John,
My heart is full of gratitude for you. When we began this race almost a year ago, none of us knew what the months ahead would bring. However, we knew that this journey would take great conviction, commitment and belief that what we envision for our communities, state and country is possible. I still hold fast to that belief today.
Thank you for supporting our campaign, attending caucuses, and becoming a delegate when you could. While the initial preference poll numbers are not as large as we'd like, we are still moving forward to county and state assemblies.
As a person of faith and a scholar of American Studies, I reflect constantly on the annals of History that reveal stories of people pushed out, pressed down and set up with the odds stacked against them and wonder what kept them from giving up and giving in.
What kept millions of enslaved Africans who pressed for generations not to give up? What kept indigenous First Nations people pressing forward to fight against total genocide? What kept suffragists persistent in their quests for the franchise for over a century in the face of denial after denial? What keeps anyone with her back against a wall fighting on?
Hope. Hope in the possibility that the day of liberation and justice will come.
Today I stand in these traditions of hope and faith. Our path to ballot access may seem impossible to others. But what seems impossible is only improbable, when we truly believe and pray with our hands and feet. If you will continue to run with me, we will go forward to see what the end will be together!
I am reminded of the fabled words of our American heroine, Harriet Tubman, “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there's shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”
Sincerely,
Stephany Rose Spaulding
