Patrick Range McDonald makes the case for unity in the United States and beyond with an uplifting, two-part essay at Letters From Over Here at Medium. The project is based on his experiences as a longtime journalist and housing justice activist.
“Humans have to unify,” says McDonald. “It’s the only way we’ll thrive and survive. We also have to reject any leader or political movement that tries to divide us. So I wrote an essay, based on facts and hard-earned wisdom, to offer some thoughts.”
The result is “This Is America: Part One” and “We Are One: Part Two,” which were published in March 2024. McDonald plans to combine the essays and publish them as a book.
“I truly believe people are yearning for a book, and a voice, that calls for unity,” says McDonald. “That’s the overriding theme of the two-part essay. And I show that when people unify, we accomplish amazing things. It’s not some feel-good notion. It’s a fact.”
“This Is America: Part One” is made up of lists that show how Americans are interconnected and make up a larger, unique whole that is the American experience.
“Anyone who reads ‘This Is America,'” says McDonald, “loves it. I get that feedback all the time. Because they know they are reading an inspiring truth that’s impossible to deny — and a truth that they want in their lives. Just on a practical level, our lives are more enjoyable and less complicated when we all get along.”
“We Are One: Part Two” then expands upon the theme of unity that’s in “This Is America: Part One.”
“I traveled around the world for a book project in 2014,” says McDonald, “and I could see that we are one people. It was obvious. We have different skin colors and different cultures and different languages, but we are still one. That fact scares the powerful because they’re afraid they’ll lose their power when the people of the world unite.”
McDonald adds, “This isn’t pie-in-the-sky thinking. From Africa to Asia to Europe to the United States, I met people who simply wanted to make a good living, who wanted to support their families, who wanted good health, who wanted good schools, and who wanted an opportunity to flourish. They also wanted to help each other to flourish. We are truly one. The powerful, on the other hand, are mainly concerned about keeping their power, and they use the divide-and-conquer technique to keep it. Not all powerful people do that, but too many of them do. So with my two-part essay, I’m trying to unite while also confronting the powerful that want to divide us. In the end, I want it to be an uplifting book.”
Read “This Is America: Part One” and “We Are One: Part Two” at Letters From Over Here.
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