Who are the bearers of messages most important to our lives? How are they helping you actively work for change? For me these days, black authors. I find myself reading and reading books from authors who voices are amplified more so in death than while alive. Audre Lorde first comes to mind. Her words have a way of helping me be as free as a bird. When I read her, when I pay careful attention to her words, much of what I end of saying is all I hope she would approve were she to be alive. Words like how one of the most basic Black survival skills is a willingness to change. It’s a necessary condition for survival she would say, something we learnt over four hundred years ago. Something the new generation needs to become fast with learning. No need repeating the same mistakes of the past.

Change also means growth, even though the act of growing can itself bring pain. Lessons in life will be 100% repeated if not learnt, she would also say. Learn them, even build upon them as they serve as paths towards survival. Don’t waste time romanticizing them too, but know that the lessons they teach seed possible futures. One that will be complex and not easy to achieve. In the end, we will become powerful because we survived and moved in the direction of change. Everything we do to learn the lessons is for our survival and growth. Change therefore is our responsibility. Each of us, where ever and however we stand, and in whatever arena we find ourselves in must change noted Audre Lorde. Which is why I ask again who are the bearers of the messages most important to our lives? How are these bearers helping you to actively work for change? Keep changing whoever and wherever you are.