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LINK Letters From An American 01/15/2023

Heather Cox Richardson

You hear sometimes that, now that we know the sordid details of the lives of some of our leading figures, America has no heroes left.

When I was writing a book about the Wounded Knee Massacre, where heroism was pretty thin on the ground, I gave that a lot of thought. And I came to believe that heroism is neither being perfect, nor doing something spectacular. In fact, it’s just the opposite: it’s regular, flawed human beings, choosing to put others before themselves, even at great cost, even if no one will ever know, even as they realize the walls might be closing in around them.

It means sitting down the night before D-Day and writing a letter praising the troops and taking all the blame for the next day’s failure upon yourself, in case things went wrong, as General Dwight D. Eisenhower did.

It means writing in your diary that you “still believe that people are really good at heart,” even while you are hiding in an attic from the men who are soon going to kill you, as Anne Frank did.

It means signing your name to the bottom of the Declaration of Independence in bold print, even though you know you are signing your own death warrant should the British capture you, as John Hancock did.

It means defending your people’s right to practice a religion you don’t share, even though you know you are becoming a dangerously visible target, as Sitting Bull did.

Sometimes it just means sitting down, even when you are told to stand up, as Rosa Parks did.

None of those people woke up one morning and said to themselves that they were about to do something heroic. It’s just that, when they had to, they did what was right.

On April 3, 1968, the night before the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated by a white supremacist, he gave a speech in support of sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee. Since 1966, King had tried to broaden the Civil Rights Movement for racial equality into a larger movement for economic justice. He joined the sanitation workers in Memphis, who were on strike after years of bad pay and such dangerous conditions that two men had been crushed to death in garbage compactors.

After his friend Ralph Abernathy introduced him to the crowd, King had something to say about heroes: “As I listened to Ralph Abernathy and his eloquent and generous introduction and then thought about myself, I wondered who he was talking about.”

Dr. King told the audience that, if God had let him choose any era in which to live, he would have chosen the one in which he had landed. “Now, that’s a strange statement to make,” King went on, “because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around…. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.” Dr. King said that he felt blessed to live in an era when people had finally woken up and were working together for freedom and economic justice.

He knew he was in danger as he worked for a racially and economically just America. “I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter…because I’ve been to the mountaintop…. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life…. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!”

People are wrong to say that we have no heroes left.

Just as they have always been, they are all around us, choosing to do the right thing, no matter what.

Wishing you all a day of peace for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2023.

HippieChick58 9 Jan 15
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10 comments

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1

Regardless of opposing opinions, America is still a place everyone wants to visit even just once. America is still an economic superpower and geometry dash bloodbath

0

word puzzles games often foster social interaction, whether through cooperative gameplay, competitions, or online communities. These games can be enjoyed with friends, family, or fellow enthusiasts, encouraging conversation, teamwork, and friendly rivalry.

1

Much of being a “hero” is a matter of time and place. And the word has been bastardized by making simple acts of decency as miracles or heroic. Heroism is responding to the situation at hand and it’s almost impossible t know how one will respond until faced with the situation. And many, maybe even most acts of heroism are unknown due to the person’s sacrifice being unrecorded, unwitnessed and unsuccessful. We all like to think that given the opportunity we would step up and put ourselves at risk. But really, few do.

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Honestly thank you so much for your page. Donkey Kong

WTF?

2

Whereas I have a problem with the idea that "“..people are really good at heart,” " (even so called 'good' people get caught up in a mob rule scene) there are some that stand out and some were mentioned in the essay. There is a Netflix series on exceptional people and Ruth Bader Ginsberg is documented but so is Greta Thunberg. This child has gone against the norms and created a world movement. She is passionate about the future of her generation and is willing to standup to those who wish her harm. There are some who are willing to risk their own lives not just for their family/friends but for a cause. Unfortunately they are exceptions.

3

Where I come from a hero is someone who will say "I know it's 1 am but I will knock next door to ask if they have any cigarette papers"

2

Perhaps you could also reflect on how good you americans are at shooting your heros. And how you might change that.

Granted, we have a sad propensity for that, but it happens all over the world. It has throughout history, making it a much more societal issue than an American one.

Personally, I would have been interested to see if people like Dr. King could have done their "work" without invoking their gods.

@KKGator King apparently communicated with ghandi and used his (ghandi's) model of civil disobedience so there you have an example of that "work" without invoking a god. Then there's the fall of the Berlin wall and the marches against vietnam.

No political or famous person in any country othre than the USA has ever been shot?

Try reading history

@Alienbeing relevance to this post???

@Cyklone To point out you babble on a selective basis.

1

Thank you. I hope that more of us today choose to do the right thing. My view is that it should be the best for all of us and not just a few.

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Peace to you, as well.
2

Happy MLK Day 🙂

The school where I last worked (non college) used to hold school, taking the students out to do volunteer service. We used to teem up with the city school that had started doing so years before, and still does.

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