“In order to succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy, to struggle together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life.” ~ Albert Bandura.

I was one of those annoying students who enjoyed exams.  I looked forward (although still with a touch of anxiety) to show what I knew.  Like an athlete nervously anticipating the opportunity to flex my muscles and show what I was capable of, I would almost be thinking ‘Bring it on, let me see your worst!’.  In the British Educational system (fifty years ago), exams were essay style, no multiple-choice options with the answer staring you in your face.  You had to pour your knowledge onto the page.  You even had to draw a diagram or two!  This was true of my nursing examination.  To this day I still enjoy the challenge of drawing and labeling the nephron (ask any of my former students!).

My best subjects were the sciences.  I have always preferred the exactness of science, the practicality, the way things can be tested and shown to be true.  When we reached the fourth form (equivalent to ninth grade in the US system) we had to choose subjects (apart from the required English, Math, etc.) and choices were mostly based on the availability of teachers for the optional courses.  Which means that I stopped formally learning history and literature before I was sixteen.  The sciences served me well in my career as a nurse, so I am not complaining.

It is ironic that I now find history and literature so fascinating, especially when I  come across information that I never knew before.  There is nothing like encountering stories for the first time.  As things in our current time get scary and depressing, it is interesting to revisit history to gain perspective.  Thankfully we still have PBS (although all such institutions are endangered species, under the present threat of executive actions) to show us fair and balanced views of both historical and current topics. 

This week I watched a documentary about Lady Liberty herself.  That symbol of freedom standing tall, inspiring generations of migrants fleeing persecution, poverty and worse.  It was her origin story that fascinated me, a concept of a gift from the people of France celebrating the USA’s centennial of independence and friendship with France.  The man who conceived of such a gift was the anti-slavery (abolitionist) Edouard de Laboulaye who was delighted at the ending of slavery in 1865.  He partnered with a sculptor Auguste Bartholdi, who was the one who designed and created the sculpture. 

What was fascinating, in the episode I watched, was to see how symbolism can be altered, perhaps influencing a whole society.  Having only ever seen the statue from a distance, and not really (that I remember) being aware of her history, I don’t know that I really resonated with the fact that she is standing on broken chains.  These broken chains symbolized the end of slavery.  And yet in the original design (one of the early models of the statue) she is holding those chains in her hands, very visible.  In a later design the chains were laying on the ground in front of her (still visible).  But in the final rendition (more appealing to the recipients of the gift), the chains are beneath her feet, present, but not obvious.  Not ‘in your face’.

In the episode, the question was asked (of African American historians) whether the positioning of the chains could have made a difference in the country, after emancipation.  By the time the statue was dedicated in 1886, Reconstruction after the Civil War was underway, and the society was struggling with the integration of formerly enslaved African Americans into society, and small gains by the few were very threatening to those (especially in the South) who resented this new reality and were still angry at the loss of free labor (to put it mildly).  If this symbol of freeing the enslaved had been more prominent, could a more constructive conversation have ensued?

Of course the ‘coulda, woulda, shoulda’ conversations are never very productive, but it is clear that however the conversation went, the result is that, despite all manner of advances, this country is still divided.  This week brought the shock of a disaster, an in-air collision of two aircraft, resulting in tragedy for 67 families and their friends.  How shocking was it to see that sad occasion turned into an opportunity to blame diversity for the crash.  Especially considering that in that industry, the crucial roles of pilots, Air Traffic Controllers, mechanics and engineers are over 80% White? How did we get here?

We are once more living in an era of official misinformation and lies, when we have to double check and fact check for ourselves.  Unfortunately for many of us, we don’t have time to research and evaluate.  The current trend of absorbing news from a social media feed that is unregulated and unfact-checked means that those lies take hold instantly and are shared and liked with abandon.  It is going to take determination and commitment to ensure that we do not become a part of the falsehoods, the ‘newsmongering’ that lowers the conversation and reduces the possibilities.

Cecile Richards, daughter of that outspoken Governor of Texas, Ann Richards, died recently.  Cecile was the former president of Planned Parenthood, and a strong advocate for choice and reproductive rights for women.  She was quoted as saying ‘Stories, told and retold, are the key to igniting change’.  History is a collection of stories told and retold, and by paying attention, we can perhaps learn enough to change the current trajectory. 

We have seen how much courage it takes to speak out.  In 1992 Sinead O’Connor performed on Saturday Night Live.  At the end of her second performance she boldly tore up a photo of the Pope.  She was protesting the abuse of children (herself included) at the hands of Roman Catholic Priests around the world.  Her act led to her being rejected, vilified, shut out and virtually exiled.  What interested me as I watched it recently, was that she did it at the end of her performance of ‘War’, a Bob Marley song which was based on the speech of HRH Emperor Haile Selassie to the United Nations.  It begins ‘Until the philosophy which holds one race superior and the other inferior is finally and permanently abandoned, utterly destroyed….there will be war’.  It ends with the line ‘…And we know we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil’. 

We may not have the platform of a TV show, but we can continue to shout out objections to injustice, share stories to encourage empathy and understanding, and resist this descension to the lowest and most despicable acts of cruelty.  In our own way we can resist, by demanding diversity and equity, and reaching out to those who may not look like us.  And we can be confident in the victory of good over evil.

Have a wonderful weekend, Family!

One Love.

Namaste.