Today, it may feel like our country has rejected progress in favor of hate and bigotry.
But our ancestors remind us during the hardest of days that there is always light in the darkest of times.
On the eve of our community’s 50th year commemoration of resettlement, which redefined America, we hold these ancestral truths to be true:
That we are stronger than we’ve ever been.
That we are smarter and wiser than eight years before.
That together we will continue to hold and love each other unconditionally.
That we are inheritors of courage, strength, resilience. Descendants of warriors who have moved mountains and crossed oceans, sacrificing their very lives for freedom.
We know that progress isn’t linear.
But love and light always prevail.
That as future ancestors, we will continue to hope and build toward a brighter future.
Today, we grieve; we love; and we heal.
Tomorrow, we organize.