Moments of: The Blog
The View From Here: Where Do We Go From Here?
Next Wednesday will be an historic inauguration day in American history for a number of reasons. First, the transfer of presidential power occurs exactly two weeks after the US Capitol was attacked by violent extremists who were intent on destroying the Capitol and the democratic principles it represents. Secondly, there are only three other instances of an outgoing President boycotting the inauguration of their successor, the most recent incident dating back over 150 years ago following the Civil War and Andrew Johnson’s own impeachment by the House of Representatives. And, perhaps most distressing, we witnessed an abhorrent and shocking attack that defaced our democracy with symbols of hate and white supremacy.
In his fourth and final book before his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s title asked the fundamental question guiding and haunting the late stages of the Civil Rights Movement: “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” King wrote the manuscript in a rented home in Jamaica, the only true moment in his adult life when he removed himself from the Movement, without a phone or any communication with the outside world. King’s book was written at a moment of confusion and debate about the future direction of the Civil Rights Movement. Much of King’s book discusses the pressing issues of poverty in the US, the war in Vietnam, and the pernicious racism eating at the soul of the nation. Yet, the central theme is one of hope and the central question is “who are we and where do we go from here?”
Ironically, I usually reflect on, and discuss, the contributions of other less-known civil rights leaders as the nation celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. King. People like Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hammer, and the thousands and thousands of people who, as the late, great John Lewis posthumously reminded us, are simply “ordinary people with extraordinary vision.” While I encourage everyone to think about those who fought for racial and social justice beyond King, and certainly those who struggled alongside him, I find myself immersed in King’s words and his legacy at this particularly perilous moment for our democracy. In the most challenging moments of his life—even in his final Mountaintop sermon, with tears streaming down his face, when he knew he might not live much longer—King still professed a profound hope and belief in a democracy and a nation that had not always believed in him.
Our Director of Information Science, Michele Martin, recently circulated an email to our entire staffulty and student body, with a registration link to Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, which is presenting a free, online documentary film festival, using the same title and pressing question that Dr. King asked in his final book. It opens tonight with over twenty films, talks, and performances that will take place over the next four days, each day organized around the central questions in King’s book. I hope some of you will register for the festival and/or find a moment to reflect on the questions that King asked in his own isolated moment of reflection: “Where are we? Who are we? Where do we go from here?”
While we as educators cannot claim to have all the answers, it is our fundamental work to support our students in their own process of reflection, to empower them as they engage with complex and challenging topics, and to recognize their own roles and purposes in tackling our nation’s and our world’s most pressing issues and challenges.
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In his fourth and final book before his assassination in 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s title asked the fundamental question guiding and haunting the late stages of the Civil Rights Movement: “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” King wrote the manuscript in a rented home in Jamaica, the only true moment in his adult life when he removed himself from the Movement, without a phone or any communication with the outside world. King’s book was written at a moment of confusion and debate about the future direction of the Civil Rights Movement. Much of King’s book discusses the pressing issues of poverty in the US, the war in Vietnam, and the pernicious racism eating at the soul of the nation. Yet, the central theme is one of hope and the central question is “who are we and where do we go from here?”
Ironically, I usually reflect on, and discuss, the contributions of other less-known civil rights leaders as the nation celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. King. People like Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hammer, and the thousands and thousands of people who, as the late, great John Lewis posthumously reminded us, are simply “ordinary people with extraordinary vision.” While I encourage everyone to think about those who fought for racial and social justice beyond King, and certainly those who struggled alongside him, I find myself immersed in King’s words and his legacy at this particularly perilous moment for our democracy. In the most challenging moments of his life—even in his final Mountaintop sermon, with tears streaming down his face, when he knew he might not live much longer—King still professed a profound hope and belief in a democracy and a nation that had not always believed in him.
Our Director of Information Science, Michele Martin, recently circulated an email to our entire staffulty and student body, with a registration link to Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute, which is presenting a free, online documentary film festival, using the same title and pressing question that Dr. King asked in his final book. It opens tonight with over twenty films, talks, and performances that will take place over the next four days, each day organized around the central questions in King’s book. I hope some of you will register for the festival and/or find a moment to reflect on the questions that King asked in his own isolated moment of reflection: “Where are we? Who are we? Where do we go from here?”
While we as educators cannot claim to have all the answers, it is our fundamental work to support our students in their own process of reflection, to empower them as they engage with complex and challenging topics, and to recognize their own roles and purposes in tackling our nation’s and our world’s most pressing issues and challenges.
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