We are not our ancestors. I have been seeing this everywhere, and in case you haven’t, it is no compliment. It is not a humble epiphany or homage to our ancestors who endured Hell – to say the least – for our benefit and for our liberties. It is an audacious statement that has been trending as a threat, as a way to say to oppressors of Black people that we will not back down or go down without a fight. But I’m not sure what that has to do with our ancestors because if anyone fought, it was our ancestors. If anyone went down without a fight, it was our ancestors, so why some of us are minimizing all they endured not only for their own freedom but the freedom of their descendants, a.k.a. us, is beyond me.

We are in a time of great calamity – of violence, of oppression, and of outcries and demand for justice. Pandemic, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor are really all I have to say for contextualization of what I am referring to. We are being murdered in the streets, our votes and voices are being suppressed, and a global disease is killing thousands every day. This combination of things is new to us, for sure, but this is not new in and of itself. History, especially in America, has a way of repeating itself, and this is not different terrain than what our ancestors found themselves in. Except they were not free from psychological and physical bondage, they could not freely or publicly read, and freedom to be, and to just exist, were not liberties they could indulge in. We groan at the fact that we have to stay inside to prevent the spread of a disease, I might add while they endured beatings, the separation of their families, and the removal of their culture – just to name a few. While despite efforts to deplete them of faith, pride, and sense of self, they pressed on with a steadfast faith, with a will to live and an unshakable will to be free, to reach the North Star and free as many people as they could.

I don’t often draw comparisons because they are fruitless in nature and because it is the thief of joy, but when our ancestors are being underestimated and disrespected like this, it calls for a reality check, for illumination of the fact that we are nothing without them, that it is their shoulders we stand on. The reason we can continue to fight for that which they died for is that they laid the groundwork. Because they risked their very lives for liberties that slave owners, the government, and this country told them over and over that they were not worthy of and ever going to get. Our resilience is because of their resilience. Our faith is because of their faith. Our ingenuity and intellect and everything that makes us the magical and exceptional people we are is because of their example. Because we are following their lead. We are not our ancestors and thank God for that, but let’s make them proud. Let’s make sure their sacrifices were not in vain.