This time, a bully won

“It is necessary for us to become and to remain humans. That means a lot…we know deep down what’s right, and what’s true, and what’s needed. We gotta get there. We just have to.”
– Toni Morrison

Yesterday morning, I had the unenviable job of explaining to a nine- and six-year-old that this time, a bully won. My eldest cried and asked “why?” My youngest asked, “will there be war?” My partner and I did our best to assure them that they are secure and that Mommy and Daddy will protect them no matter what. But the truth is that I’m not sure what’s coming–or even that I will be able to protect them. As a parent, it’s the most terrifying fact of life: there is very little we can actually control.

At a loss, I reached for the ancestral principle of Sankofa: going back to fetch the past that guides the future. I went back and found Toni Morrison’s reminder that within each of us exists a unifying knowledge of what’s right and true and necessary. We become human when we embrace the idea that the fact of our humanity affords rights like bodily autonomy, clean air and water, shelter, nourishment, and freedom to live safe and dignified lives with the families we choose. We remain human by embracing the truth of our shared humanity in all that we do.

No election decides whether we remain human; we do.

The truth is that the world we’ve known until now is shifting in groundbreaking ways. It is rough-and-tumble and difficult to find our footing. But it is also true that, in nature, when the ground is disturbed and growth interrupted, the first plants to re-emerge–the pioneers–grow out of the broken places and reproduce and develop quickly to create the forest floor out of which more diverse plants take root and form a mighty, self-sustaining ecosystem.

At Esq. Apprentice, we are pioneers. With a mission of creating a legal system that serves our shared humanity over any party, Esq. Apprentice is building the forest floor from which the advocates who will shape the future of our legal system can grow. How do we do it?

We start with the Excelerator, a legal career launchpad that introduces high school seniors to the many ways they can be legal advocates right now and invest in a legal career for their future. After the Excelerator, fellows either seek paralegal certification to increase employment opportunity or enroll in California’s Legal Apprenticeship program and become licensed attorneys.

We are creating an ecosystem that centers women of color and provides them with opportunities to thrive at key employment entry levels. It's time to revive legal apprenticeship to empower a new generation of lawyers—all with vital experience with the realities of low- and middle-income living; mixed-status immigrant households; and being a person of color in America.

With Esq. Apprentice’s decade of experience and our one-of-a-kind curriculum that starts with inner-knowing and builds towards systems change, we know that our work started long before us and that the real work of remaining human will continue beyond whatever the next administration throws our way.

I hope you’ll join us and donate today. Your support will help pioneer a more just and diverse legal (eco)system. This country has taken so much, but “we know deep down what’s right, and what’s true, and what’s needed.“ We are going to get there. Together.