When you become discouraged, remember
that others have come before you who have fought this fight.
Ann: Am I correct in thinking that you would like to speak through me?
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Frederick Douglass: Yes. Do not denigrate our connection and your function as a channel with doubt that would delegitimize spiritual connection. It is imperative that you stand firm on the holiness and consistency of this connection, human to spirit and spirit to human .
It is interesting that as we enter another dark period in American history, that the black community and the women of this country are uniting in the cause of equality and justice.
But perhaps not surprising. Discrimination has always been applied to the lowest tenants of society. Those with power accumulate more power and use it to further suppress dissent and challenge.
They assume the mantel of this power by dent of what they see as natural authority, saying that those from the lower rungs of society could not possibly be blessed as equal human beings since, look at them, they have achieved so little in their time even when they were afforded the opportunity to do so. They could not manage their own lives so why should we allow them power over others?
I speak most pointedly about the current effort to turn back the clock to the relegation of women to powerless chattel, for of all the challenges that have come with this most recent power grab, women are the biggest threat.
The black population, as well as immigrants and poor minorities are scattered and diverse, and and their mistreatment is not offensive to everyone. But the image of women in chains is generally abhorred by almost every part of society and is therefore galvanizing for many.
The restriction of abortion rights and birth control was the beginning of efforts designed to put women down, bound to an uncontrollable supply of children leaving them unable move freely enough to challenge the patriarchy. That they are using children as the bullets in the weapons of their unholy war tells you all you need to know about the return to their so-called greater society.
And it is here that they are making their mistake.
As always, there will be a few who see their wealth, comfort, and prestige tied to the paternalistic regime. But that is fading, for, as fast as rights have been stripped from women and minorities, a shock wave just as powerful is beginning to reverberate through all levels of society.
The majority of the population is then left on the outside to mobilize. It will take time and tragedy for this outside army to fully materialize, but the seeds have been planted and sprouts are spreading rapidly.
So when you become discouraged, remember that others have come before you who have fought this fight. Drastic times are here and not for naught, for drastic times mobilize drastic change. The naked and blatant attempt to disenfranchise the majority of the population will expose the already existent cracks in what had been assumed to be a democratic system.
In fact, this country has never achieved democracy and was not set up as such, for underlying every revolution has been a structure organized to support the assumption that democracy was primarily for white men of a certain class.
This will change now, for there is no choice other than a return to the slavery, in one form or another.  It will take time. As with any new endeavor, many efforts will fail to come to fruition, but with each failure, renewed intensity and dedication will power the creation of a true egalitarian society, one based on spirituality, not face-saving religion, on fundamental change not misleading half-truths, and one allowing for participation of all who come in good faith to honor truth and justice.
When disaster strikes, opportunity follows.
Now is the time for your opportunity. Look for it, and be prepared to seize it.
February 9, 2025
*Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, c. February 14, 1818[a] – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He became the most important leader of the movement for African-American civil rights in the 19th century. After escaping from slavery in Maryland in 1838, Douglass became a national leader of the abolitionist movement in Massachusetts and New York and gained fame for his oratory and incisive antislavery writings. Wikipedia.
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