When talking about what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. identifies as “the urgency of now,” it can be difficult for some to not slide into a narrative of catastrophizing. Deal or no deal, total collapse of society or why some people keep insisting on rocking the boat. The twenty-first century has been off to a rough start with the increase in global temperatures and fluctuations in weather patterns, the creeping influence of extremism, and the persistence of institutional racism.

A bit of our fear around the discussion of race stems from how we view ourselves regarding the concept of Blackness. I say “concept” because we know that race is a social construct. It has real-world consequences for how our lives play out.

One would imagine that a fair world is worth changing for. It feels like a natural choice, and it follows a line of logic – if you live in an unjust world, and you cannot be moved at all by suffering, then the best recourse is to try to right the wrongs.

Today, we live in the wake of one of the largest social movements in US history being largely unsuccessful in creating institutional change. We live approaching a climate catastrophe that has already decimated entire nations and threatens to expand exponentially. We live in “the richest country in the world,” where over sixty percent of working people live paycheck to paycheck, including half of those earning six figures.