When asked to write this article for the Love edition, I struggled to find a topic. Lately, I have not been in the best headspace to write on the topic, as my emotions have hijacked me onto a roller coaster of great sorrow from watching the insurrection of Trump supporters storm the Capitol in Washington, D.C. to strong elation watching the inauguration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. However, after listening to the first National Youth Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman recite her powerful poem, The Hill We Climb, it made me think of us, as a Black community, and all that we have faced and endured, specifically in 2020. COVID took away the lives of many of our dear loved ones, the systemic racism we face daily has taken tolls on our psyche, and the crippling impact of losing our jobs has hit our community harder than others.
So, with this in mind, I am writing a love letter to you, my people, with the quotes from Gorman’s poem, that reminded me of our collective strength and impactful presence in this world. May God Bless You.
To My Beautiful Black People,
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true,
that even as we grieved, we grew,
that even as we hurt, we hoped,
that even as we tired, we tried,
that we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
We mourned the losses of many of our community members, due to police brutality, COVID, and/or neighborhood violence. Yet, despite our tiredness of the same racism, sexism, homophobia, and transphobia we have endured for ages, we prayed, organized, and protested together in our different states, as one. We used our collective voice to demand justice and change. Despite all the odds against us, we kept hope alive, reminding our world that our Black Lives Matter.
We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation
rather than share it.
Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy.
And this effort very nearly succeeded.
But while democracy can be periodically delayed,
it can never be permanently defeated.
While White Supremacy tried its best to intimidate us, we rose up and took our anger and tears to the voting booths, choosing to vote in a new chapter of democracy. Our community reminded our country that “liberty and justice for all,” is not just a cute saying we say, in reciting our Pledge of Allegiance, as children in our school buildings. This liberty and justice is truly for ALL, and with our vote, we elected officials that have pledged to make sure that we receive our just due of these values owed to us, while sending those who neglected our needs and underestimated our power back home.
When day comes we step out of the shade,
aflame and unafraid,
the new dawn blooms as we free it.
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it.
If only we’re brave enough to be it.
Lastly, we stepped out of the shade of fear and terror of let our collective light shine. Our light shined bright on the injustices we faced, in order to illuminate the harsh truths to those who were comfortable with blindness. Through our activism and community service to those most in need, we became the light. We hosted voting registration drives, food pantries and free COVID testing in our Churches and other local organizations. And we lose sight of the light we possess within, our faith leaders have shifted to online services, so that we can maintain our shine within our daily lives, as an example to others, of our never-ending resilience.
Black Community, THANK YOU for your strength, faith, endurance, and your light that you bring wherever you are to our world. And although our world does not say it enough, your LIVES DO MATTER.
With Love From a Fellow Sista,
Deidre Montague
