How do you know if you should keep going on this [project/ company/ mission]?

I’m gonna be straight with you. I’m exhausted. You may be too. Though I’ve always considered myself an ally of anyone disenfranchised, I see that the depth and breadth of racism in this country is much more staggering than I realized. If you’re BIPOC, you already know this. You might even be sick of white people talking about finally waking up. So I’ll keep my words short.

I think it’s better that I just share Arlan Hamilton’s words. If you don’t know her, you soon will. She’s a venture capitalist who started her fund five years ago while she was on Food Stamps. She’s a queer Black woman without a degree and she fucking achieved her dream anyway. These are the kind of people we all need to pay attention to right now–people like Arlan. In her new book, It’s About Damn Time: How to Turn Being Underestimated into Your Greatest Advantage she says this:

“I’m asked all the time: “How do I know whether or not I should keep going or give up on this company or this project or this mission?” My answer is this: If you close your eyes and visualize the world five, ten, twenty years from now and feel okay with the thing you’re working on not existing, then it’s not urgent. But if you can’t imagine the world without it and want it to exist whether you get to enjoy the benefits of it or not, then not only is it important to you, it’s your calling.”

So, I ask you today to do just that. Imagine.

Change is coming.