Rest if You Must…But Don’t You Quit
Today I was working on a task, and in the midst of it, I remembered a poem that a St. Louis DJ ended their show with everyday for years: “Don’t Quit” by Edgar A. Guest.
When Things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and debts are high,
And you want to Smile but have to sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As everyone of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won if he'd stuck it out,
Don't give up though the pace seems slow,
You might succeed with another blow.
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup.
And he learned too late, when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown,
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint of clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit,
It's when things seem worst that you mustn't quit.
Right now, things seem overwhelming. We receive report after report about attacks on equity from the federal level on down. It can seem like we are losing, and it’s easy to lose hope and just give up. However, as the poem says, we need to stick to the fight. When things seem hardest, we must redouble our efforts. The other side depends on us becoming so tired that we just give up altogether.
Often during training, I remind people of the parable of the choir. Choirs can sustain a note for an incredibly long time for one reason: individual singers rest and take a breath as needed before rejoining to allow the next singer to rest. Because of staggered rest, the note goes on for as long as the choir director asks.
Equity work is the same. We are trying to do the work of undoing over 400 years of systemic inequity and the attendant attitudes necessary to maintain those inequities. So, as advocates and organizers, we need to hold the note of anti-racism and anti-bias for an extended time frame. The problem that has plagued America for so long won’t be solved in two years or even 20 years. It will take a while, and that means that we need to settle in for the long haul.
It may not seem like it right now, but we are winning. Anti-equity forces are fighting so hard to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts because those programs and strategies were working. Certain concepts are now part of our culture and historically-excluded group’s experiences were becoming central to those efforts. Liberation became a shared goal of many powerbrokers within our communities. All of this became a threat to the existing power structure which has led to the culture wars we find ourselves in today.
So keep fighting! Find your choir! Coordinate your efforts!
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit!
