You, who dream beyond the boundaries of the moment, who move through the dark with nothing but instinct and a vision others call impossible—you are seen. You are known. And you are needed.
Our dreams for each other have always been our greatest tool. From our dreams have sprouted action and pathways to futures intended to be better for us all. Ancestors like Harriet Tubman left behind heirlooms of possibility rooted in those very dreams. It is our duty today to continue to pass each one down. She walked before you, holding the line between terror and transformation, carrying the weight of a future she had never seen but knew, deep in her bones, was possible.
It was this vision rooted in her imagination that would lead her to relentlessly pursue a world just beyond her reach. Harriet Tubman fled and returned, fled and returned, not just because she could, but because she must. Her freedom was not singular. Neither is ours.
You have been called on time and time again to make magic happen, while others have continued to try to stifle your power. It is an unrelenting fight, and I know you are tired. Exhausted from being the bearers of a vision some refuse to see. Exhausted from being asked to sacrifice your mind, body and spirit for progress, which is consistently met with resistance.
Your mind may be calling on you to retreat in this moment and simply exist as we weather the storm. But now is the time to remember that you are not alone. Now is the time to reconnect and build together. Now is the time to dream and create together. Now is the time to imagine a future beyond today or tomorrow, beyond current generations, as our ancestors imagined ours. It is your imperative in this moment to make and pursue a map beyond survival.
Against the backdrop of a consequential nightmare, Harriet Tubman imagined the horizon of freedom. Imagining the horizon was not a luxury or an afterthought: it was the essential path to freedom for her and generations. Freedom is not defined by detachment from the current reality or simply tinkering with the status quo. But rather freedom imagined as anchored in a new world of collective abundance and possibility.
She was an architect of freedom, not just for herself but for generations. She teaches us that liberation is not a lone endeavor. It is a chorus, a current, a movement of many hands and hearts stitched together in trust.
And trust—oh, how she trusted. In the cover of night, in the whispered directions of the wind, in the stillness where spirit speaks. It is often said she stopped at trees to pause, listen to her own breath and envision the path ahead in the dark of the night. She reminds us that urgency must be met with rest, that vision must be nurtured in quiet places.
This moment calls for your imagination, your stubborn belief in possibility, your willingness to make maps where there are none. The world is shifting, unraveling and remaking itself all at once. You know, as she did, that freedom is not just escape—it is creation. It is the work of making something beyond survival.
Today, it is up to us to carry Harriet Tubman and all our ancestors’ legacies forward. Let us nurture those seeds carefully planted for us and plant new ones for ourselves and future generations. Let us find moments for essential acts of stillness and rest where we can recharge our imaginations – and simply just be. And in that stillness, ask yourself: “What is your imagination mapping out for you? For us? How can we start creating it today? What do we need to make it possible? What do we need to not only survive this moment but thrive despite it?”
Like her, we must trust our vision and moments of reflection by listening to what we are being called to create and allow action to follow.
So rest, because she did. Dream, because she did. Move in love and strategy, because she did. And when the path is unclear, when the weight feels too great, remember you are not alone. The future is waiting for you to make it real.
With deep love and faith – Gabrielle, a fellow traveler
Gabrielle Wyatt, founder of The Highland Project, a growing coalition of 60+ Black women leaders and their allies designing and leading solutions that build multi-generational wealth and create transformative change, pens a letter to future female visionaries.
