So many of my friends and colleagues are bewildered, disappointed and angered with all that is going on around us. It seems as if all that we fought for throughout the sixties is being dismantled, attacked or banned. Many are wondering: who amongst us will emerge to save us all from these dire times of hatred and violence?
In our era we had Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali, Robert F. Kennedy, Mother Theresa, Justice Ruth Ginsberg, Cesar Chavez and Malcolm X guiding us with their courage and wisdom; prodding us to stand up and to be counted. They gave us words to what we were afraid to say out loud and faces to those who would demean and rob us of our dreams and hopes. So many of them lost their lives fighting for a better world for us and for the next generation.
So now, it is the year 2024 and the whole world seems like it’s on fire. And yet, when I examine history closely: every generation has had to walk through the very same gauntlets of hatred and violence. Authoritarian despots bent on poisoning everyone with their lies and fears, always finding someone or some group or country to blame, imprison or to annilhilate. When I see young people filled with so much hatred in their eyes, I am brought to tears. When I see people writing Nazi signs on walls, I am shocked and disheartened that history is once again repeating itself. When I see so many who are homeless and hungry, I am filled with a deep sense of anguish and hopelessness at our arrogant abundance and waste and self-centeredness.
And in the midst of all of this, I can hear the past deperately calling out to us… pleading for us to remember them. To remember what the ancestors all had in common: a desire to be seen, to be heard, to be understood and to be embraced and respected for who they are and were.
We are once again at a crossroads. We can either learn to live together peacefully, sharing our food and land or we can destroy each other with our bombs, our hatred and our fears. We can either build a more sustainable world or we can continue to destroy the planet and any future our children may have left. The choice is ours… to give or to take; to love or to hate.
As one young Latino student shared with President Nixon why he voted for John F. Kennedy:
“He made me feel good about myself and he made me feel good about others.”
I guess it seems so simple, doesn’t it? Well it is. Isn’t this what we should be expecting from our parents and our communities, our Congress and our next President?
