“We have to pivot at the inflection point of intersectionality.”   Chairman John

 A few years ago I was trying to think of the most cliché statement one could make using the favorite buzzwords of the day. After further reflection it was more than a little startling to realize that those ten words adequately summarized the tactical changes that the historical moment required. President Abraham Lincoln stated it more elegantly when he said “we must think anew and act anew . . . we must disenthrall ourselves”.

“The dogmas of the quiet past, are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country.” ~ Abraham Lincoln.

This was his state of mind as he was setting the course to remove slavery from the country’s legal structure ‘forevermore’. I’ve quoted Lincoln in that context many times, and have not been hesitant to add Bob Marley’s, “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery none but ourselves can free our minds”. The unique situation of having the worldwide SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the economic consequences of extreme stress to all countries and populations, and the political problems arising from vast wealth inequality and uncontrolled new technologies present a battery of difficulties that humankind doesn’t yet seem to have the skill set to deal with. Perhaps “We all need to grow up a bit,” is a better conclusion and that, with an added dose of humility, might set the table for the massive re-ordering of priorities and actions that climate change and worldwide war will require of all of the citizens of our planet. We need to make epic adjustments even as we discipline ourselves to save as much of the biosphere as we possibly can. There is no Planet B is more than a placard at many street demonstrations; it is the bald truth as to the fundamental injunction that should underline any order of the day.

Although my political career has been adequately composted by the results of nine elections, I will continue to testify and ‘preach to the choir’ from this pulpit. While working on my papers and writing some concluding remarks I will use this platform to, as Frederick Douglass urged us years ago, “Agitate, agitate, agitate”, (while he additionally reminded us that the oppressor never willingly abandons their oppression and must be forced to yield). I think of the famous trek of the Peoples Liberation Army from Jiangxi to Shaanxi Provinces in the middle of the 1930’s and the many rivers and mountains that needed to be crossed while taking fire from all sides and the steady growing of their numbers that year and over  the next dozen years as a good example of the resolve that the non-violent movement will need to succeed; and I can assure you that we will need no less from American patriots than the Chinese needed  from theirs in their drive “To Stand Up”.  

That heroic episode that came to be known as The Long March was essential to creating the Chinese Peoples Republic in October, 1949. We will in all probability need no less of an effort now if we wish to create a democratic republic here in the United States by 2032 and to succeed at even part of our hopes for stabilizing and sustaining the progress that humankind has already made in this world.