“I’m no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I’m changing the things I cannot accept.” — Angela Davis
In a political moment defined by backlash, fearmongering, and organized assaults on truth, equity, and Black life, many believe the only way to fight back is through sheer outrage.
Anger is understandable, even necessary, in the face of anti-Black, anti-democracy, anti-science, anti-women, anti-children, and anti-justice forces that seem to multiply by the week. But anger alone is not a sustainable strategy.
The truth, supported by research, history, and lived testimony, is that gratitude, love, and higher aspirations create deeper and longer-lasting resistance.
This may sound counterintuitive. Gratitude is often dismissed as soft, apolitical, or even naïve. But gratitude is an energy; a force that strengthens focus, sharpens courage, and fuels longevity. Far from being a retreat into personal positivity, gratitude has always been part of the Black freedom tradition. At its best, gratitude is a revolutionary practice.
Gratitude strengthens long-term resistance
Social science research has shown that individuals who cultivate gratitude experience greater resilience, an improved mood, and a stronger sense of motivation. Movements require endurance, not merely bursts of intensity. As civil rights veteran Ruby Sales once said, “You can’t build a movement on hate. You build a movement on the deep love of our people.”
Gratitude for Black humanity — for our creativity, survival, and brilliance — is part of that deep love. It gives us the stamina to keep pushing long after anger begins to burn out.
Love-based motivation outlasts outrage
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taught that “power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice.” King was not calling for sentimentality; he was naming the type of power that can endure struggle without becoming what it fights. Anger gets us into the streets, but love keeps us there, organizing, educating, protecting children, building institutions, and imagining new futures.
Movements driven by higher aspirations have historically shown more staying power, from the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the Pan-African liberation struggles that spanned decades.
Appreciation for ancestors inspires courage
When activists say the names of Ida B. Wells, Kwame Ture, Ella Baker, Thomas Sankara, Steve Biko, Fannie Lou Hamer, and countless unnamed ancestors, that is gratitude in action. It is a way of remembering that we come from people who faced worse odds and still refused to surrender.
As Hamer said, “Nobody’s free until everybody’s free.” That conviction grows stronger when paired with appreciation for the sacrifices that made our present possible.
Joy is a political resource
Across the African diaspora, joy has never been escapism. Rather, it has been a strategy. Freedom songs, ring shouts, dance, communal meals, and shared laughter have all been technologies of survival. As the Kenyan writer and activist Wangari Maathai noted, “In the course of history, there comes a time when humanity is called to shift to a new level of consciousness… That time is now.”
Joy opens that consciousness. It clears space for imagination, and imagination is critical for resistance.
Higher purpose combats burnout
Movements burn out when people forget what they’re fighting for. Gratitude reorients us toward purpose. Appreciating the children we want to protect, the elders we want to honor, the futures we want to secure. This is what steadies the spirit when headlines overwhelm. Gratitude interrupts despair by reminding us of what is still worth defending.
Community gratitude fuels unity
When communities pause to honor collective wins, celebrate shared history, or uplift each other’s contributions, unity deepens. Gratitude dissolves ego and competition. It allows us to recognize that our liberation is intertwined. Don’t forget, Jesus, the revolutionary Black Messiah, paused from his movement to build God’s kingdom here on earth via a self-determining reality for his people, to attend a wedding. And not only did Jesus go to the wedding, when spirits were low (literally), he got the party started by turning water into wine. And you best believe attendees were grateful.
Jesus knew communal fellowships fuel gratitude, and gratitude fuels freedom fighters.
As Pan-Africanist Amílcar Cabral taught, “Tell no lies, claim no easy victories.” Gratitude lets us face the truth with humility and hope.
Hope guides strategic action
Hope is not optimism; it is discipline. Gratitude strengthens that discipline by grounding hope in what is real: our people, our gifts, our history. Hope clears the mind for strategic thinking, whereas outrage alone often narrows it.
How to cultivate gratitude-based resistance
- Start or end each day by naming three things (or people) you’re grateful for.
- Incorporate gratitude into meetings, organizing spaces, and family gatherings.
- Study gratitude-rooted movements like the Freedom Summer organizers, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the South African Freedom Charter movement, or the work of Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement.
- Read: All About Love by bell hooks, Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown, Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela, and Joy Unspeakable by Barbara Holmes.
- Practice “gratitude pauses” during tense moments; reconnect with purpose before reacting.
- Celebrate wins, even small ones, to build momentum.
Resistance rooted in gratitude is not passive. It is powerful. It is clear-eyed. And it is the path to longevity, unity, and liberation.
