I consider myself an ally and advocate. But is that enough? What am I doing to work toward a community that is shaped to equitably meet everyone’s needs? I participate as much as possible in the educational process to make people aware of the overarching injustice within society. I often leave presentations or discussions that I facilitate feeling a little disheartened. I expect to somehow witness the same fireworks and passion that I feel when learning about social justice. That just doesn’t happen.
I need to recognize and adopt reasonable expectations. The probability that someone’s entire perspective is going to change in an hour long presentation is very slim. I need to make sure that I understand that any presentation I give or discussion I lead opens up eyes a little bit. These presentations are getting feet in peoples’ doors. They open minds a little for future considerations. They are the small change that can snowball into huge change in the future.
I need to understand that. The world can’t change in one day, no matter how much I will it to. We all know that life isn’t fair, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t strive for it to be that way.