The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen's Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear
About this book
What keeps us going when times get tough? How do we keep on working for a more humane world, no matter how hard it sometimes seems? In a time when our involvement has never been needed more, this anthology of political hope will help readers with the essential work of healing our communities, our nation, our planet—despite all odds. In THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE, a phrase borrowed from Billie Holliday, the editor of Soul of a Citizen brings together fifty stories and essays that range across nations, eras, wars, and political movements.Danusha Goska, an Indiana activist with a paralyzing physical disability, writes about overcoming political immobilization, drawing on her history with the Peace Corps and Mother Teresa. Vaclav Havel, the former president of the Czech Republic, finds value in seemingly doomed or futile actions taken by oppressed peoples.Rosemarie Freeney Harding recalls the music that sustained the civil rights movement, and Paxus Calta-Star recounts the powerful vignette of an 18-year-old who launched the overthrow of Bulgaria’s dictatorship.Many of the essays are new, others classic works that continue to inspire. Together, these writers explore a path of heartfelt community involvement that leads beyond despair to compassion and hope. The voices collected in THE IMPOSSIBLE WILL TAKE A LITTLE WHILE will help keep us all working for a better world despite the obstacles.pt. 1. Seeds of the possible. From "The cure at Troy" / Seamus HeaneyA slender thread / Diane AckermanOrdinary resurrections / Jonathan KozolStanding up for children / Marian Wright EdelmanYou are brilliant and the earth is hiring / Paul HawkenPolitical paralysis / Danusha Veronica Goskapt. 2. Dark before the dawn. From "September 1, 1939" / W.H. AudenThe optimism of uncertainty / Howard ZinnOn being different / Dan SavageThe dark years / Nelson MandelaAn orientation of the heart / Václav HavelReluctant activists / Mary Pipherpt. 3. Everyday grace. "The peace of wild things" / Wendell BerryGate A-4 / Naomi Shihab NyeMountain music / Scott Russell SandersThe Sukkah of Shalom / Arthur WaskowGetting our gaze back / Rose Marie BergerFragile and hidden / Henri NouwenThere is a season / Parker Palmerpt. 4. Rebellious imagination. "Celebration of the human voice" / Eduardo Galeano"Last night as I was sleeping" / Antonio MachadaChildhood and poetry / Pablo NerudaTo love the marigold / Susan GriffinWalking with the wind / John LewisRough translation / Toni MirosevichJesus and Alinsky / Walter WinkStories from the cha cha cha / Vern HuffmanDo not go gentle / Sherman AlexieDespair is a lie we tell ourselves / Tony Kushnerpt. 5. Courage is contagious. "To be of use" / Marge PiercyThe transformation of silence / Audre LordeThe small work in the great work / Victoria SaffordWe are all Khaled Said / Wael GhonimArab revolutions / Stephen ZunesNot deterred / Paxus CaltaIn what do I place my trust? / Rosalie BertellFaith works / Jim WallisThe progressive story of America / Bill Moyerspt. 6. The global stage. "Imagine the angels of bread" / Martín EspadaKids, trees, and climate change / Mark HertsgaardCuritiba / Bill McKibben with a postscript by Paul Rogat LoebCome September / Arundhati RoyThe black hole / Ariel DorfmanBehemoth in a bathrobe / Carla Seaquistpt. 7. Radical dignity. "How have you spent your life?" / Jalaluddin RumiLetter from Birmingham Jail / Martin Luther King, JrThe real Rosa Parks / Paul Rogat LoebPrisoners of hope / Cornel WestRoad to redemption / Billy Wayne SinclairResisting terror / Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVallComposing a life story / Mary Catherine Batesonpt. 8. Beyond hope. "Origami emotion" / Elizabeth BarretteFrom "The New York poem" / Sam HamillStaying the course / Mary-Wynne AshfordThe elm dance / Joanna MacyIs there hope on climate change? / David RobertsThe inevitability trap / K.C. GoldenHoping against hope / Nadezhda MandelstamYou have to pick your team / Sonya Vetra Tinsley, as told to Paul Rogat LoebFrom Hope to hopelessness / Margaret Wheatleypt. 9. Only justice can stop a curse. "Still I rise" / Maya AngelouOnly justice can stop a curse / Alice WalkerThe clan of one-breasted women / Terry Tempest WilliamsNext year in Mas'Ha / StarhawkThe gruntwork of peace / Amos OzNo future without forgiveness / Desmond Tutu
