February 12, 2020
Page 13
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O PINION
Light Your
Candle in
the Darkness
by m arian
W righT e delman
So many peo-
ple feel so over-
whelmed and dis-
empowered by the
stress of the current
moment that they
convince themselves they can’t make a
difference. So they don’t even try. They
bury their talents in the ground and let
their spirits wither on the vine of life. I
hope they will bestir themselves at least to
say every day as an anonymous old man
did: “I don’t have the answers, life is not
easy, but my heart is in the right place.”
It is so important not to let ourselves
off the hook or to become apathetic or
cynical by telling ourselves that nothing
works or makes a difference. Every day,
light your small candle. Tutor or mentor
or speak to or smile at that one child—
your own or one you teach or serve in
It’s Our Duty to Fight for a Better Country
Impeachment is
over, but don’t
despair
d iallo b rooks
Hours before the
House of Representa-
tives impeached Don-
ald Trump for using
the power of his office
to sabotage our elec-
tions, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., gave a pas-
sionate speech on the House floor empha-
sizing that his colleagues’ duty with their
pending votes was far more than political
— it was a moral obligation.
“Our nation is founded on the principle
that we do not have kings. We have pres-
idents. And the Constitution is our com-
pass,” Lewis said. “When you see some-
thing that is not right, not just, not fair, you
have a moral obligation to say something.
To do something. Our children and their
children will ask us, ‘What did you do?
What did you say?’”
“For some,” he concluded, “this vote
may be hard. But we have a mission and a
mandate to be on the right side of history.”
He’s right. Trump admitted to asking a
foreign country to interfere in our elections
— a direct threat to our democracy. And
since the impeachment trial began, advo-
cates have continued to impress upon Con-
by
gress its constitutional duty to hold Trump
accountable to the law.
Instead, Senate Republicans chose to
stage a shameful cover-up and protect a
lawless, corrupt president.
Our country is at a somber moment in
history, but it’s also a pivotal one. Senate
Republicans had an obligation to make a
choice — a tough choice for some — to
check Trump’s abuses of power as presi-
dent. Regardless of the political implica-
tions for their own reelections, they had a
constitutional duty to do what’s right.
But they failed to do their jobs — and
their votes to cover up Trump’s lawless-
ness didn’t just excuse interference in our
elections, they serve as an endorsement for
him to do it again. But as we grapple with
the consequences, we must not fall into de-
spair.
Rep. Lewis reminds us not just of our
duty to continue to fight for a better coun-
try — his story reminds us of the transfor-
mational change we can achieve when we
do.
As a young Black civil rights leader,
Lewis suffered a head injury on Bloody
Sunday fighting for the rights of people
like me to vote in our elections. Today, the
scores of Republican voter suppression
schemes to stifle the Black vote show the
same kind of cowardice that led them sign
off on the sham Trump trial.
But their failure to do their jobs doesn’t
mean we shouldn’t do ours.
Ordinary citizens have a responsibility
to make sure our government works for the
people, and now is not the time to stand
down. That’s what they’re counting on.
They’re counting on us to lose hope, to not
show up, because they know how much
power we have when we fight for justice.
There’s just too much at stake right now
to allow our country to be hijacked. We
need to keep fighting to protect our democ-
racy.
That means fighting to protect our ac-
cess to the ballot box and for the right to
have every vote count.
It means participating in the census, a
critical tool that determines whether we
are fairly represented in our voting districts
and much money is invested in our chil-
dren’s schools and in our families’ health
care.
It means standing against Trump’s nar-
row-minded, discriminatory judicial nom-
inees whose decisions are rolling back our
rights at every turn.
It means fighting for our future and for
our children’s futures.
So let’s cling to our courage and keep
fighting for justice. Let’s continue to re-
mind Trump and his cronies in the Senate
that they work for us — and let’s use our
voices to remind them we will hold them
accountable.
Diallo Brooks is People for the Ameri-
can Way’s Senior Director of Outreach and
Public Engagement.
The inaction
and actions of many
human beings over a
long time contributed
to the crises our
nation and children
face, and it is the
action and struggle of
many human beings
over time that will
solve them...
some way. Every month decide to write
a letter to the editor and to your repre-
sentatives about a need children have in
your community. Every election, take
the time to vote for leaders who put chil-
dren first and against those who don’t.
The inaction and actions of many hu-
man beings over a long time contributed
to the crises our nation and children face,
and it is the action and struggle of many
human beings over time that will solve
them—with God’s help. So every day,
light your small candle. It just might be
the one that sparks the movement to save
our children’s and nation’s future.
God, please help us remember that all
the darkness in the world cannot snuff
out the light of one little candle. Help us
to keep lighting our little candles until a
mighty torch of justice sweeps our na-
tion and the world.
Marian Wright Edelman is founder
and president emerita of the Children’s
Defense Fund.