be. Don’t underestimate the small beginnings. Small beginnings open doors for bigger things to come. If there is no blueprint for what you want to do, then create the blueprint yourself. Go beyond imitating. Create and build.
To read more about Grace’s work, visit her website at www.ofnotemagazine.org (Taken from Guyana Times Sunday Magazine)
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