A Letter to Alexei Navalny

 

Dear Sir:

Until a few days ago, I had not heard of you nor was I aware of the significant role you play in keeping Russia a country where people can hear the other side of the story.  The news of your suspected poisoning in an airport and the emergency landing of the plane to rush you to a hospital in Siberia was graphic enough to penetrate the networks here in America where we tend to be more interested in local news or foreign experiences of our own people. 

Your recovery is very important and I sincerely hope and pray that you will be restored to your family and the courageous work you are doing on behalf of your people. It is encouraging to know that you are being well taken care of with the best of doctors; I am grateful that the German government reached out to fly you to their own facilities where your wife will feel more confident of the outcome. May your recovery be swift and there be no long lasting repercussions.

This letter has a two-fold purpose: to salute you and thank you. 

Sir, I salute you for the decisions you made in your life which brought you to this dangerous situation, lying in a coma in a foreign land with the cause of your illness suspect. After doing some research on your reputation, I see you are willing to make difficult choices which have serious consequences. You could have left Russia in disillusionment and frustration. Continually waging battles against an overwhelming giant is exhausting. But whether for love of country or compassion for the people, you elected to stay in a dangerous life. You put yourself in harm’s way, but without the uniform and gun of which soldiers have advantage. You chose words as your weapon and transparency as your strategy. It has made you exceedingly unpopular with the leadership of the land.

You have been attacked before, a green acidic chemical was thrown into your face causing burns and eye damage. You have been arrested and detained multiple times, I guess you were interrogated as well. Threatening letters, legal attacks, having your private emails posted on line, and being in Kremlin cross-hairs pretty much sums up your life now. You knew the hazards and you have a family: two great excuses for you to choose an alternate career. One in which your talent, charisma and thinking skills could have been personally profitable and secure.

Which brings me to my second purpose: Thank You.

You chose to model risk and self-sacrifice to benefit the people of your country. It obviously hasn’t been convenient or lucrative for you. Nevertheless, you persist in calling out corruption and oppression. I am from a country founded by people who understood self sacrifice. Our patriotic forefathers paid a high price for American freedom. But we have come a long way since then. We have a saying: Freedom isn’t free. But the average American doesn’t have to look at the price tag anymore. We expect our military to pay the bill and we pay them to put their lives on the line. 

Meanwhile, we wallow in our freedom. We insist on it, even at others’ expense. We resent or moan or complain about wearing uncomfortable masks during a pandemic spread by air transmission. Some of us even claim wearing a mask violates our Constitutional rights, which would mean that in our hierarchy of values, the Constitution rates somewhat higher than “love your neighbour”. We have been known to resist social distancing, claiming it conspires to undermine our freedoms: to worship, to drink together, and even to attend massive motorcycle rallies without worrying about the next guy.

Sir, you are the kind of person I would want for a friend. You are the kind of person I would want for a countryman. Your willingness to stand in the gap for your people, to help them know what they need to know, to hold your leaders to account—these are valuable gifts to your country. We need your kind of people here in America. As the world holds its collective breath, hoping and praying that you make it out of this crisis, know that you have made a difference. You are a model for all of us. 

Thank you and blessings on you.