Hope in the Darkness: What Keeps Me Fighting for Change

by Starr P.

Some days, it feels like the world is unraveling. Hate is louder than ever, fear fuels division, and people in power cling to outdated systems that no longer serve humanity.

I look around and see the same battles I’ve been fighting my entire life—justice for the marginalized, dignity for those erased, and the right to exist without fear. It’s exhausting. And yet, I keep fighting. 
I fight because I’ve seen what happens when people give up. 

I spent years in the military hiding who I was, terrified that being my true self would mean losing everything. I witnessed women being raped, silenced, and discarded. I saw people take their own lives because they were told—explicitly or implicitly—that who they were wasn’t acceptable, that their existence was a problem. That level of pain and injustice is something you don’t just forget. It carves into your soul, and once you’ve seen it, you can’t unsee it. 

So I fight. Not because it’s easy. Not because I always feel hopeful. But because the alternative—silence, apathy, complicity—is unacceptable. I fight because I know what it feels like to be othered. To be cast aside, to be treated as less than human, to be told that my love, my existence, my identity is wrong. And I fight because I never want another person to feel that way. 

Every single person deserves to be seen, heard, and valued. No exceptions. I fight because I believe that change doesn’t just happen—it’s created. It’s built by those of us who refuse to accept the status quo. It’s pushed forward by voices that won’t be silenced, by people who refuse to let hate win. And even when it feels like we’re losing ground, I remind myself of this: Every movement, every fight for justice, has had its moments of darkness before the breakthrough. 

Civil rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights—none of these battles were won easily. But they were won because people refused to give up. I fight because I believe in the world we are creating. A world where dignity, humanity, justice, respect, and compassion are not just words, but a way of life. A world where people no longer live in fear of being themselves. A world where future generations don’t have to fight these same damn battles over and over again. 

And when the exhaustion creeps in, when the weight of it all feels unbearable, I go back to the simplest truth I know: We are the light in the darkness. And as long as we keep shining, hope is never lost. So I keep going. Because the world I’m fighting for is worth it.