Beyond being eloquent, Martin Luther King Jr.’s assertion that we, the people, are all “... caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny” is also, of course, extremely accurate. His words speak to the extent to which we all rely on each other, for better or worse. We depend on others' viewpoints and perspectives in order to figure out who we are. This is a problematic habit, but the default for much of society. Can we even be who we want to be if others do not see us how we want? A friend of mine once asked me whether I was funny just because I was, or because others tell me I am. I would argue it is the latter. I say this because whatever humor I do or do not have is only successful if I convince others that it is funny. My point is, while likely to the dismay of many motivational speakers, one can not simply be “who they are” without at least considering the sentiment they provoke amongst their peers. Our society will not allow it any other way. MLK spoke on this paradox when he said “I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be”. Each of us depends on the other’s interpretation of ourselves in order to be who we “ought to be”. And what is it that we ought, and deserve, to be?
In terms of my High Roads Fellowship, I am working with the Fruit Belt Community Land Trust (FBCLT). Its ultimate goal is to stop displacement and the effects it has on poor and predominantly Black families. The racial inequities surrounding this displacement and impoverishment are so deeply ingrained that it is hard to decipher its insidious cycle. That being said, it depends on perspective. One person could look at the historic Fruit Belt neighborhood and ask why the residents have so little dignity, letting their houses and neighborhood fall apart. Another, and arguably more just, individual might ask why the banks and the city neglect to discontinue the perpetuation of inequality that determines the dilapidation and demise of predominantly Black neighborhoods.
So I guess my movement, both within and outside of High Roads, is to continue to bring attention to systemic inequality, advancing it to its end. That being said, my movement is everyone’s movement. It has to be. Diminishing inequality is dependent on diminishing the erroneous and damaging perceptions that have yet to be unwoven from society. Until then, none of us are who we ought to be.