For the past 20 years, I’ve identified as a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican. I’ve had my highs and my lows. But one decision, one true shift, has catapulted my family out of the status quo and into something closer to the American Dream.

It has given us room to pursue, and truly enjoy, collective happiness as a family. We carry no bitterness from the past. Instead, we lean into the principles of freedom and loving our neighbors the way Jesus commanded.

That said, if you are black and you choose to walk this road, understand this: You may become exhausted by accusations. You may be labeled as betraying your “race” for being thoughtful, for being smart, for being forgiving, and for seeing how harmful systems and policies have been impacting the black community.

When you name what you’re seeing with clarity, some will call you an enemy — especially those who don’t have the language, tools, or framework to understand it any other way.

Here’s the analogy I often use: it’s like slaves living on a plantation who never realize there is no fence or barbed wire holding them back from freedom. All they can see are people who drift toward the edge of the plantation — and never return. So fear becomes their teacher. Fear tells them that freedom is unreachable. Fear keeps them trapped in cycles of bondage, anger, bitterness, and dread until death.

But those who were courageous enough to search for freedom discovered something life-changing: there is a world beyond bondage, and it’s real.

Harriet Tubman said she would have freed many more slaves if they had known they were slaves. That’s powerful, because it reveals how much deliverance can depend on awareness on knowing the truth before you can fully walk in it.

Now I understand why Jesus sometimes asked people, “Do you want to be made whole?” Healing isn’t only physical or external. It requires a mindset that can receive it. Some attitudes and assumptions, sometimes even fear, can block healing and keep deliverance from taking root.

Let this be your encouragement: You are not crazy for noticing injustice. You are not wrong for seeking clarity. And you are not alone.

If you are willing to step toward truth, you may find that the “bondage” you were told was permanent was never the whole story.