You’ve never known us to hold back. So I’m going to be bold. I’m doing this because I know this struggle intimately. It comes in the form of barriers that sound like…
- I don’t have energy or time
- I can’t afford it
- I won’t be able to make a difference
I worried y’all. Like, really worried.
This summer I was in Atlanta and visited the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. This picture has haunted me.
Specifically the white faces. What made them get on this bus in 1961? What did it feel like when they did? I know they tasted freedom because once they saw how power was shifting, they wrote letters and called home – pleading for others to join them – “we can do this…the more of us there are, the more powerful we become! Will you come?” What do you think they heard?
- I don’t have energy or time
- I can’t afford it
- I won’t be able to make a difference
We cannot say today that we would have been on the right side of justice then, when our excuses are the same now. The exact same.
Remember that quote from Frederick Douglass…that power only shifts with demand? You can stay on the struggle bus or you can get on the bus of collective power and liberation. These barriers I keep hearing…they are the signposts of the struggle bus. I know this because I was on that bus. When I finally got off and looked back I could see the connection of my excuses to those of my ancestors and you know what it feels like on this liberation bus?
It feels like a freedom I’d always been told I had, but rarely felt in the core of my being.
I’m not getting off this liberation bus until I see it bring joyous, healing waves of relief from the oppression of white dominance. I have my loudest celebration for you when I see you climb the stairs onto this bus. The engine has started and we are about to pull out of the station. Jomo and I are pouring everything we’ve got into those on it.
There’s still time for us to hit the breaks, open the door, and welcome you aboard. You coming?
______________________________________
Ready to get going? Come find out where you can get on board over here!
