What If?

An excerpt from Valarie Kaur’s talk at the National Moral Revival Watch Night Service, December 31, 2016
See her full talk at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ7QlKG70LE

So the mother in me asks, what if?

What if this darkness is not the darkness of the tomb, but the darkness of the womb?

What if our America is not dead, but a country that is waiting to be born?

What if the story of America is one long labor?

What if all of our grandfathers and grandmothers are standing behind us now, those who survived occupation and genocide, slavery and Jim Crow, detentions and political assault?

What if they are whispering in our ear today and tonight, “You are brave.”

What if this is our nation’s greatest transition?

What does a midwife tell us to do? “Breathe.” And then? “Push.” Because if we don’t push we will die.  If we don’t push our nation will die.  Tonight we will breathe.  Tomorrow we will labor in love, through love, your revolutionary love is the magic we will show our children.