Editor's Note

Dear FM, Spring is in the air. The air today may have been rainy and still a bit chilly, but it’s there. We are crawling out of the 30º weather, crawling out of dark-at-4pm-days, crawling out of the trenches, and facing the light — of our biggest FM issue yet. Opening this issue is another incredible scrut by iconic duo JL and ESKS on Harvard’s efforts — or lack thereof — in fulfilling the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. Progress on this front has been slow, spanning over three decades now, and time after time, we have covered this. But what’s missing has been the emotional toll that such slow work takes on Indigenous tribes who are waiting to be reunited with the remains of their ancestors and burial items. With a balance of human-centered reporting and retrospective research, this scrut brings out exactly that, set on the foreground of questions surrounding colonialism and what it means to repair relations. This theme of bringing out the faces in our reporting runs through the rest of our issue. DRZ strikes with yet another extremely well-reported 15Q with psychiatrist and medical anthropologist Arthur M. Kleinman that touches on not just his academic work, but also his experiences caring for his late wife until her death. It is profound and touching and made both HD and me cry — and got raving reviews from MJH, who said, "Good 15Q." Next, DRZ and SSL embark on a journey to Vilna Shul in Boston, where they make pickles while talking to people about finding Jewish community in the city. KJK writes an incredibly colorful profile of Wesley Wang ’26, whose short film “nothing, except everything.” won him national attention, and who is now on a path to creating a full-length feature film. Language, too, is a theme in this issue as TMR writes about the complex history of the Eliot Bible, which was originally written in 1663 in Wôpanâak to Christianize local Indigenous tribes but is now being used in language preservation efforts. MTB talks to Ava E. Silva ’27 about a project she is spearheading to preserve the endangered Alabama language. In a retrospection that reads almost like historical fiction, AI brings to life the philosophers’ camp that would happen in the Adirondacks in the 19th century — except it was really “far more ‘philosopher’ than ‘camp.’” In the spirit of spring, FM staff gives Josh advice again, this time, on when winter ends. Finally, wrapping up our issue is an poignant endpaper by XSC exploring what it means to be Asian non-American; an international student living in the U.S., trying to figure out who and how to be. Now, a huge list of kudos are in order! Super duper special shoutout to SET, LJPE, XCZ, JND, OWZ, and all the other design execs for not just churning out fire graphics as usual, but for making our VERY FIRST GLOSSY possible!! (Extra love to SET and LJPE for answering all of HD’s and my glossy questions.) Special shoutout to AHL and IYG for all the how-to videos and guides that literally carried me through glossy production, and also for the emotional support slug plush. Thank you to LLL and BHP for coordinating multi things for us, and to JJG and AYL for amazing Quad Bikes photos + glossy spread. Thank you to MJH, EJS, and CY for diligent proofing, editorial wisdom, and, of course, vibes. Thank you to YAK, SSL, and DRZ for planning a very flower very power mixer. Thank you JL and YAK for helping us handle our ever-growing! content and for the best pitch email conceits. Thank you all FM execs for pulling through for our biggest issue yet and staying on top of shit even though it’s been midterm hell for a lot of you. And finally, thank you to HD for being my partner-in-chaos and for becoming an InDesign master overnight so our next glossy will go by even more smoothly. FMLove, HD + KT