Achy Obejas

As a child, Ilia Calde̤rn felt like a typical girl from Colombia. In Cho̤c, the Afro-Latino province where she grew up, your skin could be any shade and youd still be considered blood. Race was a non-issue, and Ilia didnt think much about ituntil she left her community to attend high school and college in Medel̕ln. For the first time, she became familiar with horrifying racial slurs thrown at her both inside and outside of the classroom. From that...

A collection of letters--to ancestors, to children five generations from now, to strangers in grocery lines, to any and all who feel weary and discouraged--written by award-winning novelists, poets, political thinkers, and activists.