The twin tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic and the murder of George Floyd produced — as tragedies often do — a remarkable outpouring from writers and artists. In the anthology "There's a Revolution Outside, My Love," former U.S. Poet Laureate Tracy K. Smith and essayist John Freeman have collected 40 moving letters, essays and poems written during 2020, including works by Twin Citians Su Hwang and Michael Kleber-Diggs.
Randall Kenan writes about toppling Confederate statues; Edwidge Danticat writes about mourning death during lockdown; Hwang writes about "Why the Rebellion Had to Begin Here"; Kleber-Diggs writes about what it's like living in a place where "my skin, bittersweet like 70 percent chocolate, is conspicuous."
Daniel Peña writes about what it's like in the middle of a protest, what it's like to be stopped by white people when he's observing owls, what it's like to visit a battlefield where the slaughtered Mexican soldiers aren't remembered by plaque or by name. What it's like, what it's like.
This powerful, riveting collection gives us the community we have longed for during the past year, the connection we have missed. It tells us the truth; it tells us what it is like.
Event: Su Hwang, Amaud Jamaul Johnson and Michael Kleber-Diggs in conversation, moderated by Tracy K. Smith; 7 p.m. May 18, hosted by Moon Palace Books. Register at crowdcast.io/e/theres-a-revolution/register.
