By Bill Bradberry
“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Proverbs 29:18 Not being among those with the good fortune to land Inauguration tickets, I will likely watch the historic event on a big screen television at the New Hope Baptist Church along with a small crowd of local folk who will gather to witness the realization of a dream.
There might be someone there with us who will remember the day when a young Baptist preacher came to Niagara Falls to spread his vision of hope for the future; hope that one day “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood…”
When the president-elect places his hand upon the Bible, I will recall Lincoln’s commitment to his vision; the idea that the United States must endure as one country, dedicated to the proposition of “government of the people, by the people and for the people.”
No doubt some of us, myself included, will recall the words of a charismatic young president who in 1961 stood before the nation and challenged us all with these simple words: "I believe this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth."
Someone may even recognize the name, "Granny D" Haddock. Born Ethel Doris Rollins, January 24, 1910, Granny D will celebrate her 99th birthday just four days after the new president is sworn in to office.
The author of “Granny D: You’re Never Too Old to Raise a Little Hell”, at the young age of 89 in February 2000, took off on a Forrest Gump walk from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C. in her effort to lobby for campaign finance reform.
But I remember Granny D best for her words spoken at Hampshire College’s May 2005 commencement address in Amherst, Mass. titled, “Great Leaders Lead from a Better Vision of a Possible Future”.
She advised the graduates, “Great leaders – and you must include yourselves in this – lead themselves, their families, friends, communities, nations and their world from the great golden idea that people should be free and should in every way be encouraged to fulfill their highest potentials and live life responsibly as they choose. Great leadership comes from love, and great societies come from confident, mass empowerment”.
History has taught us that not all of those who have risen to take the reigns of power have earned the title of leaders, let alone the crown of Great Leaders; indeed many more have failed, perhaps because they sought the majesty of the throne more than the simple truth of an honest vision.
On this auspicious occasion, during this unique confluence of circumstance, at a time when we will quote and celebrate those whose visions for greatness; men and women like Lincoln, King, Kennedy and, yes, Granny D, dare us to succeed, we would be wise to take time as a nation, and us as a city, to accept the opportunity to discover a new vision for ourselves, one that has been forged from the white-hot steel lessons we have learned from our past mistakes.
As the multitude millions who will gather at the feet of the national monuments stream out of Washington, like the many more millions of us watching history unfold from our living rooms and churches and from gathering places all over the world, we will be confronted with the biggest question of all: Can we put aside our differences long enough to focus on finding solutions to the greatest challenge ever; how to survive in a world of shrinking resources and expanding needs?
Can we reinvent ourselves?
No question, we will, but into what?
Will we find the courage to commit ourselves to lifting the poorest out of poverty or bringing peace where the turmoil of war breeds ever more destruction? Can we figure out how to get food and fresh water where thousands of people are dying every day because they don’t have it?
Can we focus the great minds from our greatest institutions on finding cures to the diseases that are ravaging the world from coast to coast often regardless of wealth and resources?
Can we find new and better ways to educate everyone with nothing less than the simple basics to give them a fighting chance to survive, let alone succeed in this new era?
Can we, here at home, see where we fit in; that we have a role to play by helping to build the products that will address these challenges on a global scale?
There is a way to do it all if we follow the advise of those who inspired the generations before us and look ahead to the future with a clear vision and a real commitment to make our most fundamentally honest dreams for simple peace and prosperity for all come true.
Now!
Contact Bill at bill.bradberry@yahoo.com
