A piece by many inspiring voices.
Sometimes it is difficult to not have a heavy heart after the events of inhumanity transpiring across the country, across the world. It is exasperating and discouraging to see how poorly humans can treat each other. I have read articles about the psychology of racism and why humans are hard-wired to be wary of anyone different from themselves as a means of survival.
This article notes that we as humans must evolve past this neanderthal way of thinking if we are to survive and thrive moving forward since exclusion and racism will be a downfall of humanity. It was an interesting article (https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200403-how-to-overcome-racism-and-tribalism), but not the encouragement like I was hoping to offer.
Many are left wondering about how we move forward, feeling powerless in this ever-changing world. Sometimes it is helpful to look at history and the voices that have made a difference in civic consciousness for inspiration and guidance. The following quotes validate and hopefully encourage you to find solace, find your voice, and empower you during uncertain and evolving times.
I hope you are able to find hope from the words of these inspiring people…
“Ignorance and prejudice are the handmaidens of propaganda. Our mission, therefore, is to confront ignorance with knowledge, bigotry with tolerance, and isolation with the outstretched hand of generosity. Racism can, will, and must be defeated.” — Kofi Annan
“No human race is superior; no religious faith is inferior. All collective judgments are wrong. Only racists make them” — Elie Wiesel
“You are growing into consciousness, and my wish for you is that you feel no need to constrict yourself to make other people comfortable.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
“Whoever debases others is debasing himself.” — James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
“When we think of racism we think of Governor Wallace of Alabama blocking the schoolhouse door; we think of water hoses, lynchings, racial epithets, and “whites only” signs. These images make it easy to forget that many wonderful, goodhearted white people who were generous to others, respectful of their neighbors, and even kind to their black maids, gardeners, or shoe shiners–and wished them well–nevertheless went to the polls and voted for racial segregation… Our understanding of racism is therefore shaped by the most extreme expressions of individual bigotry, not by the way in which it functions naturally, almost invisibly (and sometimes with genuinely benign intent), when it is embedded in the structure of a social system.” — Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
“I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, for the other person. I never absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such people.” — Toni Morrison
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King Jr
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” – Desmond Tutu
“I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” – Anne Frank
“However bad life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at. Where there’s life, there’s hope.” – Stephen Hawking
“When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place.” – Paulo Coelho
“Never give up. No matter what is happening, no matter what is going on around you, never give up.” – 14th Dalai Lama
Wishing you a zen week ahead.
Warmly, Claudine
