Benediction to Build a World

In what world are you powerful?
In this world we can build people power, together.

In what world do you act on knowledge and truth?
In this world we can learn and move toward justice together.

In what world do you hold to your values in the face of what scares you?
In this world we can affirm each other’s resolve to do right together.

In what world are you confident in your worth?
In this world we can affirm that each of us is enough.

In what world do faith and beliefs guide your choices?
Together, we can build this world.

In what world can you learn from those with less power?
Together, we can build this world.

In what world could empathy shield you from judging others?
Together, we can build this world.

In what world will your power plant roots, and tend to branches and leaves?
Together, we can build that world.

    —-  Atena O. Danner
Incantations for Rest: Poems, Meditations, & Other Magic
Skinner House Books, 2022

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Atena O. Danner is an unapologetically Black time-traveling poet-activist who dwells in the past to survive the future. She writes toward Beloved Community, Black liberation, and collective imagination. Atena lives near the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires and of the Menominee, Miami, and Ho-Chunk nations with her partner, pets, and two free Black children.