A Decade of Literary Resistance With The Dandelion Insurrection
Can you believe it’s been 10 years?
The Dandelion Insurrection has been lighting up readers’ imaginations for 10 years. It’s hard to believe this golden yellow book has reached a decade of circulation on this maddeningly tumultuous world. It was written as Snowden made his revelations about the extensiveness of the US surveillance state. The Occupy Protests had just been raided and dismantled by a crackdown coordinated under President Obama (who had bailed out the Wall St. banks that led to the protests). The climate crisis was already crashing down upon our heads – and it’s only intensified since then.
My author’s notes in the three volumes of the trilogy (The Dandelion Insurrection, The Roots of Resistance, and Winds of Change) act like time capsules across the decade that saw the Ferguson uprising, Standing Rock’s #NoDAPL Pipeline struggle, the George Floyd Protests, Greta Thunberg and the student climate strikes, #NoKidsInCages, March for Our Lives, the Women’s March, #DefendDemocracy’s campaign to stop Trump’s attempt to steal the 2020 election, and so much more.
Over those same 10 years, I published 13 books, survived cancer, moved across the country, gave hundreds of talks and workshops, participated in the social movements, and cohosted two radio shows. It’s been a whirlwind.
Over the years, many people have commented on how prophetic The Dandelion Insurrection seems to be. But it wasn’t a sixth sense that gave the novel it’s eerie propheticalness. It was common sense. I wrote the book with my ear to the ground and a willingness to imagine both the worst and best case scenarios that could grow from the times that we were in. In 2012-13, The Dandelion Insurrection took pre-existing social injustices and expanded their impact, asking us to imagine how outraged we would be if the military budget took 70% of our taxes (it’s over 60% now), or if our neighbors’ families were being put in detention centers along with migrant families. It cuts through the illusion of the two-party system and puts culpability on the heads of those who deserve it: corporate politicians and the rule of the rich.
Over the past 10 years, some of its speculative fiction has become realism. Some of its realism has become understated. Some of its hopeful optimism has become the reality of mass movements erupting on a wide range of social issues. Yet, the greatest struggle of all time still looms “just around the corner of today”.
What I feel about the state of our world, ten years after writing this book, is horrified fury at the greed of politicians and rich people that has allowed the same life-threatening crises to not only continue, but worsen. The reckless disregard of reality is so shocking that my words fail me. Something immense must shift – and soon – if humanity is to have a future on this beautiful and imperiled planet.
If there was ever an era that needed a story like The Dandelion Insurrection, this is it.
So many thoughts turn in revolutionary spirals through my mind as we pass the milestone of 10 years. Each chapter of each book of the trilogy has an idea that brims with relevancy and poignancy. This summer, I’m going to spend some time in newsletters, videos (like the one below), and articles reflecting on this decade and the role of the The Dandelion Insurrection in touching the hearts and minds of thousands of people. Keep your eyes out for these and thank you for sharing them … like wish-blown dandelion seeds.
Be kind, be connected, be unafraid,
Rivera Sun
A Few More Thoughts On Dandelion At 10
The novel has been read by high school freshmen and in tree-sits to stop oil pipelines. Here are some highlights and reflections on 10 years of the Dandelion Insurrection. Share here>>