Sometimes we forget the world we live in:

a world of hate, genocide, racism,

sexism, disease, starvation...

We forget that our problems are only a

minuscule portion of the works.

We forget that all the obstacles we face are

virtually non-existent in the grand scheme of things.

We forget that those suffering of hunger and disease and persecution

don't have time to worry about the same day-to-day struggles as we do.

We need to remember what's important during our time on this earth.

Sometimes we get lost.

We lose our way

as we travel through the journey towards equality.

We get so distracted by the mishaps of every day life

that the determination to save the world is lost and forgotten.

We get caught up in the social norm

of school, jobs, marriage, and children.

But my question is this:

what kind of world will our children grow up in if we fail to act now.

What will are children say when they find out what we've failed to do?

When they learn of all the hate?

When they know that beyond the borders of our country

and even within those borders,

people are killed for believing certain ideologies,

for dressing certain ways,

for being a certain gender,

or for being a certain race?

The time for change is now.

But there is also hope.

Hope that we will rise above

as many women and men have in the past.

As Soujourner Truth, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr.,

Billie Jean King, Golda Meir, and many others have before us.

I fall asleep at night scared...

scared that the world will go on as it is,

spinning its way towards self-destruction.

But I wake up with a certain peace of mind.

The knowledge that reminds me of our capability as human beings.

Our will, our passion, and our strength,

in unity, will guide us to freedom, equality,

and peace throughout the world.

It's our duty to step up, to be ridiculed and ostracized for being different,

and to be disagreed with.

Alone, we cannot change the world.

But, united, we human beings have the ability to do whatever we set our minds too.