A Reminder to Celebrate
The Key to Sustainable and Irresistible Transformation Movements
I have felt a palpable sense of joy, relief and gratitude since hearing the verdict of the Chauvin trial on Tuesday. The prosecution’s reminder to “believe your eyes” was a powerful reminder for us all to trust in our basic humanity as a guide in our decision making. This is a powerful watershed moment for racial justice and justice in general in the U.S.
The very point of living in a law-based society is that the law applies to everyone, regardless of power or position. Obviously, that hasn't always been true, and it’s still not totally accurate. That is why it is such a big deal that our justice system could hold an agent of the state accountable. It is a victory for the individuals and the system to apply justice to a person with both symbolic and real power. An essential part of the system worked well this week.
As many point out, “there is still work to do.”1 There's so, so, so much work to do. As long as we want to maintain the rule of law, we will need to contend with questions about how, when and where to apply justice best. Fundamentally, we are navigating the eternal tension encoded in the interdependent polarity of justice and mercy. There will always be a question of when to emphasize justice and when to offer mercy. Both have their time and place, both have a shadow side, and neither provide an ultimate solution. The question of how to properly allocate justice will be a source of ongoing debate long into the future. The debate doesn't need to be a source of suffering, but it is not going away.
That's precisely why it's time to celebrate.
This isn't even a small victory. It is a massive accomplishment, not only for the movement but for America itself. In a country that aspires towards foundational values like equality, inalienable rights, and freedom from oppression, we have always had a lot of work to do. Our values have been aspirational from the beginning, but we are moving in the right direction. We can mark this verdict as a meaningful milestone along our path of living into our guiding values. Let us use this waypoint to pause, take a deep breath and sigh of relief. Let us find joy for what we've accomplished, gratitude for all the struggles and victories that came before us, and reverence for those who will continue the struggle of ongoing improvement long after we're no longer here.
Celebration and joy are essential to the success of any long-term change movement, and they're elementally crucial for building any sustainable community.2 Victories and successes make the hard work worthwhile. Marking these moments with a celebration is an opportunity to give and receive recognition and to grieve and offer gratitude. Celebration is also a time for reflection and recreation. Recreation is a time for recovery, refreshment, restoration, revival, and reinvigoration, and those are all things we need right now. Marking progress and knowing when to pause for restoration is what makes engagement in any long-term process sustainable.
Beyond the rituals of recognition, celebration is a chance to meet our core human needs for happiness and joy. Joy not only offers an opportunity to balance out the seriousness of the work, and it's not just a reminder of what the struggle is for. Joy is also strategic. No great change can happen unless the new reality being offered is more attractive than the status quo. The most effective strategy for any transformational cause is to make change irresistible. If you want people to join the cause and participate in the implementation, the new reality should be an improvement on the current one. An irresistible future is more fun, more effective and more rewarding than what people are already doing.
There is a third reason in favor of using this moment as an opportunity for pause and reflection. The level of fervor in our political and social debates has been crescendoing for a while now. The intensity is undermining the ability of everyone to focus on the actual issues at hand. The level of political conflict is even undermining our ability to recognize our shared humanity. According to David Brubaker3, the only way to de-escalate a highly polarized conflict is to take a break. I've personally learned the value of pausing an argument, taking a walk, reflecting on my role in the fight, and then returning to pick up the conversation when I've re-regulated my mind. I bet there could be untold healing in all of us taking a moment to calm our collective nervous system.
There is a chance here to balance the scales of grievance and gratitude. Many have voiced their grievances lately, and they are certainly merited. This moment is a chance to reflect on what is working in the justice system and honor how far we have come to get to where we are. It's time to celebrate the impact of the global racial justice movement. There will be time to return to our grievances. However, for now, let us feel joy, take care of ourselves, and perhaps allow ourselves to be a little kinder to each other. May each of us take a moment to remember the qualities of the world we are striving and longing for.
We're all in this together, and we seem to be moving (slowly, with great effort) in the right direction.
Let's celebrate!
I am Duncan Autrey, a conflict transformation facilitator and educator.
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e.g.: Kamala Harris, Steven Colbert.
I believe that community requires three elements: 1) working and creating something together, 2) celebrating and playing together and 3) being there for each other when things get hard. Work, play and cry.