I loved this interview between Paul Kennedy and Cornel West. Given the struggles that people are up against, Cornel West is asked “Where do you find your hope?”. His response is pure gold:
I don't think hope is predicated on the future getting better ... that's the difference between hope and optimism. You see, I come from a people terrorized for four hundred years, traumatized four hundred years, stigmatized four hundred years. You can imagine slaves in the first thirty years didn't believe things would get better. They just said as a human being I am going to live this kind of life of integrity, honesty and decency. That's what I'm called here to do and whether there are consequences that flow beyond that that make the world a better place is beyond my control. So I don't think that there has to be some direct connection between trying to be a decent person and somehow decency becoming more pervasive in the world.