Welcome, dearest readers, to the June 2025 issue of The Pitch print magazine, homegrown right here in Kansas City, U.S.A. We’re thrilled to have you here and very excited to share our annual Pride-themed collection with you.
To circle back to my earlier mention of the U.S.A., I’ve been spending a lot of time reading up on the history of fascism and how it seeps in slowly, gradually poisoning hearts and minds and normalizing previously unthinkable horrors until everyday citizens become goddamned soulless monsters without ever realizing the transformation. What, the history of fascism’s insidious encroachment isn’t a part of your summer beach read pile? Hm. Well, there’s plenty of time to hop on the train with me.
I’ve been focused less on how propaganda functions or how politicians twist their agendas, and instead, highlighting the role that history and literature play in the process. One of the most common go-to moves from successful dictatorships and corrupted warmongers in the past has been the banning of media. As members of the media, we here at The Pitch are always hyper-aware of what that means for us. But this is also true for everyone else who would consider themselves part of an educational pipeline. Librarians fighting back against censorship and the banning of books, teachers and schools who find themselves in the crosshairs between performative politicians and astroturfed protesters outraged that diversity and inclusion could have any place in (what is supposed to be) our shared history—They know what this looks like…