Optimistic,
If things around you crumble
No, you don’t have to stumble and fall
Keep pushing on and don’t you look back, oh
I know of storms and strife,
I been around them all of life,
Just think ahead and you’ll be inspired,
To reach higher and higher,
You’ll always do your best
If you learn to never say never,
You may be down, but you’re not out
Just be optimistic.

Optimistic, by Sounds of Blackness.

The Night was cool. Nearly frozen water and moisture congeal to tear-like droplets upon hopeful branches teaming with blossoms. Shining through the treescape, the glowing Flower Moon of May gives hope to escaping slave trekkers on the brush-filled ground seeking out a pathway to freedom. Tired yet wide eyes pierced the dark night, forever engaged, forever seeking the handle of the big dipper in the ebony-painted sky. Once it is found, they take a slight glance at what precedes it. The light, the possibilities, the future burning bright in Polaris the North Star.

This story is multiplied many times over in different expressions, seasons, and struggles. The faces, complexions, phenotypes, and ethnicities of those facing multitudes of diverse obstacles may change, but the stories are the same. From the escaped souls seeking freedom from chattel slavery to the 21st-century Central American Family seeking asylum to the Indigenous sojourner’s struggling to find a home in a place that once was, every story binds those in solidarity to the search for True North. Diversity, Equity Inclusion, History, and Racial Justice are being opposed with renewed energy fueled by ancient emotions from vile and base origins.

This reality withstanding, the choice is yours; you can choose to be Optimistic! Optimism is the key. History teaches us that perseverance will always overcome the circumstance regardless of how dire it may seem. In a world inundated in a chorus of fearmongering and backlash mentality by a shrinking segment of our population, the challenge is to remain unified through Ties that Bind as we journey together toward the elusive Beyond of True North. True North is the peace that passes all understanding. It is 390 black churches in the state of Florida uniting together to teach black history in the face of educational backlash.

A September 21st, 2022  Iposos.com news release from Senior VP, US Public Affairs Chris Jackson entitled “Most parents want classrooms to be places of learning, not political battlegrounds,” associated story and polling data reveal the following: “When given a choice, most Americans (86%) and parents (87%) feel lessons about the history of racism prepare children to build a better future for everyone as opposed to feeling that lessons about racism are harmful to children (12% of Americans and 10% of parents feel this way).

• Republican (79%) and Democratic parents (95%) overwhelmingly feel that lessons about the history of racism prepare children to build a better future for everyone rather than harming them…”

The freedom road is long and winding, with many detours and distractions that ultimately present themselves as excuses to capitulate. Nancy Blackman’s article in The Medium (Be Brave and Find Your True North: Steps to How and Why) describes it as a formula: “Beliefs + Purpose + Values = True North.” The next frontier in the quest for racial equity is just over the horizon as many individuals and people groups in a society of uncertain times rededicate their lives to things that really matter, in essence, their true north. A place where truth is acknowledged and confronted with the vigor and courage to admit the missteps of the past. Optimism says this is where those missteps end. To buy into the status quo is unfulfilling and unsustainable.

The Sounds of Blackness song (Optimistic), quoted at the beginning of this article, later goes on to say, “Be optimistic. You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky.” Translation, “True North.” Look up, change your outlook, change your perspective, change your trajectory, and do it right. The snares and traps await a moment of your indiscretion. The True North of Justice is attainable for us all,

“Doing what is right is inextricably linked to the idea of America. Generations before us who were responsible for building the nation we now enjoy sacrificed far more than we have been asked to in order to bring us closer to that ideal. All of us, advocates and allies alike, owe it to them, as well as those who will follow us, to find a common trust and a common bond that most certainly exists within us.” The Business Insider We’re Doing DEI Wrong by Steve Pembermanby.

True North surpasses the simplicity and the sudo finality of a destination. Concerning racism, Jemar Tisby states in his best-selling book, Color of Compromise. “History demonstrates that racism never goes away; it just adapts.”  True North is up to the challenge. It implies a state of being that is ever-expanding and adapting to face the challenges of a world in a constant state of Flux. It cultivates strength, fortitude, and creative imagination.  Even though a door closes, True North is able to navigate through struggles and trials to discern and locate the open one that awaits. 

Scripture says it this way.

Don’t interfere with good people’s lives; don’t try to get the best of them. No matter how many times you trip them up, God-loyal people don’t stay down long; Soon they’re up on their feet, while the wicked end up flat on their faces.

Proverbs 24:16 The Message,

“Be optimistic. You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky.”

“Optimistic” by the Gospel group, Sounds of Blackness was released in May 1991 on the Perspective Records label.