Looking for light

 This piece was written by AFSC colleagues Lewis Webb, Amy Gottlieb, and myself about looking for light in dark times on the occasion of the observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

In 1968, during his “I’ve Been to the Mountain Top” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. shared: 

 “The nation is sick; trouble is in the land, confusion all around. ...But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century. Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee, the cry is always the same: 'We want to be free.’” 

Today, it is dark enough to see the stars. The Trump administration’s attacks on immigrants, working people, and democracy itself have brought us to this dark moment. But in that darkness, there are stars that shine with love, flicker with hope, and guide us toward freedom. 

In communities standing up for immigrants nationwide, that light is unmistakable. Thousands of people are on the front lines every day—documenting ICE abuses and violence; accompanying immigrants to school, medical appointments, court hearings, and immigration check-ins, and speaking up to demand humane immigration policies. Even in cities that have been directly targeted by militarized government forces, people have shown that they are willing to confront armed, masked officers to protect their neighbors and communities. They are proving what we know to be sure: our communities are stronger with immigrants.  

As Dr. King wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail: 

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial ‘outside agitator’ idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.”  

In the struggle for economic justice, communities are building power through both advocacy and direct action. Trump’s budget bill made drastic cuts to health care and food assistance while giving more tax breaks to the wealthy. But a majority of people in the U.S. support a different path that ensures all people can thrive. According to recent polls, most people support labor unions and increasing the minimum wage. There’s also strong support for  affordable child care and housing, debt-free education, and Medicare for All. But people aren’t just advocating for change—they’re creating it. They’re forming mutual aid networks to share resources and meet each other’s immediate needs when the government won’t.   

As Dr. King demanded in 1967:  

“Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort from the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice.”  

In working for peace and justice, communities are resisting authoritarianism and violence in all its forms.  

People of faith are holding vigils to bear witness to oppression and affirm the power of love when put into action. Young people are protesting attacks on their rights and civil liberties on campuses and in the streets across the country. With our voices and votes, we are demanding our elected officials defend the rule of law and democratic principles. Together, we are building nonviolent movements that prove real security comes from caring for one another, not through violence or force.   

This is the “garment of destiny” Dr. King described. We are all tied together, and what affects one affects us all. The way forward requires us to keep building these connections, to understand our struggles are shared, and to protect and care for each other in all we do. 

In 1965, Dr. King said: “We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”   

We are building that society now—through every act of accompaniment, every demand for justice, every refusal to give in to authoritarianism. The stars are visible. Our path is clear.  

Poetic interlude

I haven't read much of Seamus Heaney (aside from his Beowulf, which was great), but I think I need to read more. By accident yesterday I came upon this selection from his Cure at Troy, which is his rendering of Sophocles' tragedy Philoctetes.

THE CURE OF TROY

Human beings suffer.
They torture one another.
They get hurt and get hard.
No poem or play or song
Can fully right a wrong
Inflicted and endured.

History says, Don’t hope
On the side of the grave,’
 But then, once in a lifetime
 The longed for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.

So hope for a great sea- change
On the far side of revenge.
Believe that a further shore
Is reachable from here.
Believe in miracles.
And cures and healing wells.

Call miracle self-healing,
The utter self revealing
Double-take of feeling.
If there’s fire on the mountain
And lightening and storm
And a god speaks from the sky

That means someone is hearing
The outcry and the birth-cry
Of new life at its term.
It means once in a lifetime
That justice can rise up
And hope and history rhyme.

Obviously, we're not there yet, but it's good to recall that such moments sometimes exist.

Faith, hope, love, foregiveness

I feel lucky to have been a second generation student, sort of, of Reinhold Niebuhr, one of the 20th century's greatest theologians. To be more specific,the Rev. William Kirkland,  an Episcopal priest who studied under Niebuhr, was a major influence on my life. He even taught my reluctantly agreed to confirmation classes when I was in junior high.

Here's a little sample from the vast treasury of Niebuhr's thought:

Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. 

Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. 

Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. 

No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

Silver linings?

Lately the news seems to be all disasters all the time (although the one in New York was fortunately averted). Silver linings seem few and far between.

But Paul Krugman makes some interesting points about a possible silver lining in the Gulf disaster in today's New York Times. He notes that the environmental movement has been declining in influence for many years, largely because of successful efforts at reducing visible pollution. But

as visible pollution has diminished, so has public concern over environmental issues. According to a recent Gallup survey, “Americans are now less worried about a series of environmental problems than at any time in the past 20 years.”

This decline in concern would be fine if visible pollution were all that mattered — but it isn’t, of course. In particular, greenhouse gases pose a greater threat than smog or burning rivers ever did. But it’s hard to get the public focused on a form of pollution that’s invisible, and whose effects unfold over decades rather than days.

The decline in visibility made it easier for the right wing and business groups to push back against environmental regulations.

Then came the gulf disaster. Suddenly, environmental destruction was photogenic again.

It's too soon to tell if this will lead to a change in attitudes, but images are powerful things.

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL and a new therapy based on it may help people accomplish goals and get through hard times.

GETTING LOCAL. Here are some ideas about revitalizing local economies.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. Here's a look from The American Conservative about the possibility of a Right/Left coalition against war and empire.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

HOPE IS THE THING WITH FEATHERS

Caption: This one's for Emily Dickinson.

Along with links and comments on current events, the theme for this week's Goat Rope is optimism and pessimism. If this is your first visit, please click on the earlier entries.

A while back, I worked on a project about hope. This was kind of ironic since at the time I didn't have a whole lot on hand.

It wasn't a huge problem for me--I can run pretty well on grim determination and Appalachian fatalism. In fact, the main thing that got me through the Bush years was the story of the hopeless struggle of Leonidas and the Spartans against impossible odds at Thermopylae (this was way before the movie came out).

Moulon labe, baby!

Back to the hope thing...To start with, I tried to look at the literature and research on the subject and found quite a bit. One book that caught my eye was an older study by Ezra Stotland called The Psychology of Hope. His definition of hope spoke to me:

an expectation greater than zero of achieving a goal.

Short and pithy. Spartan even.

It occurred to me that despite my tragic existential streak, I might not be that much of a pessimist after all. Especially if you define hope or optimism in limited and practical rather than cosmic terms.

Pessimism notwithstanding, I've generally found it to be true that if you want to accomplish something that's doable and are willing to put in the effort, then with skill, technique, allies, strategy, intuition, determination and luck you can sometimes do it--even if it's really hard.

(Note: this may require interval training or similar distasteful efforts.)

Even in a universe that often appears indifferent and drifting towards entropy. Go figure.

I especially liked some quotes on the subject of hope by Erich Fromm:

Hope is paradoxical. It is neither passive waiting nor is it unrealistic forcing of circumstances that cannot occur. It is like the crouched tiger, which will jump only when the moment for jumping has come….To hope means to be ready at every moment for that which is not yet born, and yet not become desperate if there is no birth in our lifetime...

There is no sense in hoping for that which already exists or for that which cannot be. Those whose hope is weak settle down for comfort or for violence; those whose hope is strong see and cherish all signs of new life and are ready every moment to help the birth of that which is ready to be born.

As pessimistic as I sometimes am, from my own experience I can't escape the truth of William James' statement that "Belief creates the actual fact." In other words, the belief or faith that something is possible often leads to the actions that demonstrate for all the world to see that this is indeed the case.

I may be an optimist in spite of myself...

SURVEY SHOWS SKEPTICISM. More working Americans are doubting the attainability of the American Dream.

GOVERNMENT BY CONTRACT. Imagine a whole government provided by private military contractors...

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED