Dear Readers,

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    The mother tongue is how our ancestors preserved culture through shared stories, traditions, and unspoken truths. The language of our ancestors lives in our voices and is embedded in our ways of knowing. With it, the tongue carries the rhythm of home. This issue carries the language of our mothers, featuring the ways in which the mother tongue can present through poetry and prose. And, inversely, how writing can unravel language, revealing the root of shared experiences. Collected here is The Beacon’s own lexicon, a preservation of the current culture we exist within. More than just words, Mother Tongue is a living archive of identity, resilience, and belonging.
   The Beacon is a student-run literary journal created with the intent to create a writer’s community that uplifts student voices. A special thank you to everyone who made this edition possible.

Sincerely,
The Beacon