Today I had the pleasure of attending my daughters graduation at Washington University in St. Louis. So much to celebrate and be proud of. I do think that if you have found your way to graduating college you have lived THPL for some part of your life and you have positioned yourself for more and more THPL years ahead. And while the day itself was amazing it was made even more amazing because acclaimed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns was the commencement speaker and he took on some very big issues when he stated that “Black Lives Matter” and that we continue to struggle with racism in our country and it is truly our greatest shame. As he spoke about the need to collectively work on our imperfect nature, he reminded the crowd that state-sanctioned racism lives on past slavery's abolishment, and he chastised politicians for shying away from meaningful conversations on race.
“Four centuries of discrimination, but politicians insist on this hypocritical colorblindness,” he said. “Our towns and our suburbs … cannot become the new plantations,” he said. I sat there in awe of his boldness and correctness and his ability to weave a strong story using references from Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain. Embedded in Lincoln's words is a fundamental optimism we can all learn from, he said. Burns summed up his speech with a statement on what it is to be an American…we are simply, “our work ethic, our restlessness and our suspicion of power.” Burns told the audience that “Equality is the hallmark and the birthright of all Americans.” And that the Wash U students should really focus on doing the right thing – it is necessary and the foundation for all that is good.
Loving life, with the power of words in my hands...