Brittany Packnett Cunningham

It sounds so ridiculous.

It sounds so loosey-goosey, woo-woo, whatever.

But if I'm not daring enough to build that world...

then I will not act in ways that rise to that expectation.

I will act in ways that rise to a middling expectation.

If I dream a world that just doesn't pull my sons over when they turn 16, if I dream a world that doesn't just make my sons afraid to read in front of the class, if I build a world that just says, hey, I don't want them to end up in the same place that Philando Castile did, so make sure your taillights are always fixed.

If that's all I dream of, then that's all I'll ever act towards.

And I want more for them.

My ancestors wanted more for me.

Because they were daring enough to dream that I'd be free.

And then they worked toward it.

They didn't say they want me to be on a plantation with a nicer massa.

They didn't say they wanted me to, you know, maybe be able to marry somebody of my choice.

They said they wanted me to be three.

I have to be that daring.

all the time, every day.

I have to be deliberate about it.

I have to be strategic about it.

I have to be thoughtful about it.

I have to be consistent about it because that's what my children deserve.