Dominique Hoffman is a translator of literary fiction and nonfiction from Ukraine.

Say something. Just make yourself heard. Write, call, make yourself known somehow. Be a voice in someone’s head even, send a signal. We’ll hear you. We’ll understand it the right way. We’re all crazy enough now to believe whatever you believe.

Ultimately, we depend on the stories we tell each other. I hope this story of Ukrainian history will strengthen your faith that progress is… possible despite catastrophe. Once again, at the next sharp turn in our history, Ukrainians will choose volya. And that choice offers hope for a better world.

It was quiet and sunny in Kiev at that moment, but the sports commentator confidently improvised while gazing at the boundless blue of the June sky.