An old gospel song kept running through my mind as I was driving home last night:
The long night it is ending,
The long night it is ending,
The long night it is ending,
Day is a-breaking in my soul.
Amid the euphoria, I did detect a cause for concern in the reports that I’ve been hearing and reading: all the analyses of the Republican losses are being couched in strategic and personal terms: will Gov. Palin run in 2012, where are the former Republican moderates, etc. No one, to my knowledge, is saying the obvious: the Republicans lost ground because they have horrible ideas. They cling to a drastically outmoded concept of the world and people, and the last eight years of neo-con domination were (how good it is to use the past tense!) finally brought this out, because they are the ultimate, definitive expression of those ideas of hate and egotism. If he were physically with us, Martin Luther would probably warn us to avoid triumphalism. We should be reaching out to our Republican friends now more than ever, and in a spirit of reconciliation. This was not a ‘victory,’ but a successful change. And an opportunity; and a responsibility. Gandhi would probably say that the second worst thing would be complacency.
Happily, what I’ve been hearing – from about 90% of the individuals or organizations weighing in – is, ‘let’s roll up our sleeves and get to work’! At the Metta Center, we have not been idle! But now we should be finding a more responsive world out there in which our efforts can more fully resonate.
I said long months ago that if Obama became the President of the United States I would weep tears of joy – but I would not have too much hope that this alone would get us to a culture of nonviolence and unfolding human possibility. This is just where I am at.
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By: Prof. Michael Nagler
As the Founder and President of Metta Center, Michael Nagler is also Professor Emeritus of Classics and Comparative Literature at UC, Berkeley, where he co-founded the Peace and Conflict Studies Program. Michael is the author of The Search for a Nonviolent Future and The Nonviolence Handbook: A Guide for Practical Action. His latest book is The Third Harmony: Nonviolence & the New Story of Human Nature. Visit his website: michaelnagler.org.
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Normandy and Pietermaritzburg
Nonviolence Report April 28, 2021
Nonviolence Report April 23, 2021
A bit of History Offers a Clue for Going Forward
A Call to Nonviolence.
There was a real gem in his speech last night:
“…tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from our the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals.”
Thank you, for this post. I love the opening and the necessity of the people to bring about change. I also agree that we should not look at the election of Barack Obama as a “victory” but as a “successful change.” It reminds of an Abraham Lincoln quote:
“Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable – a most sacred right – a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.”
Of course, how such change occurs and how power is bestowed is something to consider as well. But it is the power given to the people that resonate here for me. The people decided in this election that change was necessary.
I did not weep until the following day. My response even surprised me. What I immediately began to think of was the necessity of all of us to come together to bring about the change needed. I felt immense joy and great responsibility, one that I am more than willing and ready partake in.
While I did not weep immediately on election night, I did so during the singing of the National Anthem at the Democratic Convention, realizing that our country would nominate for the first time its first African American for the presidency from a major party.