In a world where injustice existed some people chose to try to create equal opportunity legislation which would encourage justice for marginalized racialized people. This has been the case in both countries in North America. In the United States legislation has covered all marginalized people. In Canada, as far as I am aware, legislative action is mainly geared towards Indigenous people, with movement being made to create some equity for other marginalized people.

That legislation has been beneficial to some degree, and it has also created conscious and unconscious fear and resentment among the group who had been told for more than four hundred years that they were the ones entitled to positions in those spaces.

Fear has been on the rise as the world faces economic uncertainty, and some have used that fear to stir up the smoldering sparks of entitlement among the historically oppressive group, and to also fan the flame of survival compliance which has been smoldering among the marginalized group.

Therefore here we are today in a world which seems to be hopelessly regressing. Regressing? Yes. Hopelessly? No.

As long as there are people who continue to learn and who are committed to progressing courageously we will continue to move forward, no matter how slowly we progress.

The timing will always be perfect. May we continue to build, working out the kinks of progress together with love and solidarity; and may we not yield to the temptation to come down to fight the opponents of that progress; for they truly do not know what they do. Forgive them.