Every day presents infinite reasons to believe that change can't happen,
infinite reasons to give up. But I always tell myself, "Sonya, you have to
pick your team." It seems to me that there are two teams in this world. And
you can find evidence to support the arguments of both. The trademark of one
team is cynicism. They'll tell you why what you're doing doesn't matter, why
nothing is going to change, why no matter how hard you work, you're going to
fail. They seem to get satisfaction out of explaining how we'll always have
injustice. You can't change human nature, they say. It's foolish to try.
From their experience, they might be right.
Then there's another group of people who admit that they don't know how
things will turn out, but have decided to work for change. I see Martin
Luther King on that team, Alice Walker, Howard Zinn. I see my chaplain from
college and my activist friends. They're always telling stories of faith
being rewarded, of ways things could be different, of how their own lives
have changed. They'll give you reasons why you shouldn't give up,
testimonials why we've yet to see our full potential as a species. They
