This post was written by Jazz Minista of New York People’s Convention as part of our PowHer the Vote 2017 campaign.

In the past few months my life has been consumed by the upcoming ballot question:

“Shall there be a Convention to revise the constitution and amend the same?”

A 13 word question that meant absolutely nothing to me before has become my morning noon and night.

At a certain point when I got into an argument with a dear friend of mine regarding the constitutional convention. I decided to take a step back and look at what the question was REALLY asking. Why did my friend strongly say no, and what caused my spirit about out, “YES”?

Upon examination, I have to say,

I have deep compassion for my New York brothers, sisters, and friends who were shocked by the results of the 2016 election. It shook our foundation — made us question whether our democracy still works, and when did our neighbors stop sharing the same basic values.

This extreme disparity in political ideology inspired a mistrust so great throughout state only to be exasperated by lashes from the mindblowing rollbacks and manifestation of corruption on the every level.

Many of us want to forget the turmoil, shock, shame, and disappointment of last November. Most are still recovering from the blow to the human spirit.

So as the digital director of NY People’s Convention, I’ve found myself on the frontlines of virtual warfare as I advocate for this rare opportunity called a “con-con”.

Exclamation points aggressively lined up behind “VOTE NO” reminiscent of guard rails around the hyper capitalized statement. This was a clear signal of EMOTIONAL aggravation which I didn’t initally understand.

I allowed my curiosity of the human spirit to drive me to take a deeper dive of what was underneath the outburst of turbulent typography.

As I sifted through the layers of memes, flyers, and hashtags, a fundamental issue was exposed and a connecting thread was revealed.  A central motivation peeped through the divide.

Fear.

For many people, 2016 was the first time they looked up from their daily routine and said “Wait, is something wrong?”

To which I answer, “YES!”

A lot of things have been very wrong for a very, very long time. Racism, sexism, economic disparity, and discrimination had taken residence and filled the room while we were sleeping.  And up until then, only some of us suffered the worst of it. But now it’s in your backyard wearing a big red hat. You see it? Good. That means we need to work together and to make fundamental progressive change.  #PowerwiththePeople

This is why the convention question– appearing on the ballot right at the point where the forces of darkness seem poised to overwhelm us — is a gift.

We can admit, that was pretty traumatic and earth shattering. We can hear the sounds of hate echoing on the news, in the papers, and on social media. But its there so that remain awake.

When we look at this fear as a gift, we see how it forces us out of our routine. If it forces us to stop pretending everything is fine while we lose ground, year after year. It pushes us out of complacency and disallows us to justify our situations by saying, “Well, it could be worse.” It is worse and enough is enough.

And look what we’ve got!  A chance and an opportunity for real change right now while we are woke and fired up. Let’s grab it — or we can continue to stutter-step into a smog of despair.

Unfortunately, part of our problem is we’ve removed our permission to dream; to imagine a different world. Like, ladies, imagine walking into a pharmacy and your prescription for monthly contraception is handed to you paid in full. (REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS) Imagine a family doctor who comes to your house when your kid is sick, and spares you hours of wasted time in an ER waiting room. (UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE) Imagine a panel of New York’s best scientists in a war room plotting our state’s response to climate change — and forcing our corporations to actually comply. (CLIMATE CHANGE AMENDMENT)

Imagine a world where we’re not anxious all of the time, where we know we’re all in this together. Imagine that we are the 100% — not the 99%. Imagine justice, equality, equity, democracy, community — imagine authentic dialogue about issues that affect us and a true commitment for solutionary change NOW and for our posterity.

If we can imagine a better world, we can create a better world. It starts with opening our eyes, and saying YES to a future that’s just a whole lot more enjoyable. We must give ourselves permission to desire better and work together to manifest that reality.

We can begin with a convention. It’s an open space with nothing in it but what we create it to be. It’s our a reason for deeper conversation here in New York.

So y’all, let’s get to the part where we start nominating our community leaders as delegates — and start writing some groundbreaking, game changing constitutional amendments? The kind our great-grandchildren will thank us for. Let’s turn our fear into the greatest gift we could’ve ever imagined.