08-20-2025, 04:05 PM
Do you realize what it took for you to even be here today?
Your ancestors survived being chained in the belly of slave ships for months — in filth, disease, and darkness — and still lived. They lost their languages, customs, and traditions, yet learned a new tongue just to survive.
They worked from sunrise to sunset with no pay, watched their children ripped from their arms, and endured the abuse of ruthless slave owners.
They were given names with no heritage, no birth certificates, no family records — yet they kept going. They braved the Underground Railroad, survived the Civil War, and endured sharecropping. They taught themselves to read and write when the world said they couldn’t. They kept their heads low while the KKK burned crosses and bodies swung from trees.
They fought in World Wars only to return home still treated as less than men. They marched in Birmingham, were hosed in Selma, jailed in Wilmington, segregated in the South, ghettoed in the North, ignored in history books, and stereotyped on movie screens. Yet still, they endured.
Through every trial, every humiliation, every injustice — they refused to quit. And because of them, you are here.
So now, you face one rejection, one setback, one disappointment — and you want to give up? How dare you.
Your bloodline is built on survival, on strength, on resilience. Quitting is not in your DNA.
Remember: generations before you endured the unimaginable so you could have a chance to succeed. Don’t let them down.
Your ancestors survived being chained in the belly of slave ships for months — in filth, disease, and darkness — and still lived. They lost their languages, customs, and traditions, yet learned a new tongue just to survive.
They worked from sunrise to sunset with no pay, watched their children ripped from their arms, and endured the abuse of ruthless slave owners.
They were given names with no heritage, no birth certificates, no family records — yet they kept going. They braved the Underground Railroad, survived the Civil War, and endured sharecropping. They taught themselves to read and write when the world said they couldn’t. They kept their heads low while the KKK burned crosses and bodies swung from trees.
They fought in World Wars only to return home still treated as less than men. They marched in Birmingham, were hosed in Selma, jailed in Wilmington, segregated in the South, ghettoed in the North, ignored in history books, and stereotyped on movie screens. Yet still, they endured.
Through every trial, every humiliation, every injustice — they refused to quit. And because of them, you are here.
So now, you face one rejection, one setback, one disappointment — and you want to give up? How dare you.
Your bloodline is built on survival, on strength, on resilience. Quitting is not in your DNA.
Remember: generations before you endured the unimaginable so you could have a chance to succeed. Don’t let them down.