Ron Bridgeforth addressed his own truth of movement-building: that the energy from organizing should be channeled out of love, not anger. He also recognized how difficult that can be. While looking at a photograph from the funeral of four children murdered in a church bombing, Bridgeforth wondered aloud about Nietzche, fear, and control.
“‘He who fights with monsters should be careful, lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into the abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.’ That impulse has been a part of my community all of my life. It took me a long time to understand that if you allow it, the thing we’ve experienced in this country will destroy us,” Bridgeforth said. “The only way we’ve survived is that we found love. The other part is called grace -- that in spite of what we’ve endured, we must feel love in each other, love ourselves, I’m not saying love your enemies, but the impulse cannot be anger. That can’t carry us through. In fact, it will cause us to self destruct. That’s my own journey.”
“Value yourself, is what I tell [young activists] today. I did not. I would have thrown away my life, because I did not understand its value. I didn’t understand how many generations, not just people, but generations that were sacrificed so that I could live. I carry inside myself all these things, that people have prayed for, and worked for, and I needed to use it wisely.”