Walls turned sideways are bridges.

Activist Angela Davis has advocated for civil rights, and particularly for the Black and incarcerated communities, since the late 1960s. She has written and spoken extensively on the flaws of the American criminal justice system, which she experienced firsthand after being arrested on conspiracy charges and then acquitted in the early 1970s. The words above appear in the chapter of Davis’ autobiography detailing her trial, and they apply not only to the literal walls of incarceration, but also to the figurative walls we face in our lives. Davis reminds us that every problem has more than one solution: By changing our perspective, something that appears as a roadblock may actually provide a path forward.