Beware:IgnoranceProtects itself.IgnorancePromotes suspicion.SuspicionEngenders fear.Fear quails,Irrational and blind,Or fear looms,Defiant and closed.Blind, closed,Suspicious, afraid,IgnoranceProtects itself,And protected,Ignorance grows.― Octavia E. Butler, Parable of the Talents
I have been thinking about the relationships between ignorance, fear, and hopelessness. Contending with hope is not easy. I have only been able to come to terms with it through the work of brilliant artists who present it as active and demanding. Hope is not something we get to just hold. Its utility disintegrates in lazy hands and multiplies as it moves through the hands of the activated collective.
One of our greatest challenges today—in the face of immeasurable destruction, genocide, and indifference—is to grow hope.
