“We’re living in unprecedented times” – a phrase we’ve heard more in the last seven years than ever before. But are we really? Perhaps precarious times, but not unprecedented. Not when it comes to the backlash and the resistance to diversity, inclusiveness and belonging. Not when it comes to rewriting history to erase the evil and harms done. Not when it comes to blaming those that have been most marginalized rather than the systems that created their challenges and the people who uphold those systems. And certainly not when it comes to the systematic dehumanization of those who assert their humanity and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

We only have to turn the pages of history to understand that those in power and those who want to identify with power will do anything to hold that power, to justify that power, to wield that power. We only have to turn the pages of history to understand that caste, global anti-blackness, and white supremacy have been with us for millennia. Yes, they sometimes dress in different clothing and use the latest technology, but the goal is the same – to keep those who don’t look like them, love like them, worship like them, or move through the world like them, firmly under the knee of oppression.

But here’s the thing – this takes both willing active participants and passive, apathetic participants. It takes those that actively perpetuate the oppression and harm AND those who choose to look away, to not engage, to not call out the isms they see and benefit from. So, in these “precarious” times, it is critical that we act in “unprecedented” ways to actively resist the hate, to challenge ourselves to go beyond the usual talking points and pretty speeches and to get in the arena. Every day, each of us has the opportunity to write our own history. When we turn the pages of your history, I hope we will see that you fought with and for those who have been denied the most basic of life needs, that you fought with and for those who were attacked and labeled inhumane. And I hope that we will read that you fought with and for those who wanted a more just and liberated future for us all.”

-Regina Cannon