be brave like a gryffindor. sit in the front row. ask that “stupid” question. choose that bold essay prompt. befriend the new student. join that club you wanted to last year. talk to your instructor. take credit for your work. treat yourself with honor.
be hardworking like a hufflepuff. do the extra reading. rewrite those sloppy notes. go to that morning class. work on understanding that difficult concept. help others understand it, too. make your own study guides. organize your looseleaf papers. keep your planner up to date.
be curious like a ravenclaw. write down anything and everything you’ll want to google later. question why that theorem works. overlearn. ask for help. challenge the textbook sometimes. check sources. use any extra learning resources your teachers have to offer. all of your subjects are interesting if you know where to look.
be ambitious like a slytherin. go after your goals with confidence. cut out the people who question your capability. get what you deserve. don’t settle for mediocre friends. don’t settle for a mediocre education. don’t settle. believe that this will be your year.
However, here is some very good news.
The Democrats won back the House, gained subpoena power, and can now serve as an actual check on 45. This is very very good.
So even if it wasn’t the “blue wave” a lot of people were hoping for, I want you to remember that the GOP no longer will hold as much power as they did. Lots of women were voted into office, LGBT+ candidates were voted into office, more POC were voted into office, two more Muslim women were voted into office, Florida voted to restore voting rights to over one million felons who have completed their terms of sentence, and Massachusetts voted to protect transgender rights. I know there was more but this is what stood out to me.
And right after I finished writing that I learned the GOP supermajority in NC is over and our Governor’s veto powers can now be sustained. And the Dems now hold a 5-2 majority on the state supreme court which means something might actually get done about our horrific gerrymandering and I totally just started crying. I think my anxiety just dropped about sixty pegs.
Despite the gerrymandering and very blatant voter suppression (i see you, Kemp), we did take steps in the right direction today. So take some deep breaths, take the next few days to yourself and get re-centered, and then keep going. Lean on your friends, treat yourself to something nice, come back with a vengeance. We’re in for a long fight.
Cudjo Lewis, the last surviving captive of the last slave ship to bring Africans to the U.S.
It’s so significant too that this narrative was collected by Zora Neale Hurston, one of the greatest authors and anthropologists of her time. She was shunned by the “gatekeepers” of both of these professions, largely because of her Blackness, her womanhood, and her uncompromising commitment to honoring and showcasing both in her works. She died penniless and alone in a state-run institution in 1960. All of her works had gone out of publication by then. It took more than a decade before she was rediscovered. A young author by the name of Alice Walker had come across her work and was deeply inspired by it. “In 1973, after an exhaustive search, Walker came across Hurston’s unmarked grave in Ft. Pierce, Fla. She purchased a headstone for Hurston’s tomb and had it inscribed “A Genius of the South.“”
It is through Zora Neale Hurston’s pioneering sacrifice, and the acceptance of that inheritance by Alice Walker that we have found this missing piece of our history. Without the courageous and unfailing work of Black women, we wouldn’t have Cudjo Lewis’s story. We are slowly regaining a narrative that’s been hidden from us, one that continues to be lied about. Trust Black women to lead the way.
the1timetraveller 