“I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.”
The Revolutionary Vision of Angela Davis
This powerful declaration by Angela Davis represents a fundamental shift from passive acceptance to active resistance, a philosophy that has driven transformative movements throughout Black history and continues to inspire contemporary activism.
Rejecting the Status Quo
Davis’s words challenge the conventional wisdom embedded in the Serenity Prayer’s call to “accept the things I cannot change.” Instead, she reframes what society deems “unchangeable” as simply things that haven’t yet been challenged with sufficient force and organization. This perspective recognizes that many systems of oppression persist not because they are immutable laws of nature, but because they benefit those in power who resist change.
Her statement reflects a core truth of the Black freedom struggle: that progress has never come from quietly accepting injustice, but from those brave enough to declare certain conditions unacceptable and work tirelessly to transform them.
The Legacy of Transformative Resistance
This philosophy echoes throughout Black intellectual and activist traditions. From Frederick Douglass declaring that “if there is no struggle, there is no progress” to Audre Lorde’s assertion that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” Black thinkers have consistently challenged the notion that oppressive systems are permanent fixtures.
Davis herself embodies this principle through her decades of work challenging the prison-industrial complex, fighting for educational justice, and advocating for the rights of political prisoners. Her scholarship and activism demonstrate how academic rigor and grassroots organizing can work together to expose and dismantle systems of oppression.
The Continuing Journey
Angela Davis’s words remind us that the work of transformation is ongoing. Each generation must examine what they have been told to accept and decide what they are willing to change. In literature, in history, and in our daily lives, we have the power to refuse acceptance of the unacceptable and to build the world we need.
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