Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Here's an example of why I try not to get cynical and negative.
Today is Martin Luther King Jr day. Right off the bat, you could point out how it doesn't seem to get the respect that most national holidays get, but that's dismissing the achievement, and diminishing the celebration of a great man. A man who represents something very important to civil rights, and a whole lot of people.
King was always optimistic in the face of adversity. African Americans have had to remain strong and optimistic for centuries, otherwise, why would they bother? Why wouldn't they just lay down and die? They were enslaved, and had to endure centuries of horrific torture and cruelty. They had to endure another century and a half of mistreatment, oppression, violence, injustice, and a million other things that would break lesser people.
But it did not break them.
They held onto their culture, as well as their dignity, through it all. They have been fighting, and making progress all of that time, and they should be proud. They have held onto their dreams, in the face of a nation that seemed hell bent on holding them back. They have not given in to despair and cynicism. They have not given up.
I see a lot of white people who want social justice and civil rights for minorities and the oppressed. I see them champion noble causes, and fight for change. I see them want a better world for everyone. I see them want equality, and to stamp out hatred and racism and fear.
I also watch them get all defeated and cynical about it, and I have to laugh. They are straight white people, who have never had to struggle in any of the ways that the oppressed people in this country have had to struggle. They are getting depressed and defeated, yet not actually dealing with even a tiny fraction of what the targets of hatred and intolerance are facing everyday. Meanwhile, the people who are being denied their rights, who are being murdered in plain sight and not getting justice, who are victims of persecution, are staying determined and positive, and still fighting.
I suppose a lot of that is because when you're entitled, when you have advantages, when your life is easier, you become soft. You're not as defiant and determined when you're fighting for some abstract version of something you haven't really experienced. You can empathize with it, you can abhor it, but that's not the same as when it's life or death. Your life or death.
It's the same reason people get so cynical and defeated so easily with Trump. As horrible as the things his administration and party are doing to this country, most of it is still abstract to the ruling class, and if you're white and straight, you're part of the ruling class. Doesn't matter if you're a billionaire, or living on the street. If you're male as well, you're even more a part of the ruling class. Women are at a severe disadvantage in our society as well, don't kid yourself.
That's why so many people just throw their hands up, and say that there's no point. That's why so many people don't want to even think about politics. They don't want to be bothered. They are soft, and made weak by an easy life. The people who suffer the least give up the quickest, and that's a huge insult to the people they claim to care about.
Because make no mistake, being cynical and negative is hurting the causes you claim to care about. Apathy is what enables atrocities. Whenever you throw your hands up and decide its not worth the tiny bit of aggravation and you don't fight, you weaken a whole cause. When you don't bother to vote, when you stop pointing out inequality, your voice falls silent, and the chorus diminishes. The call for change gets quieter, and is easier to ignore.
I see so many people who are put out simply because they have to see political posts while they are scrolling through social media. The horror! Is there any better example of entitlement than someone who is beside themselves because they have to glimpse something they would rather not think about as they scan their free social media app on their high tech phone?
My whole point is that your cynicism and negativity is hurting your causes, and it's an insult to people who are really suffering. That's true of everything in your life as well. It's not that you're never going to get down, or feel like things aren't working out. It's not like you're never going to have setbacks, or fail at times. It's not that things aren't going to seem overwhelming or insurmountable now and then.
It's that you don't give up. It's that you keep fighting. That's what's important.
And you might say that you haven't given up, and you're not going to, but that's what a lot of people who have given up have said, not too long ago. That started with cynicism and negativity. That let the fear or the apathy in; gave it a foothold.
There are so many important things at stake right now. They affect us all. In the end, all injustice and oppression matters. All people who are being held down need our support. They need our hope and optimism, they need our energy and strength. You're not just helping them, you're helping yourself, even if you don't see it yet.
The nefarious psychotics who want absolute power are not going to stop at minorities. They hold you in contempt as well, and they are coming for you. You have a tenuous grasp on your place in society now, but that's being divided up and trampled on as we speak.
Hold onto your ideals, no matter how much the powers that be want you to give up on them. Hold onto the drive that keeps pushing you to demand what's right. Hold onto your hope and achievements, to the positives and the progress we've made.
Hold onto your dream, just like Martin Luther King Jr did, and you might still be inspiring the world long after you're gone. Be part of something bigger, and that all starts with believing in something and fighting for it, not giving up the moment it seems unattainable. Everything that has ever been attained seemed unattainable at some point, but because someone dreamed it, they made it real.
Don't be afraid to dream.