Society has a lot of ideas about what is right and wrong–about who has access to what. Healthcare, voting, marriage, who can go to what school, who can exist in what space has always been under debate and up for grabs since the country’s establishment. Every month, there is a new right at risk for those deemed the least of these.
I, like many others have had a hard time with everything happening. What has anchored me is ancestral memory. It’s the knowledge of lineages gone by. The memory that exists in me even without my awareness. It’s the memory of a people, who have always created a beautiful life despite what was lawful or legal.
If we allow others to dictate our happiness, they will always work overtime to take it away. As long as others—whom we have never met and who couldn’t care less about us—can decide whether we are valid, they will always hold the power over us. We must be the ones to take our power back. We must validate ourselves and each other. We must learn how to create our own lives. If it’s validated and blessed by others, great. If it’s not, that’s great too. We must stop living by the approval of the system which has actively sought to harm us.
This is a painful time and even our wins can feel fleeting. Having someone have the power to drastically change our world with the strike of a pen doesn’t feel good, but we have always persisted. And a part of that persistence has been creating the lives that we want to live—regardless.
Be well.