The iconic 1968 “Kerner Commission Report” led by Daniel Patrick Moynihan sought to answer why Black people were going crazy fighting against institutional racism. Moynihan said of Blackfolk who had endured centuries of violence and institutional racism, “That the Negro American has survived at all is extraordinary —a lesser people might simply have died out, as indeed others have.”
A ministerial mentor of mine recently suggested that the reason Black people have survived this ongoing assault is because we possess “audacious hope.” He added that though most people view “hope” as a nice “add-on,” it’s actually essential to life. Hope is literally what gives us life. Without it, we are the walking dead.”
We’re moving toward perilous times. The new presidential administration and its army of over 80 million voters sanctioned retribution and revenge upon us for what they think we stole from them. Challenging times await us (understatement of the year). But we survived legal and state-sanctioned attacks against our humanity before via the power of “audacious hope.” It is that kind of unapologetic, “crazy,” bold, childlike hope that will give us a chance to not only survive but even thrive amid the coming storm.
