Dana Franklin
Google Drive Road
295 Scalar Street

Nov, 17th 2020

Kevin Franklin
Franklin’s apartment
Altadena, California  

Dear Kevin,
I don’t know where I should start this letter with, just like how every time I can not find a word to speak with you when I got back from Rufus’s place instantly. Guess which year I was transported to? 2020! Thank god, this time Rufus is not around doing some fearful things that would cause harm and trouble. Comparing to previous journeys from the 1800s, I figured out what has caused me to transport this time: It is not Rufu’s fear of death, but a group of college students’ and teachers’ love. I also found out that this time, that I am able to travel back to our reality without the fear of death that used to trigger us in a world full of inhumane violence in ordinary lives. I can travel in and out with the powerful unconditional love that opens the gates beyond time. I discovered a collection of creative works and intellectual materials regarding race, gender, and class published by students and professors from USC on some online libraries called “Google Drive” and “Scalar”. How privileged they are to receive such profound education that invests in their minds and passions! As you know, it was what I desired during the times when I met you. Seeing them learning reminds me of my writing courses when I was studying at UCLA. What a bummer that I did not travel back to UCLA, but USC instead.

Anyway, I was truly impressed by the amount of effort that these young scholars have put into social justice creatively, and I was so relieved to see it as a hopeful sign that we are progressing forward in the future. The online library presents me with a variety of creative works, including written analysis, digital drawing, video essay, graphic design, etc. What I found so striking about the work is the students’ approach in advocating for justice: they are using art and love as a tool to transcend the imbalance and bitterness of inequalities and social issues that are relevant both in the past, present, and future worlds. I was also surprised and touched to see non-African American student’s compassion for my racial communities, and male students’ empathetic responses and criticism of patriarchal norms on topics of feminism. If Rufus and his family members were able to live in a world that promotes such education, we would not have encountered each other by fear, and perhaps we would not carry the dehumanizing burden of violence and discrimination. What was troubling me was my restless urge to share such content with the rest of the world. If I was not transported by such powerful love into a digital space, I would not have the chance to witness and ponder upon technology’s potential and possibilities in social change. People without internet access, the privilege to receive education, the ability to learn, and the willingness to hear stories unrelated to their ordinary lives will not be exposed and moved by the content on Scalar. Kevin, I am also very curious about your thoughts on this question: how would information like this be more accessible in our daily lives? If such a platform exists in Rufu’s world in the 1970s, I will doubt its effectiveness in making a change since it is missing physical space. As a writer, I believe bridging the messages and inspiration from scalar with the press or mainstream media that expose to a large audience in a physical space may be more powerful. Kevin, how do you think we can let students in and outside of the classroom from all around the world in 2020 feel what we have felt in the Weylin Plantation in the 1800s? Are they willing to feel? Will feeling it make a change?

Going back to share you with what I have witnessed on Scalar and Google Drive: the Praxis 1 curation that focuses on the past time resilience in public space and celebrates difference as opposed to barriers and stereotypes strengthens my self-love and confidence in embracing my unique identities. I was inspired by Audre Lorde’s claim, that “Difference is that raw and powerful connection from which our personal power is forged” (Lorde). The foundational loving ethic of this curation makes me think about how I can expand my reacting mechanism in the face of the dominant culture, violence, and fearful situations: We resist with genuine self-love and the courage to express. Drawing back to our traumatic experiences with the patrollers, I believe a collective intervention from the society founded with loving principles will protect us from such inhumane practices – our resilience and love is not enough to confront the evilness, but also Indispensable. In Praxis project 2 I walked through a gallery of media artworks based on interviewers from a field of social justice. The media projects online demonstrated a transformative force that embraces change. I and you have witnessed and experienced one of the most dehumanizing events in human history, and I now realized that embracing the love to transcend our bitterness and tell a transformative story will help us cope with our lives back in the 1970s. Praxis 3 introduced me to the concept of “Afrofuturism”, and introduced alien frameworks in utopian/dystopian world-building narratives to prevail human’s togetherness with the tools of advanced technology and mixed media that elicit our instinctive emotions beyond barriers. From all these materials and online exhibitions, I was reminded that we will only experience true love when we surrender the will to power.

Sometimes I forgot to say this, but I just wanted you to know at the end of this long letter, Kevin, I missed you dearly and I love you the most beyond all barriers that aim to put us apart, whether it’s the limitation of time, race, distance, or death. Until this day of our journey, nothing can separate us, nor stop me from loving you.

With eternal love,
Dana Franklin

                                                                                                  Works Cited

Bell Hooks. (2000). All about love: New visions.

Lorde, Audre. “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House.” 1984. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches. Ed. Berkeley, CA: Crossing Press. 110- 114. 2007. Print.