In the past I’ve encouraged students to observe MLK Day by reading William James’s “What Makes a Life Significant” and reflecting on its declaration that
The solid meaning of life is always the same eternal thing,— the marriage, namely, of some unhabitual ideal, however special, with some fidelity, courage, and endurance; with some man’s or woman ‘s pains.—And, whatever or wherever life may be, there will always be the chance for that marriage to take place.
This year, I would just add the President’s recent encouragement in Tucson to strive to meet a little girl’s expectations. “We should do everything we can to make sure this country lives up to our children’s expectations.” [full text]
The opportunity to realize her own incipient ideals for our democracy was brutally stolen from Christina Green, but we’re still here. Our fidelity, courage, and endurance are still demanded. We’re still tasked to make our lives significant and solidly meaningful. Hers already is.
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P.S. A year ago, I’m reminded, we heard stories from Grandpa (just weeks before his passing) about what it was like to be in Nashville during the early days of the Civil Rights movement. The best written account of those days is David Halberstam’s The Children. The young people chronicled there showed real “courage, fidelity, and endurance.”
Tags: David Halberstam, MLK Day, Obama, Tucson shooting, What Makes a Life Significant
Up@dawn 
January 17, 2011 at 3:25 pm |
I do believe that we need to strive to make sure that we create a country that lives up to our children’s expectations. Before becoming a parent, my wife and I had a discussion about whether or not it was a good idea to bring a child into the world with all that is going on and the uncertainty of the future.
I would have loved to hear some of the stories that Grandpa told about the civil rights movement in Nashville. Nashville was a big part of the civil rights movement and there are ties to many civil rights leaders and historic events that are tied with the city, it would have been a very interesting time to be a Nashvillian.
January 18, 2011 at 6:00 am |
Grandpa’s most disturbing story was about a former classmate who tried to disrupt a Civil Rights rally at the old Andrew Jackson Hotel by throwing bottles at the peaceful demonstrators from the balcony. It really is sobering to realize how recently that kind of thing went on, how recently racist attitudes and acts were not just tolerated but actually encouraged by people who considered themselves decent and law-abiding citizens. We should feel good about the progress we’ve made, but should also keep an eye on the bottle-tossers among us. They’re still here.