Si, se puede

Lest we forget...

Last weekend, a powerful, dangerous, and never-to-be-forgotten ice storm hit my community of Oxford, Mississippi. I thought I was prepared. I stocked up on food, powered up my battery packs, and downloaded a movie on my iPad, in case we lost power for a while. Lulu, my dog, cuddled up with me in the bed as we both drifted off to sleep, oblivious to Ice Storm Fern’s true nature.

I woke up to a freezing house and no power! Social media and texts to friends clued me in to a disaster. Although I am a member of the National Response Team of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA), I have never been in the middle of a natural disaster. I’ll never forget it… or will I? Will it fade, and will I once again fail to buy food that doesn’t have to be cooked? Will I lose contact with and go back to only waving at the neighbors I have relied on this week? “Once you know, you can never forget”. I wonder.

Before Ice Storm Fern, my mind was preoccupied with the state of our nation and how the organization I am supposed to lead, the League of Women Voters Mississippi, could do a small part in saving the democracy we Americans seem to have forgotten. When my great-grandchildren study this era of their country’s history, if they are allowed to study it, what images will they examine? The one that I cannot get over is this one:

Since when do we commit five-year-olds to detention centers for ANY reason?? I say I will never forget this. What can I do so I won’t forget, and furthermore, never let it happen again?

Above you will see a picture of two Jewish children with the Star of David on their jackets. The friend who is harboring me from the aftermath of Fern has that picture on her refrigerator. Have we all forgotten fascism’s evil, the evil my Greatest Generation father fought against at seventeen years old? We must have forgotten, or it would not happen again. It has.

My friend and fellow writer, Barbara Phillips, has been involved in the civil rights movement all her life. She introduced me to figures from the labor movement as well. One of those movement leaders was Kent Wong, UCLA law professor and long-time director of UCLA Labor Center. Mr. Wong died recently, and his son, Ryan, a Zen Buddhist thinker and writer, gave a eulogy to his father. Ryan evoked the rallying cry his father frequently used, “Si, se puede.” Yes, you can! No matter how overwhelmed, how grief-stricken, how stymied you feel, Si, se puede!

Long ago, Stephen Covey urged us to work in our circles of influence if we wanted to change anything. A more modern take on change and transformation appears in What If We Get It Right? by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson. Her subtitle is “Visions of Climate Futures. But her constructs and perspectives ring true for any kind of transformational work. Johnson challenges us to find the intersection between what brings us joy, what we are good at, and what work needs to be done. There lies the sweet spot for the actions we can take. If actions and commitments are not deeply embedded in our lives, we will indeed forget them! (Diagram from What If We Get It Right? by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson)

This is a hopeful diagram with action in its center. We all have talents, and often we find those talents in what brings us joy. There is plenty of work to do, for God’s sake..truly for God’s sake and for the sake of the children. Si, se puede!