Hope in the darkest of times
It’s easy to spiral into despair right now…deep and deadly rifts around the world and the approach of what will likely be a toxic election year are just some examples of what could make us feel helpless.
With this in mind, I wanted to lift up three things that fuel me and keep me going.
First, the courage of women of color leaders, and particularly of elected officials who are on the frontlines of policymaking, public speaking and organizing. Among them is my friend Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, who reminds us that “the answer to war crimes is not more war crimes” and newly elected Nadia Mohamed, the first Somali-American mayor in the United States, who asserts that “when we are not being intentional with our policies, we’re not doing our jobs right.”
Second, I’m inspired by all the work on the field, like the women of color leaders in Arizona who lead power-building organizations and with whom I have spent a year in learning and healing. It’s these women whose work is making Arizona a less hostile state for immigrants and a more robust hub of civic engagement. Many of them began organizing in 2010, when the infamous “show me your papers law” was introduced (and later passed) in the Arizona legislature. I met Raquel Teran in the aftermath of that law’s passage, when she was an organizer, and now she’s running for Congress! You can support her here.
Third, my 17-year old and their peers, who have inherited a climate crisis and a dysfunctional democracy from us. In this episode of Our Body Politic which I guest hosted, LaTosha Brown, Co-founder of Black Voters Matter Fund, calls them “the not having it generation.” They’re not settling for the mess they’ve inherited and are mobilizing to change systems and leaders. As the National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman says, “For there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”
In love and struggle,
Sayu