Small Prophecies

by Ismatu Gwendolyn

this work of archival explores the following theses:
(1) Unchecked spread of disease leaves infrastructure collapse, which both causes and exacerbates poverty.
(2) Poverty is a policy choice, not an inevitable circumstance of humanity. Poverty is always the backdrop for warfare.
(3) Stigma stunts progress by believing other humans are not and cannot be like you.
(4) There are a great many tactics of warfare beyond active artillery (like shootings or bombings). The conditions of war are far more widespread than we wish to believe.
(5) Grief and memorialization are necessary for a populace to mobilize for their best world.
(6) A world that belongs to us hinges on how quickly we can come to believe, in mass, that we can create new worlds that care for one another.

258 pages, Paperback

Published May 28, 2025

Reviews

[Alex Zaky · Rating 4 out of 5]

“do not leave me here in this plexiglass cage. do not leave me here in this people zoo and settle for being entertained by me. i am not trying to be entertaining. do not use my videos to cosplay learning. this is not a stage! this is my living room! … i do not care if i am human or not. you are in my living room. please. please say hello to me.”

[Trevor Riley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Approachable and refreshing formatting. gwendolyn (no capitals as it appears on/in the book) writes from various perspectives from that of their personal side, to the clinical professional in study, to the revolutionary in process and growth. The result is a book that feels like reading someone's diary.. if their diary were to contain a loose treatise on how crisis and blame is manufactured and distributed across cities here in America and abroad through discussion of the West African ebola virus and its effects on her family's native Sierra Leone.

The narratives all weave in and out as the book progresses, without a clear or traditional narrative structure. In the end I was left with an appreciation for the haphazard way our lives and values change and develop as we learn new things about the world, accumulate lived experiences, and continue actively navigating life as living breathing, feeling beings..

I forget exactly how I came across the book - I believe through an essay on her site (threadings.io) where the book was linked and described as having been published in support of a school she's building (or built?) in Sierra Leone. Sorry for the vagueness. Glad I did. There is refreshing newness in her approach.

[Elle · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intense and really profound experience — the format of diary entries, consciousness streaming and letters to her future daughter were weaved beautifully together. You feel like you too are losing your mind if you read the pages through along with the narrator. Lots to digest and ponder on.