“Any act to change the world around us begins within us. It starts with a sense of agency, a sense that we have the power to effect change. The Latin root of the word “power” means “to be able.” When we feel helpless in the face of injustice, it is easy to give in to the idea that this is just the way things are, because it’s the way things have always been. Then someone comes along and sparks our imagination, a prophetic voice from the past, or a friend on the phone. We begin to see that the norms and institutions that order this world are not inevitable but constructed – and therefore can be changed. The Brazilian educator Paulo Freire calls this internal shift “critical consciousness,” the moment we tap into our own power to change the world around us. It feels like waking up.”
From See No Stranger by Valarie Kaur
Chorlton Unitarians 