I Write Letters

Be noisy!

Dear Friend,

Ever since ShitShow USA 2.0 started rolling for real, I have been furiously writing to US senators – mainly Republican – both as a form of protest, and to speak out for social justice at a time when we are witnessing basic human rights being ripped asunder by the wannabe dictator of the United States of America. Even though I have lived in Canada or abroad for much of my life and I am no longer a US citizen, it is evident that we are all, every one of us, affected by the chaos and cruelty inflicted by the current US government, and so we should all be making our voices heard. I, for one, cannot and will not sit back and watch in silence just because I now reside this side of the border. My hope is that, wherever you are in the world, I might inspire you to raise your voice in the face of injustice. Make a noise! Be noisy!

I have been posting much of my relentless correspondence with these Republican senators on Facebook in hopes of inspiring others to also speak out, and, much to my delight, it seems to be working for some readers. After several months of these posts, I have been encouraged to share my ‘Letter-Writing for Justice’ campaign via a regular newsletter to which you can now subscribe. Through Letters From a Canadian, I will be sharing letters to and from politicians, as well as personal musings on letter-writing-as-resistance. Considering how precarious Facebook is under this chaotic regime, more and more writers are making sure their readers can access their work in a more secure way should Mr. Zuckerberg decide to start messing with our content on his platform. So, welcome to Letters from a Canadian! I appreciate your support and look forward to our conversations on this platform.

I Write Letters

I write letters. I always have. From the time my parents separated when I was very young, and I was capable of stringing letters together into some coherence resembling language, I dutifully and lovingly wrote letters to whichever parent I was not currently living with. As a teen, I obsessively wrote fan letters to beloved folk musicians. As a young adult, again with parents on opposite sides of the continent, resulting in having friends in both California and Ottawa, I always found reason to write letters to the friends I’d left behind as I yo-yoed between homes.  Whether writing to parents, or friends, or heroes, I inevitably received replies and each time a letter appeared in the mailbox it felt like Christmas day. Like the coveted ‘thumbs up’ on our social media posts, response letters are very rewarding.

These days I write letters (usually emails) to politicians. For years I’ve been emailing my local representatives from all levels of government in defense of the environment and the impoverished, and against injustices of all kinds. Since February of this year however, I have extended my reach beyond the Canadian border as I have been relentlessly emailing US senators, mainly Republicans with my panicky concerns about the authoritarian take over, or as Rebecca Solnit (I’ll be quoting her a lot as I’m possibly her biggest fan) aptly calls it, “The Stupid Coup”. You’d be surprised how many senators (or, more likely, their assistants) actually respond to my concerns. Some send form responses, some respond to my specific concern by following the party line to a T in their replies, and still others are a little less sycophantic, especially as time moves on and we are bombarded with more and more crises brought on by their MAGA regime. It’s thrilling to watch their devotion to their crazed leader start to crack, as they continue to dutifully respond to my barrage of outrage.

The Power of Letter Writing

Years ago, when I was a teacher indoctrinating young children with thoughts of environmentalism, I would conduct a letter-writing exercise with my middle school students. I would get them to save the packaging from their recess snack and then write to the manufacturer about the environmental impact of their packaging choices. I taught the kids to use the ‘you-catch-more-flies-with-honey’ approach for better results. Their letters went something like this:

Dear Doritos,

I really love your hot ‘n’ spicy tortilla chips, but I am concerned about the packaging. I don’t think it’s recyclable and I don’t want to throw it in landfill. What steps is your company taking to produce more environmentally friendly packaging? I am in Grade 7 and this is very important to me. I look forward to receiving your reply.

Sincerely,

Student’s name goes here

I would collect all the students’ handwritten letters and send them off to the appropriate recipients, and then we’d wait. After a week or two, replies would start to trickle in. The kids were both astounded and thrilled to receive responses to their letters. The next part of the lesson was always my favourite where, as a class, we would analyze the responses and try to identify where the companies were greenwashing their answers and where their replies seemed plausible. Those kids were so damned smart! They could spot greenwashing in a heartbeat. And they learned to write effective letters that challenged bad corporate behaviour.

Why Do I Even Bother?

With all the time and energy I devote to letter-writing to politicians, I frequently ask myself why I do it. Do I think that it will change the situation for the better? Maybe. Do I think my letters will even be read? Probably. Do I think that it is imperative to be part of the push for change? Definitely. Selfishly, I also find it very therapeutic to write to politicians. Writing letters helps me feel like I’m doing my part to make the world better rather than sitting around feeling depressed and helpless. Letter writing is an avenue to vent my frustrations and fury. And I am always hopeful that sharing my ‘Letters from a Canadian’ and the replies will inspire other people to write to politicians, adding to the noise of dissent. Be noisy!

As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor (more of this and on this another time), I feel that it is impossible for me to sit back in silence when I witness injustice (of which we’re seeing far too much these days). In honour of my paternal grandparents who were murdered by Nazis just because they were Jewish, and in honour of my father who survived the Nazis thanks to those who cared enough to save him, I will always speak out when I see others under attack. And in honour of my mother who was a lifelong activist, I will do what I can to make the world a better place for all.

Using the Tools We Have

Fortunately for me and for all of us, we have an abundance of brilliant people writing every day with current updates on the latest mayhem and atrocities oozing from the Whitehouse. I am a devoted reader of Heather Cox Richardson, Jay Kuo, Charlie Angus, Rebecca Solnit (of course!), Robert Reich, and the anonymous author(s) behind Fear & Loathing: Closer to the Edge. If I had to research every crime being committed by the Felon-in-Chief and his gormless hench-people in order to write an effective email of complaint, I would definitely be paralyzed into inaction. However, I am able to garner enough reliable information from these folk who’ve done the deep investigative work to inform my letter writing enough to properly address the latest outrage. Over the past few months, I’ve thought more than once that while it’s truly horrific that we are dealing with so much evil, we are also blessed with a plethora of amazing thinkers and writers who are guiding us through these messed up times.

We do good in the world with the tools we have. I come from a family of writers. I can write letters. Put me on a phone call and I sound like a babbling toddler, but I know there are others who are more comfortable making a call for change than writing a letter. Still others are out there protesting with clever signs. Some folk prefer to volunteer where they feel the most need. And the artists always step up in hard times with visual beauty and wisdom, and songs to sing us through. We do good with the tools we have. What are your tools and how are you using them in these chaotic and challenging times? I hope that you are finding ways to resist this unnecessary and cruel regime, and that your tool of resistance nourishes you and strengthens your resolve to do good in this world. Whatever your tool, I encourage you to be noisy!

Me? I write letters.

Jessica