My default response to troubling news is to announce that I will live in hope. When I say that, I mean it. It’s not always easy to live in hope but only light can carry us through dark times. Only light makes the world better, so hope is what I have.
And it’s not as if hope is a weak doctrine. Hope can inspire and push me forward. Just one smidge of hope means a flame that will grow larger when it identifies other signs of hope. It’s powerful in the bleakest of moments.
In the world of politics, this week has seemed bleak. The resignation of Justice Kennedy feels paticularly unsettling. I woke up this morning to Donald Trump blathering on that he is honored that Justice Kennedy has confidence in Trump’s ability to appoint a worthy successor. Kennedy didn’t say that, of course, and I respect his legal scholarship enough to believe that he doesn’t think that, but the fact of Republican control of the Senate and Kennedy’s retirement remains nonetheless.
I need hope now; we need hope now. And it is there. It’s in the words of John Lewis, who yesterday reminded us, “Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.”
It’s in the face of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the night of her impressive primary victory in New York. It’s in the words of scholar Tressie Cottom who celebrated Ocasio-Cortez’s victory with a tweet that made me smile, “If you elect all the socialist brown women with a strong red lip game things won't be magical BUT IT COULD NOT HURT.”
We are concerned. We are vigilant. But we are together and won’t be frightened into retreat. Because when you live in hope you know that there is light ahead.
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