The world today is broken, unfair, and filled with far more sorrow and pain than any civilization should be forced to bear. A couple weeks ago, for example, my husband, my sister, and I drove past flags at half-mast for a shooting while ranting about the devastation in Afghanistan. We were wearing N-95 masks, scattered around the car like dismal memorials to COVID 19, to protect ourselves from the smoky air of fire-ravaged California.
Yet what gives me hope is that from front-line workers to students, from hardworking nonprofits to capitalist pharmaceuticals, people have stepped up to do their part to save the world. Millions of us. 2020 sucked, 2021 is barely better, but we? We are the greatest thing we know of in this bleak universe.
So I asked thirty of the people I work with to share what gives them hope and why they fight. Here is what they said.
Samiyah McDuffie, Human Resources Professional & Student. Washington, D.C., United States.
Working towards the betterment of your community, local or global, is the most human action one can take. We do not flourish out of selfishness or greed, but prosper from togetherness.
