There’s no denying it: right now, many Americans feel like we’re in a long night.

Trust is low. Division is high. And belief in the American Dream is at historic lows.

But if you’ve lived long enough, or looked back far enough, you know this isn’t the first time our nation has faced darkness. And it won’t be the last. What matters most is whether we remember what always comes next: morning.

In my latest piece for TIME, I write about what it means to hold on to hope when things feel broken, not as blind optimism, but as a conscious choice grounded in history, family, and fact.

Here’s a quick look at what I mean:

My second great-grandparents were enslaved.
My grandfather was a sharecropper.
My family lived through segregation.
And yet, I’m still here. And I still believe.

Why? Because I’ve seen what happens when people don’t give up. I’ve seen what happens when we build, when we plant, when we rise.

America isn’t perfect, but it was built to reinvent itself. We’re a nation that bends but doesn’t break. And when we remember who we are, we move forward together.

Read the full op-ed in TIME
Support our work at Operation HOPE