The sixth episode of season two of The Wire is named "All Prologue." The title is in reference to a climactic event that closes the episode demonstrating that the narrative David Simon and Ed Burns created is so much broader—and so much colder, more unforgiving—than previously imagined. We had constructed notions of who and what was important over the prior 18 episodes, only for that script to be so easily choked out.

D'Angelo Barksdale is given the opening tag quotation, from his monologue about The Great Gatsby: "It don't matter that some fool say he different..." D'Angelo's story is a reminder of The Wire's message: humans are constrained, negatively, by the modern, post-capitalist institutions in which they operate. There's no escaping what has come before, and there's very little chance of "bending" institutions to our individual wills.

So it is with the so-called "Revolution" in the WWE women's division. When the initial debut buzz for Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch, and Charlotte wore off, we were left with a division still lacking consistent alignments, actual character motivations (and sufficient promo time to establish those motivations), and composed of random teams because reasons—reasons being that giving nine women individual narratives was, apparently, simply too much effort for creative and management. We are left once again with an immutable truth: The people who run WWE's main roster do not care about women's wrestling.

Many, certainly including myself, worked ourselves into believing things would dramatically change. But four months into the new regime, it turns out that still the only character motivation for women in the WWE is catty jealousy (with commentary consistently putting this over as true); certain wrestlers are booked to vacillate between face and heel on seemingly an hourly basis; and no real effort has been put by creative and management into making the women's division important.

I was never planning on writing this piece. I had moved on, by necessity if not desire, to other projects. And mostly, I didn't want to confront my fears. But ... I kinda needed to. So be forewarned, this is about 5,500 words (be thankful, as I cut about 2,500 words out) of catharsis in the form of righteous indignation—I hope you're ready and willing to join in this coping process with me.

(I promise y'all, there is emotional payoff at the end!)

Brand Problems

Everything is a brand nowadays. Products, people, ideas—they all have social marketers coming up with ways to "raise awareness" of their brands, to "be relevant" in their respective fields. But what happens when an established brand becomes toxic to its most ardent consumers; when an identity is so thoroughly rejected by those meant to enjoy it?

All one has to do is look at the responses to Vince McMahon's tweet hyping the main event of NXT TakeOver: Respect to see what fans think of labeling all women as "divas." The biggest, most fervent supporters of women's wrestling are in near-unanimous agreement that the term is detrimental to the success of the division.

I flat out never want to hear, "And new ... divas champion, Sasha, Banks!" Obviously not because of anything against her—I think the world of the character and performer, and both deserve recognition for their excellence. Will I mark the fuck out when Sasha Banks wins whatever title? Of course. But it just sounds wrong—and moreover, it will never sound right. Going from "women's champion" to "divas champion" is a step away from equal treatment and modernity.

(Is it because I've suddenly turned face? Did mocking a crying Izzy go far? I did just buy an "I'm a Hugger" shirt a few days ago ...)

Clearly Mercedes Kaestner-Varnado feels the same way toward the current terminology, considering she's spent the last few weeks retweeting and favoriting photoshopped images created by fans that show her holding just about every title belt in existence—except the divas championship. In fact, the most notable photoshop I've seen including the horrendous butterfly belt that she has highlighted is specifically and overtly in opposition to the belt. (No one can ever say she doesn't speak her mind.)

In fact ... sometime between August 13 and October 1 (which are the only snapshots the Wayback Machine offers in that time frame, otherwise I'd be more specific), Banks changed her Twitter profile from reading, "The baddest diva in all of WWE" to "the BADDEST SupaSTAR in all of WWE." Her Instagram profile also has a similar change, though this is a broader time range: in February, it used the word "diva," but now also uses "superstar." These changes might not just be cosmetic on her part, though—they could be hinting at a storyline to come. (Which I'll discuss more below.)

And it's not just Kaestner-Varnado who feels this way. All Four Horsewomen are clearly opposed to the "divas" labeling. When they were prompted during an interview for WWE.com, all four used the phrase "women's wrestling" instead of "divas." And witness the spectacular promo setting up the Iron Man match—a promo in which Bayley and Sasha attempt to one up each other on their emphasis of avoiding using the word "diva." (And a promo in which Kaestner-Varnado clearly breaks kayfabe after hearing Bayley so deliberately enunciate "women's. wrestler"—this remains one of my favorite things.)

If you polled the entire women's division, I'd strongly bet that all of them, including those starring on Total Divas, would prefer a redesigned belt and to discard the "divas" language for "women."

The solution to all this is in fact quite easy and quite readily used whenever any brand faces a serious crisis: change the damn name. It wouldn't fix everything, not by a long shot. But it'd at least be a sign that powerbrokers on the main roster actually have good intentions for the future of women's wrestling in WWE.

(Which is why it won't happen.)

In Defense of (those appearing on) Total Divas

#HotTake subhead, I know.

Reality television is possibly the most vapid form of entertainment available, and when compared to America's great cultural renaissance of long-form television drama, looks even worse in context. So it's no surprise that Total Divas is despised by large portions of the fanhood, especially those who feel a strong vested interest in the positive expression of women's wrestling.

These passionate feelings are oft-targeted at those appearing on Total Divas, which is understandable, but also wrongheaded. It is no secret that women in WWE—even the top women, with major story angles and kayfabe influence—receive pittance in comparison to their male co-stars. If you are a female wrestler, trying to make any sort of sustainable living—remember that these are "independent contractors," and thus receive no benefits of any kind, and this industry involves a ton of travel and healthcare expenses that last for the rest of the performer's lives—if someone offers you a fair bit more money for pretty minimal effort, why on earth would you not take it?

All of the above context in this subthread is building to this: I desperately hope Kaestner-Varnado never joins the cast of Total Divas. In fact, I publicly said I would donate money and recruit others to donate money for this very cause. But how is that fair for me, an outside observer, to claim to have any right over a stranger's career choice—a career choice that would indubitably lead to more money and thus a better life—just because I think it hurts "their brand"?

The point is this: hate on Total Divas all you want. Hate that WWE management thinks there is more interest in watching women try to be as vapid or ridiculous as possible—and when they aren't, like poor Naomi, they're shunted off the show—than watching them put on Match of the Year candidates. Hate that WWE hired women specifically for the role of Total Divas, without caring one lick whether they have any wrestling talent. (And give enormous credit to those who go out of their way to massively improve their wrestling skills.)

But don't hate the women on it for trying to make a better life for themselves. Hate the institutional powerbrokers who think this is the greatest value the women in their company can provide.

No Booker Prizes Here

There is, however, another reason I don't want Banks to win the divas championship. Poor Charlotte: you would think winning the title would be a reward, but instead its seen her booked weakly (when she ever gets time at all). Charlotte, who should be the very definition of a dominant champion—how she was booked in NXT—has looked pathetic, even taking pins from the worst wrestler in the entire division. Moreover, Charlotte has not had the opportunity to showcase the strength of her reign in non-title singles matches ... because she hasn't had any of note, meaning her losses in tag matches stand out. It's not just Charlotte, though: Nikki Bella, the the longest reigning women's champion in the modern (divas) era had to rely on interference constantly, and constantly took non-title losses in both singles and tag matches—despite having arguably the most effective offense in the division.

In comparison, Banks lost only one non-title match in NXT, and it was by count-out (bonus points if you remember who won!). In fact, the only person to either pin or submit Banks in all of 2015, on either NXT or the main roster, is ... well, you already know. She's got her number!

If you make your performers—either face or heel—look weak, especially your champions, the entire product is devalued. If these are your supposed best and they look like total slapdicks, what does that say about the rest of them?

This has nothing to do with the skill of the performers, and everything to do with the booking. Sasha finally beating Charlotte was a big deal, because of both Charlotte's pedigree and how often she successfully defended her title. Charlotte taking the main roster title off Nikki barely mattered—especially since they already gave away the finish a week before on Raw, only to reverse it because reasons. (And the two matches they've had, at Night of Champions and Hell in a Cell, have seemingly confirmed our worst feelings about Charlotte's readiness for a title reign.)

Sasha is seemingly being groomed for the main roster title now, and rightfully so. But a weak Sasha Banks champ would be a monumental failure on creative and management's part. She cheated in NXT when she needed to, but that was increasingly rare as her title reign went along. Her big defenses against Becky and Bayley, she cheated not at all—was she dirty? Yes. Was she vicious and cruel? Yes. Did she cheat? No.

(Note that she did cheat, constantly, while trying to reclaim the belt from Bayley—selling her desperation so, so well. More on that to come at a later time.)

If your heels always cheat or (especially) always rely on interference, it negates their value for any face going over. A face overcoming cheating is monumentally less exciting, less impactful, than a face overcoming an opponent that had simply proven to be their superior. A face grows by beating a cheat, yes—but they grow a lot more by beating a worthy opponent and by demonstrating that their own aptitude has heightened.

Believe it or not, it is possible to elevate both wrestlers in a given feud.

Protection

Yes, Sasha Banks is protected on the main roster. No, she hasn't taken a pin or submitted. Yes, she made then-champion Nikki Bella and former two-time champion Paige tap out, multiple times. And yet she's still dramatically weaker, dramatically less influential than she was in NXT—because they've given her zero character.

Strip yourself of your NXT knowledge. What reasons would you have to believe that Sasha Banks is a dynamic, magnetic force of wrestling godmode? What reason would you have to believe that she's the greatest wrestler on the planet in 2015? I'll answer: none. So Sasha Banks is over. That's all well and good. But she's over because of her work in NXT. While hardcore fans like us will not forget, casuals will tune her out, as they have basically the rest of the division, if they don't establish her actual character.

But let's think positively for a moment: Let's say they do give Banks promo time, and a lot of it, and freedom to hone her character in ways she thought best. Awesome! But generational-talent performer she may be, the division can't be "Sasha Banks and friends." It needs Becky, it needs Charlotte, it needs Nikki, it needs Paige, it needs Natalya, it needs Emma, it needs Naomi, it needs Tamina (yes), it needs Alicia Fox—they all have roles to play. It needs eventual reinforcements of Bayley, Asuka, Alexa Bliss, Dana Brooke, Carmella, and everyone else in NXT: Women Athletes (h/t Vidence). Placing importance on only one performer and ignoring the rest is a guarantee to neuter that one performer, no matter how gifted they are.

Protection only matters if there's value worth protecting—and right now, the main roster women's title is the single worst-booked belt in all of WWE (which is saying something, considering the way they've booked the world heavyweight title). Sasha Banks isn't Sasha Banks without worthwhile opponents.

Don't Turn Around

(This subhead is named the above entirely so I could link the Ace of Base song. Sorry not sorry.)

Already the rumors are coming out: WWE creative, unable to comprehend that in 2015, lots of heels get cheered, is thinking of turning Sasha Banks face. Now, it's not the worst idea in the world. She's by far the most over in the division (is anyone else being chanted for during the world heavyweight champion's matches?) and her stardom is clearly exploding. But you don't need to turn her face, at all. People already want to cheer for The BO$$ character as it is. No alterations are needed. Leave her alone and let Sasha Banks be the wonderfully sinister Sasha Banks we all enjoy so much.

Here's something to consider: Face Sasha Banks doesn't steal Izzy's headband.

Were the face turn being discussed a subtle, gradual, nuanced continuation of the psychological journey of Sasha Banks, shit, everyone would be for that. Everyone would love to see Sasha doubt herself: Bayley—Bayley!—defeated her twice in title matches, calling into question the necessity of Sasha's viciousness.

Unfortunately, this ain't NXT—it's main roster creative. The most likely outcome is a jealousy angle involving her Team BAD partners, a Naomi-Sasha feud that absolutely no one wants, every woman in it will be downgraded to the default, "crazy catty chick," status, commentary will be horrifically bad and often downright misogynist, and fans will immediately tune out. To be frank, this is odds-on to be the end result.

But there is a way to shade Sasha Banks toward the light.

It's no surprise that Banks' Twitter game is on point. She keeps it kayfabe (witness all the great feuds with Bayley), yes—but in a bizarre way that makes me think Kaestner-Varnado is Sasha Banks. Would Sasha Banks constantly retweet and favorite posts with photoshopped images of her and "insert any WWE title other than the divas championship here"? No, because as thoroughly evidenced from viewing the history of WWE canon, Sasha Banks doesn't exist in a universe that acknowledges women are mistreated and underutilized because of their gender. There's no kayfabe reason for "Sasha Banks" to avowedly dismiss the divas championship.

(Unless the meta-angle is now kayfabe in addition to reality?)

As aforementioned, it's clear that Kaestner-Varnado thinks very little of the "diva" branding, and is blatantly open with her criticisms—and as noted, has in fact deliberately stopped using "diva" on her social media profiles. Honestly, if creative and management wanted to make a female megastar, she's obviously the one to do it with—and the single most explosive angle would be her rejecting the divas title upon winning it. You want to turn her face, or at least into a celebrated anti-hero? Well, here's this obvious story on a plate for you.

Create a buzz, Vince! Have your biggest emerging superstar fucking leather the company over its historical attitude towards its female performers. Let someone with the natural magnetism of The Rock and the "fuck y'all" zealotry of Steve Austin make wrestling matter. You let CM Punk lambast the company and say what we were all thinking—why not do the same with a woman, and actually get yourself "culturally relevant" points, too?

Or don't, and continue to ride on the back of wrestlers who were in their primes when I was in middle school—if not elementary! (For the record, middle school was over 15 years ago for me). And continue to ignore the huge amount of female talent in your company, because fans just don't want to see women unless they're in their underwear, right?

That's doing so well for the ratings and fan interest.

Facing Reality

WWE needs to understand the Reality Era. Heels will get cheered, not booed, if they are exceptional at their work. Faces will get booed or ignored, not cheered, if the crowd doesn't have investment in theirs.

John Cena is the easiest example here. Cena is ostensibly a babyface in that the show tells us he is a face. But very frequently, Cena shows us that he is in fact far from a face—but "because he's a face" no one calls him on his negative actions. He makes sexist insults and gets cheered—that's a problem, and it's a problem because WWE is unwilling to allow the characters on their programs to be judged by their actions and words, and not a default setting established by creative and ownership.

When Cena legitimately tortures Rusev by putting him in his awful-submission until the Bulgarian Brute passes out, and then gets a bottle of water to revive Rusev solely so that he can reapply the hold and force Rusev to give Cena another match for the U.S. championship, commentary should note how absolutely vile his actions are. A few weeks later, when Cena implies Lana gave oral sex in order for Rusev to receive another shot against him, commentary should lambast the hell out of him. It's an absolutely disgusting thing and in no way represents any "goodness."

For the most part I cannot stand Cena's character—except when he goes into Troll Cena Troll Mode, during which he is frankly really awesome. The way he plays off the awareness of the crowd is exceptional stuff, and is the only reason he's been able to survive on the top for so long. Because fans who loathe Cena's character still absolutely love that Cena acknowledges we're "in on the secret" in a meta-sense. We know why Cena is presented the way he is, and we appreciate that the performer is self-aware and gives us a "wink, wink." In the case of John Cena, the WWE is absolutely having its cake and eating it too.

Roman Reigns, for all the good things he does, has shown zero indication he would be able to come close to mastering this technique—meaning any other superman push to be the "top guy" he'll receive will go the way of his first. That isn't on him, of course—creative and management needs to book their performers in ways that accentuate their strengths and hide their weaknesses ... which of course they almost never do.

Let Sasha Be Sasha

The Boss is The Boss. Her character has established motivations and underlying reasons for those motivations. There's thus no need to turn her face—fans will cheer her regardless of what she does, because whatever she does is always really damn good. I mean, she made Izzy cry! And immediately people were both acknowledging how good of heel work it was and cheering her for it.

We've long since reached the point of no return for kayfabe. Even the most vile things a performer can do will only generate "heel heat" for a short period of time before the fans laud the same wickedness. Pretending that default settings ignoring the performance on display work for characters anymore is a guarantee for inconsistent programming and bad storytelling.

Look at Bayley. We all love Bayley (even if she refuses to put Sasha over). Bayley is the best and purest and most natural face in the WWE. But we don't love her because we're told "Bayley is good," we love her because we empathize with her struggle and hardships. She uses her remarkable expressiveness to make us feel what she feels. We are invested in Pamela Martinez' work in the role of Bayley.

Pretend Bayley were to turn heel at some point. Fans would be interested in the arc and want her to return to the light because they love the character and her narrative, not because there is an objective "betterness" to the wrestlers WWE claims are good.

Let me clarify: Some wrestlers are "good" and some are "bad." But the default setting (this person is a face / that person is a heel, no matter what they do) creative and ownership places on characters negates any fluidity or responsiveness. Well-performed characters seem like real people and receive reactions from other characters that seem real, regardless of whether they're "face" or "heel."

Sasha's face turn depends on the type of face they make her. Remember, Sasha was a skilled but boring babyface for nine months when she first arrived in NXT. She had very,very little heat. Now, we've seen just how awesome The Boss is and diluting that character for the purpose of "being a good guy" because she is cheered would be stunningly poor judgment by creative.

It's said that the best wrestling characters are often the performer's real-life personality, turned to 11. Well, at the age of 11, Kaestner-Varnado was already gearing up to be The BO$$—and there's nothing in her words that suggests it would be wise to make her "good."

Put performers in positions to succeed: We harp on this constantly on Cageside. It's something that NXT booking has mastered, and main roster booking bizarrely avoids at all costs. Sasha Banks is the best heel in the company because she does things like mock little girls while they cry. Taking that attribute from her would be a detriment to the product and an admission that main roster booking has no idea how to foster compelling characters—and in the case of the women's division, that they don't even bother trying.

A Bexcellent Idea

This rumored turn is happening way, way, way sooner than I hoped or expected. Yes, it isn't hard to see that Banks has received star treatment since her call-up, and she's undoubtedly too talented a performer to not be cheered. But the tweener position she already occupies allows her to work with all other female wrestlers, which in turn raises the quality of the entire division. It's obviously a smart idea to have your best wrestler work with as many competitors as possible in order to get them over.

If Banks is watered down to be a face, we'll lose (for the time being) a potential program between her and Becky Lynch—which is a surefire way to get the division over with all crowds, and not just hardcore fans. It's been overshadowed by Bayley I and II, but the match Banks and Lynch had at TakeOver: Unstoppable in May was exceptional—and also has a case for Match of the Year. Putting the belt on Banks, giving her a strong (if ... crafty ... at times) reign, and building Lynch up as a true babyface to challenge Banks at Summerslam 2016 is a surefire program.

And honestly, if done right, would even be worthy of the main event.

Whoa whoa whoa, you say. We just had the first woman's live special / PPV main event in company history—surely it's crazy to imagine women headlining WWE's second-biggest show less than a year from now.

Except ... it's not crazy. In fact, it's the perfect storm. Banks is unbelievably over with the Brooklyn crowd, and Lynch is far and away the most treasured face in the division (the main roster) for those same smarks. Lynch recently raised eyebrows when she predicted women would main event a major network special / pay per view within five years, but let's be honest with ourselves—a year ago, nobody imagined a main event, 30-minute Iron Man match for the NXT women's championship. It was only earlier this year that a big deal was made of women main eventing a house show, when Banks faced Charlotte in Philadelphia on May 14. (And it's a telling sign that they were given that nod in Philadelphia, which probably has the most ardent crowds in the country.) The point is that change can happen really, really, really quickly, and way quicker than people expect—when it is allowed.

I'm not saying this will happen, because this "Revolution" seems like nothing more than a shiny coat of paint on the same mistreated division. But it absolutely could. If there was a real desire to establish the women's division, it's hard to imagine anything that would be more beneficial than 17,000 in the Barclay's Center shouting duel chants of, "LET'S GO BECKY! LET'S GO SASHA!" as they put on a 20 minute masterpiece. (And hell, it's not like they've done a very good job of building male stars lately.)

NXT showed us, this isn't even a hard story to write. You've already built Becky as a sympathetic face—remember that the only time Paige caught heel heat during her now totally forgotten promo was when she called Becky the "least relevant."

Have Paige take out Becky with a brutal assault (which also has the great side benefit of actually making Paige a heel that people want to boo). Put her out in story for weeks and weeks. Have Becky return to do the Bayley/Zayn "Road to Redemption" championship angle of going over Nikki, going over Paige, going over Charlotte in a face versus face "I respect you" #1 Contenders Match.

You can't exactly do the Bayley two-year-long story, but starting Becky's run at Survivor Series—a valiant effort in the inevitable multi-person women's match, that falls just short—allows for plenty of time for character development and crowd investment.

This would require two separate women's angles on TV and major PPVs (Sasha beats whomever / Becky's road to redemption), and you have to keep these two separate: NO MATCHES. Not even any brawls until a contract signing. Promos yes, give them lots of promo time. But dear God DO NOT GIVE THIS MATCH AWAY FOR FREE.

Sasha carried the promo program with Bayley, but Becky is a good talker (she just never has opportunities to show it). And Sasha-Becky produced a classic, match of the year candidate with very little build at Unstoppable. If you add any emotional investment to that foundation, you'll get a damn good show.

(I ain't gonna lie, I thought this was a crackpot idea when it first came to me, but damn if I haven't legitimately talked myself into the angle.)

LET'S GO BECKY.

LET'S GO SASHA.

Post-Nihilism

But ... this will never happen.

"Two super over wrestlers in a crowd that's primed for them putting on an awesome wrestling match, and we get cultural relevance points and mainstream attention because they're women main eventing our second biggest show? Why would we ever think of doing that?"

None of it will ever happen. None of it will even cross the minds of the people who make these decisions. Shit, the women on the show don't ever get promo time (and what little there is basically boils down to, "omg you're crazy and jealous," "no you are!"), and definitely not enough time to actually lay out real motivations and provide depth to their characters.

Just, fuck it. I hate that the main roster makes me this cynical about the future of my favorite wrestler. I hate that one more awesome match could probably cement Sasha Banks as the Wrestler of the Year, and she won't get that match. I hate that non-NXT watchers have been given literally zero indications of her awesomeness. I hate that they abandoned ready-made storylines and continuity from NXT—"but so few people watch it!" Well, the one thing WWE always does really well is video hype packages, so make some of those!—to make three pointless teams because reasons. Why couldn't they have Sasha cut a promo backstage on Summer (referencing the long-ago moment when Summer midwifed The Boss), telling her to get her shit together? Why not have Sasha run Becky down considering only a few months ago they were in a major angle for the NXT women's championship? Why not have Sasha treat Charlotte's title reign with absolute disdain and reference that she'll be the one to take the main roster women's title from her, just like she did in NXT?

These people are supposed to be part of a self-contained world. Let them interact with each other!

I watch the main roster for so few reasons these days: Sasha Banks, Becky Lynch (though she never does anything so this doesn't really count), New Day, Kevin Owens, Cesaro doing ridiculous Cesaro things, Rusev turning shit into gold, BigAss McStrongMan's ridiculous baby face, and ... that's about it. I'm at the point where I wish all my favorite performers could go back to NXT and keep their main roster paychecks. Hell, I'd even contribute via a GoFundMe or whatever to supplement their pay—the difference in quality between NXT and the main roster is actually that great that I would invest a not insubstantial amount of money.

And if this reality makes me—some random mark on the internet—sad, just imagine how the performers feel? Or don't imagine at all—just read some of what Kaestner-Varnado has recently posted on Tumblr. Reading that is honestly heartbreaking.

I'm not trying to be a downer, but this all fucking sucks and it makes me feel bad. Our heroes shouldn't have to feel this way.

Trust me, throughout the writing process this piece was substantially more depressing. Our interests and hobbies aren't supposed to elicit these emotions. We're supposed to feel sympathy with our heroes during their struggles, but we're not supposed to feel helpless in a battle against decades of sexism and misogyny in our erstwhile escapes from daily life. We're not supposed to see our absurdly talented champions ignored because of their gender (or, for that matter, their race). Nobody wants to see LeBron fucking James on the bench.

A long time ago, in what I'll charitably call a manic spell, I discovered a Geocities website extolling the virtues of "post-Nihilism." Worried it would be lost forever, I saved the text during Geocities' death throes—and now I'm pretty sure I'm the only person on the planet in possession of this absurdity. My interpretation goes something like this: We must accept the bleak, coldness of nihilism in order to combat its inherent negativity and lure toward apathy. The endless struggles we face are worth fighting, even if only for fighting's sake. Because the alternative is too disheartening: to give up in the face of resistance, to deny (whatever they may be) our gifts to the world, is the worst possible outcome.

Yes, it all sucks and is disappointing and hurts. But what else can we do? Life is going to be unfair; it's going to be prejudiced. The only thing we can do is keep fighting: to keep putting on classic matches, to keep bashing our heads against rigid barriers, to keep writing thousands of words in hopes that someone, somewhere will read them and may be intrigued or heartened or persuaded.

You can't say that no one cares, Sasha. Because we do care—more than you know. We care that you're providing us with incredible joy and passion, and we are forever grateful that your work is inspiring little girls and boys daily to follow their hearts and aim for their dreams.

Sometimes we don't reap the immediate benefits from the fruits of our labor. But if anyone, anywhere is inspired to take up the mantle and finds that, because of our struggles, their path is just a little bit easier—that the institutions and systems that fought to hold us back are ever so slightly more amenable—we've done something that can't be quantified, something invaluable.

You're doing something worthy of respect, and something that will never be forgotten.