PUTNEY — It was hard to do. I had to try several times. But I met the goal, despite setbacks. I finally wrote two letters, with more to come.
I wrote to our president on stylish pink stationery, and I wrote directly to Leonard Peltier.
Using the guidance of Amnesty International's Write for Rights campaign, I wrote in advance of the Dec. 17 write-in that I'm hosting at my house, and to which you are invited.
We've got to inundate the White House - and fast - with our communiques on behalf of Mr. Peltier, a native Lakota American who's been in federal prison, often in solitary confinement (as punishment), for over 40 years.
It was so hard to write him because I had forgotten about him and felt ashamed. I was very happy to learn that he was still with us, but crestfallen that he remains a prisoner due to a bungled trial and an often-brutal penitentiary system.
What brought me here? A strong sense that we've taken much too much for granted. Perhaps you share that sense with me.
So I wanted to create a way, a structure for me and hopefully lots of you, to shine a penetrating and inviolate light into the darkness that is out there!
I'm hoping you will join me in sending more than 100 letters to 12 individuals or campaigns and to the powers that imprison or imperil them. (Of course, they are not the only ones deserving support.)
Visit the Write for Rights website and click on Events to find out about mine in Putney and others in Brattleboro and Keene. And get inspired by the freedom-loving people in this year's campaign.
Light and love can prevail over darkness and fear. Look what the water protectors did at Standing Rock.