Today, I am Full of Hope

This was originally published on January 21st, 2021, in the CLUE Newsletter.

For the last 24 hours, I have been trying to remember a story that encapsulates the last four years.

There isn’t just one. There are so many.

From my clients when I worked in immigration law who looked at me with despair in their eyes and asked, “Why does your country not want us here?” to the countless protests I went to across Southern California over the last four years.

It has been a long, exhausting journey.

We have spent the last four years fighting against white supremacist policies that put every minority in this country in jeopardy.

A friend of mine who lives in DC with her wife and two children texted and said: “I feel like I was finally able to take a deep breath and exhale, after four years of shallow, panic breathing.”

Rest assured if you feel this way, you are not alone.

Amanda Gorman delivers her powerful poem at the Inauguration yesterday.

But today, we are safer than we were yesterday.

Today, the Muslim ban is no longer. The United States is back in the Paris climate agreement. We rejoined the World Health Organization, which we exited in the middle of the pandemic. Racial equity is part of the Biden Harris administration’s top priorities. Massive immigration reform is coming.

Is our work done? Not even close. We have so much work to do together.

We need to create an economy that works for all of us, not just the rich.

We need comprehensive immigration reform that allows all immigrants in our borders to attain citizenship.

We need to reimagine public safety and reinvest in communities of color to finally realize racial equity.

And so much more.

But before we get overwhelmed by the work that is ahead, take a minute, take many, to ground yourself in the glory of this moment. Feel that calm, hold onto that hope.

Tomorrow and in the days and months ahead, we will push our leaders to do better for all of us, until justice is shining its glorious light in all corners of our cities, towns, and homes.

We will see you out there.