You are young.

But I value you.

You may feel diminished.

But I value you.

Change.

Change will come.

Maybe not from your neighbor. Or from your parents. Or from your partner.

But from you.

Change will come…

From you.

I know this because I am you. And you are me.

I believe in your voice.

I believe in your power.

I believe in your mind.

I validate your emotions and the disheartened spirit you currently possess.

But change will come.

It will come in numbers so astronomical that textbooks will tell your story.

The story of how one voice refused to be silenced, despite its discouragement and weary spirit.

Just one voice.

And another.

And another.

And another.

I understand you are tired.

And broken.

And lost.

So am I. So are many others.

But change will come.

You have not failed as a community.

You marched.

You spoke.

You loved.

Continue to fight for yourselves.

Fight for your friends.

Fight for your family.

And we will continue to fight for you.

Change.

Change will come.

“There’s a dream in the future,

There’s a struggle we have yet to win.

Use that pride in our hearts to lift us to tomorrow,

Cause just to sit still would be a sin.

I know it, I know where I’m going,

Lord knows I know where I’ve been,

Oh, when we win,

I’ll give thanks to my God cause I know where I’ve been.”