Missives Toward A Better Day

This article appears in the February 2018 issue of Sojourners magazine. To subscribe, click here .

“TO MY FELLOW writers and artists; to my fellow readers and lovers of art; to my fellow believers in peace and a more perfect world ...”

Thus begins Viet Thanh Nguyen’s contribution to Radical Hope—“a collection of love letters in response to these political times.” The Pulitzer Prize winner (for The Sympathizer) goes on to describe his dreams for a new model for our society, one that includes prophecies, poets, and the people: “Those of us who would tear down walls and eradicate borders, and who believe in both inclusion and equality, need to use our talents to help build a coalition.”

The dozens of letters in Radical Hope illustrate the dreams of this diverse community of writers. Luis Alberto Urrea asks, “What if there is no Other? What if there is only Us?” Katie Kitamura writes of a future in which her daughter grows up believing in the generative power of language. Many of the writers pen poetic reflections on the beacons of light and love who have guided them, looking to the past to bring enlightenment into the next journey. In the final letter, Cristina García imagines the world seven generations from now, asking what that will look like and wishing upon her great-great-great-great-great granddaughter “adventure and loving protection.”

It is a powerful thing to read the dreams of others—though not uncommon in letters across the centuries. Letters from James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr., and the apostle Paul are some of the most oft-quoted words of truth and power. Letters from prophets and loved ones can reassure or motivate, serve as lifelines and small pick-me-ups. I revisit letters from various stages of my life written by people I love when I need to feel connected across a distance.

Despite a decline in frequent longhand correspondence, the enduring influence of the written word to portray emotion to another person is still evident, just via new platforms. Whether in letters to the editor, 280-character tweets, or WhatsApp messages across continents, we have created ever-evolving means of communication. But amid technological advancement and the threat of over-connectedness, the ancient form of letter writing holds its own. Radical Hope reminds us of the magic of the simple written word to transport us into the life of another. It continues a tradition of epistolary essays speaking truth to power, demanding a reply not in a written response but in civic action and care for our neighbors.

READ: Sojourners Readers Share Their Stories

The editor, Carolina De Robertis, states her hope that the letters in this compilation “will lift you, feed you, shake you awake, offer insight, and help you to feel less alone.” Some, like Alicia Garza’s tribute to Harriet Tubman, mimic prayer and are inherently soulful. Others are directives—to millennials, baby boomers, liberals, and feminists. All carry wisdom, honesty, and earnestness.

While commissioned at a specific moment in history, these letters speak across distance, experience, and time. Read as individual pieces, they each represent one story, one hope, one note of dissent. Presented together, they form a mosaic, a symphony of inspiration and motivation for action. Like my best-loved personal letters, I will revisit Radical Hope when I need to hear the story of another, to be reminded of the diverse community of saints together in this work for justice.