It's Time to Grow Up

Ecclesiastes 3:1–8

There is a time for everything.

I’m reminded of that by Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. People often reference this when trying to make sense of what is happening in the world or in their lives. We move in and out of seasons relating to building and tearing things away, punishing and forgiving, planting and harvesting.

As people have often applied this passage to their lives for the sake of making meaning for themselves and each other, I step into those waters here. We are entering a new age, and on the cusp of a new era something is becoming very clear.

Politically, it is time for us to grow up.

I was there in 2008, when the world was ablaze with a vision of a new way of doing things. We were encouraged. We were “fired up and ready to go”.

We were inspired.

And in this, the Lord’s year of 2020, I’m declaring that we have been spoiled (rotten) with inspiration. It is a thing that will not come easily, might not come at all, and doesn’t do much in the worldwide theater of American politics, other than give people hope in the midst of a system that is not built for them. This is not to say that inspiration is bad. It is just woefully insufficient.

I say this in the spirt of balancing radical vision with radical acceptance. We desperately need something different than what we have. It may take us years, decades, seasons more to build that other “something”. It requires plucking away at the systems and structures that we currently suffer under. It requires having bold vision, yes. It also requires having bold dedication to the vision of new life so that we have a shot at making it a reality.

I say this in response to my own deep feelings about the Obama candidacy, presidency and legacy. I say this in response to how I have viewed our reactions to Obama, the expectations of him, the disappointments associated with him, and how those eight years taught the American populace to depend on political candidates to realize our hopes and dreams. To be clear, this really isn’t about Obama or “The Obamas”. For smart commentary on those topics, I suggest reading The Race Whisperer by Dr. Melanye Price .

Instead, I’m talking about us.

I’m talking about the American trend of looking for the right man to save us. In 2008, inspiration led burgeoning progressives to vote in Barak Obama. In 2016, inspiration led burgeoning nationalists to vote in Donald Trump. Both of these men have had and will have limited years in the Oval Office. Both of them have staunch supporters and staunch critics. Both of them seemed unlikely or impossible inhabitants of the white house, and both have signaled some type of “radical change” that swept the nation.

Both of them seemed unlikely or impossible inhabitants of the white house, and both have signaled some type of “radical change” that swept the nation.

I posit that in 2020, inspiration is not enough for us to move forward. Doors of ideology are widening and opening up. The landscape of political thought is broader than ever before. The field of possibilities is so vast, that it is almost impossible for one candidate to encompass all of what we need or want. While I believe that this is a good thing, I also believe that this means we must mature in the way most people view American elections and campaigns for candidacy. We can no longer seek the “strong man” to right all of the wrongs and calm our fears. We can no longer expect candidates that simultaneously have decades of political experience, public appeal, velvety words, charm, an air of strength, rock solid policy initiatives and political values that are broad enough to hold the many viewpoints of the country or even the left, as well as being highly electable. The moment we are in doesn’t allow for that. The political reality before us doesn’t allow for that.

Instead, what we need right now is a candidate that is the next best step along the long road to freedom. I don’t define freedom as having a Black candidate or elected official, but a Black one can help move the needle. I don’t define freedom as having a woman candidate or elected official, but a woman can help move the needle. I don’t even define freedom as having a candidate with a policy agenda that matches my own. That candidate is simply a temporary mechanism that can go to work playing a part in shifting our world. The people, the unelected, are the true change. We are the true power. Crafting a world that is made in the image of our values means doing the long and hard work of reasoning together, shaping and reshaping each other, learning about the impact of our ideals on others, and taking sure and steady steps that help us get to the next stage. The electoral process is simply one tool in the power building toolkit.

We cannot elect ourselves into liberation.

“We cannot elect ourselves into liberation.”

We must use elections to help build the bridge to freedom. We must take on the 360 degree work of (re)structuring a society based on liberation and justice. That is not something a candidate can do, and I think it’s time we get radically honest about the limits of candidates so we can start to get radically serious about the possibilities of the people.

I am going to vote for the next best step in this long journey. I am not inspired by the Presidential Election of 2020. I am not inspiried by its candidates. I am not inspired by any party, not even the one with which I have been registered since I was 18 years old.

My inspiration sits with the people who have been calling for a new day, forging the path forward via protests and policy demands and localized cooperative support. My inspiration sits with those who are very clear that no one is coming to save us. My inspiration sits with those who have set out to do the work of saving our collective self.

I am inspired by us.