Abstract

e write today about a journey to purpose.We write about how to keep going forward when the world is on fire.We write about holding onto the transformational power of expression and relationship.We see building connections and finding your unique point of agency as essential for creating systemic change.The injustices from Treyvon Martin to George Floyd are all-too-frequent reminders that living in a Black body in the United States is precarious.The persistence and deadly consequences of racism can be almost overwhelming.Now we are in a geopolitical nightmare with the war in Ukraine.We saw the hatred and fear scaling the walls of the Capitol, plundering democracy.We see the right to vote more and more constrained.We see grandmothers and aunts, fathers and brothers taken by COVID.How do we keep going forward?This is an essay about holding onto hope.We strive to build a world of equity and shared humanity.Progressive scholars, community activists, and public intellectuals identify the barriers to equity and shared humanity as lying within white supremacist, capitalist, patriarchal structureshistorical legal and cultural forces that justify and maintain systems of power.When the goal of justice and shared humanity is framed as ending "systemic racism, " many assume that organizations who focus on inner reflection and personal connection are too naïve to make a difference.This is an essay about finding the power to dismantle oppression by beginning with the personal.Systemic structures are real but starting there takes you away from looking at you.This is an essay about the process of sustainable social justice work: find your passion, pay attention to your pain, journey into your purpose.