Monday's Opening Thought: February 1, 2021

Monday's opening thought, for Black folx only: It's Black History Month. Take each of this month's 28 days to be proud of who you are and where we're going. I know, this being Black in the United States thing ain't easy. It's often downright exhausting and it always has an element of danger to it. Blackness can sometimes feel like a pendulum. But I want y'all to look at the photos below. Yes, these are all pictures of struggle. But they are also pictures of pride, of a willingness to fight for freedom even when we're denied it. These are pictures of an unwillingness to let hate dim our internal lights.

No matter what, Black folx, we are a proud people. We will always fight for those that come after us and for those we walk alongside every day. We will fight even when we don't directly benefit because we know that equity and equality ain't the same thing. That is what being Black is. And that is something to be proud of every day, not just during the shortest month of the year.

Take the energy of our ancestors in this struggle and keep on pushing for better from your country, your neighbors, your workplaces. But make that push happen while you take care of yourself and your families and communities. Center your self-care, whatever that may be. Live for joy and hope and dreams. Make this Black History Month your new launchpad for taking care of yourself so you can take care of others. Our ancestors, our elders, would want that.

We all we got. Let's make sure we got each other and ourselves.