The Way Forward

When the 45th President made the government another innervation of the Evil Empire, I remember calling my mother, panicked and all but crying. I asked her, as all panicked children do, “Mama, what are we going to do?” Without missing a beat, she told me, “Baby, we gon’ save our money, get these pots of bean and greens, and we gon hang on.”

…and we gon hang on.

These are the words that allow me to have hope in what I do, what I am doing, and what I believe in. There has been a radical hope that has been fostered in me as this pandemic! This hope has allowed to dream…even on days where I haven’t even seen the outside.

It’s…interesting.

But the thing that I believe is so important to know, to notice, and give is–life is not over. It’s not even on pause! We now have to create a way forward. We have to!

The cut paths are gone.

The planner cannot be in pen.

The world we knew…is not the same. And we cannot make it the same. The best thing that we can do now? The best thing? Hang on. We have to hang on! There has to be something that you can rely on for support, strength, and…hope. For me? That is my faith, and writing. Also, the ability to adapt! To shift! To recognize that what is going on–I can deal with, and it will not swallow me whole.

I refuse to let it.

…and hang on. And HANG on.

So, I take my vaccinated self, my believing self; my Black woman self; my Black mom self; the part of me that are scholar, poet, warrior, and trailblazer, put on my mask…and I hang on. My Mama said I could, so I will.

So, I leave you with the same: …and hang on.

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