For far too long, we’ve tried to get our voices, stories, and faces out and into the air. And for far too long, one group has controlled and metered the narratives, people, and places we could visit to tell those stories. Well, the dam on power and control in 2018 won’t just break — there will be a flood, a tsunami unlike anyone has seen. That wall of water has been building, and now the perfect storm is about to let itself loose to invade every crack, dry spot, and patch of land that has been under artificial flood control. The gates will come crashing open, and they won’t be able to do anything about it. The white-male power dominated landscape will give way to color, of all shapes and sizes, in all manner of place and locale.

Women of color will seize their power, telling their stories. No longer asking for permission, waiting for that phone call to come, that job interview that says, “Yes, you matter, we want you.” You don’t need that approval anymore. Look into that mirror every morning and see that beauty that I see, that resilience that gives you the autonomy and agency to build something inherently better — because you are better, and no one can own that but you. Your brothers will be there alongside you and will bear witness when needed. We won’t just be bystanders.

Men of color will rise, for they too can compete against their white counterparts while not trying to alienate the dominant white, 18-34 audience, but the audience that has been left in an abyss — an absence of information and representation. Brother, your people need you. Your sons, your daughters want you to be a strong character of moral influence. To say that daddy was there and he worked it. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Wherever you are, right now is temporary, and the way forward is through and by you. Don’t forget your sisters. They need you.

We will no longer accept the narrative of being an impostor, for the previous ownership has revealed themselves to be the true impostors. They lack the humanity to lead us through this defining moment, for they’re the ones that have gotten us to this moment. The door is now open, so step in, not out. It’s time we create the moment, one that is irrefutable and in which their dominance will be toppled. We will seek our funding, donors, and supporters. We’ll bootstrap it, we’ll be scrappy, and we’ll prove once and for all what we’ve always known: We got this.

We will follow in the powerful footsteps of those who came before us, busting down doors, slapping away the hands who wanted to touch us, our bodies, our hair, our minds, just to say that diversity mattered. It didn’t. In 2018, we will produce our own annual reports with those fancy corporate headshots, pie charts, and hockey sticks of growth. We won’t be floating on white-limbo backdrops, or be the sole token of color in the executive wide shot. We will be the shot, and we’re not going to throw it away.

We will lock arms, all of us, and finally say: This is ours. There is no going back.