(Reviewed by JD Jung)
“Nothing is inevitable, and that’s crucial to remember in this fight.”
Personally, I have felt both hopeless and helpless when it comes to preserving our planet and fighting climate change. Not Too Late convinced me through its essays and interviews that what I do on an individual basis and what we can do collectively does, in fact, matter.
The writers, through their diverse backgrounds and perspectives, take a global look at the current climate crisis, both causes and possible solutions.
For example, in “Decolonizing Climate Coloniality”, Farhana Sultana shows how colonization throughout the world has managed to ruin our climate. Gloria Walton in her essay, “Shared Solutions Are Our Greatest Hope and Strength” acknowledges that indigenous peoples, immigrants and communities of color are hardest hit by climate change. But she also explains how these communities are successfully working towards a more affordable and sustainable way of life.
There is even an interesting timeline, “An Extremely Incomplete List of Climate Victories”. Many writers explain the specific frame of mind that this fight will take.
There are so many thought-provoking essays in this anthology, that I can’t mention them all here. One that particularly stuck with me was “What to Do When the World is Ending” by Yotam Marom. He provides examples of how people successfully fought despair when their world seemed to be ending. While despair is the easy way out, it “is also, quite simply, bad politics. By surrendering the fight outward, despair refocuses us inward.”
Every reader will probably relate more to some essays than to others, based on their life experiences. I suggest that you don’t read the collection all at once but savor it in bite-sized morsels.
Not to Late is an essential handbook for fighting the climate crisis. Readers will look at this fight in a whole new and inspiring light.
