The Younguns

One of my young (44) former students calls me each morning to make sure I'm ok and don't need anything. You cannot imagine how that brightens my day--at least I know I won't be one of those people whose mail has stacked up for weeks and no one noticed. We usually have invigorating or humorous conversations each morning and we solve the problems of the world.

This morning we talked about something I thought I would share (with her encouragement). I was telling her how important I believe it is to make sure that my grandchildren understand the significance of the past two weeks. I am finding that many of those l8 years and under, are not fully aware of the sacrifices that were made for this momentous election possibility. She explained that her seventeen year old son, although excited about the election, thought that is just the way things are now-a-days. We both felt like he didn't actually understand what it took to get to this point. When I consider that it was only forty-eight years ago that Emmett Till was murdered in Mississippi, it makes the past few weeks even more remarkable.

We cannot afford to forget the past, as horrible as it may have been. Those struggles from the past are what strengthened and continues to strengthen us all, across all racial lines. It is our responsibility to keep the past alive in the minds of the younguns so that they know that nothing
comes without hard work, sacrifice, strong beliefs in what is right, and action from all of us to bring it all to fruition. So, today, find a youngun and have a conversation with him or her about the beauty and significance of January 20th. I sure will think about the past as I attend the South Carolina States Society Inaugural Ball--the place where the civil war began celebrating this historic event. WOW!