Watching the news is something that many have come to avoid. Coverage of uncertainty as it relates to the government and economy, right down to things like mass shootings and ICE detainments have bred a general sense hopelessness. Many adults, and even teenagers have reported foreseeing an increasingly bleak future for the country.

Revolutionary optimism, as a concept, is the exact antithesis of this particular brand of pessimism, and it is described as the active choice to not only believe that a better world is possible, but that it is also attainable. It is by nature, an act of defiance and has deep roots in the history of so many countries. It is often not something people want to or do dwell on, but the fact of the matter is that demoralization, cynicism, and pessimism in its many forms are in the best interest of the oppressors. Pessimism encourages division, promotes stagnation, and allows for those in power to continue as they are with little to no resistance. If a person does not believe in the possibility that things will get better, they have no reason to try and make it so. This is what makes pessimism so highly valuable to oppressors of all kinds, and why revolutionary optimism poses a very real risk to them.

Revolutionary optimism has been a driving force in so many stories of progress from that of the Haitian revolutionists, to the Stonewall rioters. Even America’s own story. Revolutionary optimism is not passive. It is a call to action that says if one sees a positive future for their people, it is then their obligation to fight for it. A common misconception in particular countercultures is that cynnicism is the most rebellious thing one could be. But how true can that be when that is exactly what those in power are expecting? When optimism is what promotes change, growth and community while cynicism only promotes mediocrity and isolation?