A Letter to My Newborn

Authors

  • Caitilin McMillan Department of Geography and Environment, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v23i2.2404

Keywords:

children, intergenerational, social change, ecological relations, precarity, hope

Abstract

This letter takes place as a conversation with my newborn about the struggles and desires I see on the horizon at the moment of writing. The letter’s simple style and straightforward language invite you to immerse yourself in an intimate sharing between myself and my one-year-old and consider the perspective of a young child coming to grips with the world around them. I draw on past conversations with my mother about her illness and her ecological work, as well as elements of our family history working and living on the river Clyde. Falling somewhere between a poem, a story and a letter, I explore themes of change and hope, ecological precarity, health and illness, and a path towards more livable worlds. Two photos included with the letter share intimate moments with the reader related to my writing – the moment Clyde reaches for his grandmother at the water’s edge, an ode to the river on which she grew up and after which he is named; and the moment my mother unfolds her hand letting an edible flower sit delicately along her hand’s life lines as an offering of nourishment and interconnection.

References

Butler, Octavia E. (1993). Parable of the Sower. New York: Four Walls Eight Windows

A collage of photos and materials provided by issue authors. These include: a photo of a landscape with stars shining above a curved snowy road disappearing into a wooded horizon along the coast of Gichigami/Lake Superior; a cutout of cursive text written by Caitilin McMillan’s mother that reads “to the world's best heart”; a photo of Neelofer Qadir’s hand holding colorful postcards in front of the blue water of Gris Gris, Mauritius; a handwritten letter in Spanish dated August 1983 from Alana de Hinojosa’s grandmother to her mother, Evelina “Bebe”, asking for her to come back home to Calexico, California; a black-and-white troll block print and a Valentine's Day card with porcupine quills piercing a red-and-black heart and the handwritten message “Happy Valentines Day! Contains two genuine porcupine quills, picked clean by ravens. Love, Elspeth”; a black-and-white photograph of Dr. Donald Deskins Jr. in a three-point stance wearing a football uniform; a colourful poster with doves and peace flowers and text that reads “Viva! Viva! Palestina!”; an orange envelope reading “don't you dare write back!” with a hand-drawn scowling figure; a screenshot of a Zoom grid of smiling attendees at the American Association of Geographers 2021 Desirable Futures sessions; and background text and images from valentines written by Elspeth Iralu.

Downloads

Published

2024-04-15

How to Cite

McMillan, C. (2024). A Letter to My Newborn. ACME: An International Journal for Critical Geographies, 23(2), 141–144. https://doi.org/10.14288/acme.v23i2.2404

Issue

Vol. 23 No. 2 (2024): Desirable Futures

Section

Special Issue: Desirable Futures

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Caitilin McMillan

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