Challenge the Universe: We Can Do Better

Saturday, September 21, 2024: The International Day of Peace

The work of a Creative is never done. As a peace and justice activist, storyteller, and mentor with deep roots in communities across the globe, I also consider myself a strategist—focused on making this world a better place. Every day, I challenge the Universe to equip us with the tools we need to navigate these perilous times because, despite the movements and revolutions, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Cycles of injustice, trauma, and erasure persist, even as society shifts on the surface. I’ve spent my life working to break these cycles—challenging the patterns of history and ensuring the stories of marginalized communities are preserved and used as catalysts for real change.

On Saturday, we creatives gathered to engage with this year-’s United Nations theme: Building Cultures of Peace. We structured the 4-hour event into meaningful segments, each dedicated to exploring the changes we need and how to achieve them. We spoke candidly, knowing the importance of our work. But not everyone wants change. In a stark reminder of the forces against us, the session was bombed by individuals spewing vile words and images of Hitler’s regime, attempting to remind us that, in their view, we do not matter.

Yet, their disruption did not stop us. Our resolve did not waver.

No debate.
No argument.
Not today.
Bye-bye.

We pressed forward. Our segments covered vital topics:

1. Art as a tool for healing and social change.
2. Education for sustainable peace and justice.
3. Media as a force for truth and change.
4. Structural change for justice and healing.

We are a diverse, intersectional, and multigenerational group. I designed these segments with intention, knowing that peace cannot exist without justice and healing. Truth and reconciliation campaigns offer powerful tools for addressing the root causes of conflict, such as systemic racism and entrenched injustice. But there are forces working against this intention—forces desperate to cling to a past where our humanity was constantly under threat, and violence was seen as the answer to calls for justice.

Without addressing the root causes of conflict, peace is impossible. Truth and reconciliation provide the framework for meaningful healing, allowing us to address historical and ongoing harms. This is the foundation we must build upon if we are to move forward, stronger and united.

We stand at a pivotal moment in history, where the need to preserve and tell the stories of our communities has never been more urgent. As a 7th Generation Strategist and storyteller, I believe each of us has a gift to bring—wisdom and strategies that offer hope to those whose voices have been silenced. Can we fix this? Once, I thought of myself as just a speck in the vastness of humankind. But now, I see myself as part of a greater whole—one of many working to create spaces where peace, justice, and healing are everyday realities.

I close with the words of one of my favorite writers, Khalil Gibran:
"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings to you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens."