Thoughts on a New Year

We cannot let a failure of imagination paralyze us. Things are bleak—climate crisis, the faltering of democracy, having our rights taken away. I feel like for the last two years, even as I participated in protests, kept raising money for human rights activists, made seemingly endless calls and texts for elections and anything else I could think of to try to stay committed and active, in my heart, I have been waiting for someone or something to save us. But it’s become clear—that’s not happening.

Listening to carceral abolitionist activist and lawyer Derecka Purnell made me take a breath into a new way of thinking. We need to IMAGINE together. She made me look at something from a completely different perspective, to imagine what it would be like if communities had real resources for the things they need—adequate, healthy, accessible food, good education, mental health services for everyone who needs them, childcare. That if people’s basic needs were met, if we could get guns out of people’s hands, if there were people to call for help who were NOT police, if we could address violence and violations of community norms with a restorative approach rather than a carceral approach, we would make the society we want. That vision gives me hope. We are not there. As she said, we certainly won’t get there in my lifetime, or likely in my children’s lifetimes. But we can and must work toward that vision. I want that vision to be real. I want to create a positive vision for all the things I care most about—and move toward that vision with each part of my effort. That is my purpose, and it needs to be all of our purpose. We are who we have been waiting for.