This book teaches us, in the words of Sojourners founder Jim Wallis, to learn how to believe in spite of the evidence, then watch the evidence change. They look at what keeps us going day after day in more humble struggles as well. They examine what it was like to confront South African apartheid, the Eastern European and Egyptian dictatorships, Mississippi's entrenched segregation, the corporations driving global climate change, or the Robber Barons of 100 years ago. I've included pieces that explore the historical, political, ecological and spiritual frameworks that help us to persist- with concrete examples of how people have faced despair and overcome it. These essays, poems, and stories teach us how to keep on working for a more humane world, replenish the wellsprings of our commitment, and no matter how hard it sometimes seems. Cornel West, Terry Tempest Williams, Dan Savage, Desmond Tutu, and Howard Zinn. Alice Walker, Mary Pipher, Jonathan Kozol, Diane Ackerman, and Marian Wright Edelman.
Think Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Bill Moyers, Arundhati Roy, Tony Kushner, Bill McKibben, Paul Hawken, Pablo Neruda and Vaclav Havel. The Impossible Will Take a Little While, mixes my own essays on hope with the voices of some of the most eloquent writers and activists around, adding new contributions for the second edition and working closely with the authors to update existing ones. People need hope more than ever in tough political times-like these.