Sunday, September 28
I am delivering the Toni Morrison lectures at Princeton at the end of this week and am in the midst of lots of research. I find myself rereading some of my favorite chapters of history and thanks to a tremendous new friend (thank you, Gary Ross), I am find myself pouring through some new books, particularly about reconstruction. I am not one for mythologizing our history or glossing over the stories of history’s actors with simplistic palliative brushes. If you dig in your study and see the messy, painful, difficult truths of American history, it becomes all the more amazing and inspiring. In short, under the most critical raw examination, I am all the more overwhelmed by those who came before, true patriots who endured through the most awful challenges, who volunteered for the most heinous hardships, all for the idea of America –- even when the America they experienced was so contrary to ideals of justice.
I look at the challenges of today –- and even the current (pick your) crisis and take heart in our history. With the American attitude of our ancestors, we can thrive during any crisis and meet any challenge. Our inspiration lies in our ancestors’ relentless labors.
Americans
In the center of the storm
Up the rough side of the mountain
Our way is not the easy street
Raise the bar
Increase the load
We will go higher, further, stronger
We were not bred for comfort
Nor designed for lavish shelter
We are called to give our measure of sacrifice for an audacious dream
Generations before began this perilous path
Through terrible tempests and savage storms
Heroic hope and daring deeds prevailed
They did not hesitate to pay an exacting price
Nor equivocate in the face of grueling toil
They met their challenges square
And now we, who are called by their names
Who wave the banner of their glory
With work undone and destiny unfulfilled
Americans must stand again
In the center of the storm
Up the rough side of the mountain
Our way is not the easy street.