Thoughts on a New Era

This week past we celebrated two great events, Martin Luther King Day and the inauguration of our country’s first President of color. It was a week I feel privileged to experience for me.

My alma mater, UW-Marathon County, invited me and Jim Sturm, a friend who I had not seen in 41 years share our recollection of what it was like to spend the day in 1967 with Dr. Martin Luther King. Preparing for my talk and then listening to Jim reflect on our shared experiences sometimes brought tears to my eyes. That day in 1967 was a watershed moment for me, forcing me to face social injustice, to ask questions of why it was that way, and more importantly, what I could do about it. (View video)

Dr. King’s dream of equality for all has yet to be realized, but my county, our country, took a giant leap forward as Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of these United States. 1.8 million people crowded onto the Washington Mall to witness this incredible event. I was in the Minneapolis airport watching on the monitor, awaiting my flight to Seattle and the American Association of Colleges and Universities Annual Meeting. The normal hum of the airport was muted as all eyes watched. Applause broke out when the oath was completed.

I looked around me and saw African American men and women and could only imagine what they were thinking and the pride they felt. For the first time in a long time I was proud again to be an American. What I felt more than anything was hope that we might be back on the path to realizing Dr. King’s dream, not only for our brothers and sisters in this country, but for all of those who occupy this tiny blue globe afloat in the vastness of our solar system.

In Seattle, arguably one of the most ethnically diverse cities in our nation, I attended the AAC&U meeting was sustainability. What a great time to be thinking about the duality of care for our environmental heritage and future and care for social justice. These two concepts are inextricably related. The enthusiasm and optimism of this link and the inauguration was positively palpable.

The closing plenary session wrapped up an incredible week. University of Washington’s Eric Liu used his recent “pamphlet” The True Patriot, affectionately referred to as “The Little Red Book," as the basis for his discussion of what has happened to the American political system and how we as educators have a responsibility to speak out when we believe something is wrong, and instill in our students the trust that they are able to do the same. For too long the term “patriot” has been equivalent to support for the war effort, support for the troops, my country – love it or leave it. People like me probably failed to speak up as much as we should have, for fear of being labeled as unpatriotic.

We all need to be patriots. That is not a label that restricted to Democrats or Republicans. As we stand at the edge of a new Administration and a new era, each of us need to reflect on what we bring to the world. No one knows where the future will lead us, but despite the economic abyss in which we find ourselves, I for one am a whole lot more hopeful in 2009 than I was a year ago. The human spirit is stronger than the Dow Jones. Let’s join President Obama as the new day dawns. Together – as Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, Caucasian American, Gays, Straights, Protestants, Catholics, Jews, Islamists, Atheists -- we can achieve the vision of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore and Franklin D. Roosevelt, John and Robert Kennedy, and most of all Martin Luther King of what it means to be AN American.