Celebrating Youth - My New Heroes!

Back in the 60's as a kid myself, I was initiated to the power of young people. I went to Selma, Alabama, reacting to horrifying racism and violence. There I stood on the street with local Black children, 13, 14 and 15 years old. I stood and learned from them about mass demonstrations, standing up to power, nonviolence, the importance of songs, music and singing. We shared stories, food and places to rest. We protected each other from hateful deputies and counter demonstrators. Those young people in Selma became my heroes. Their strength and tenacity was a marvel. I would leave and they would stay.

My next encounter was with young people opposed to the War in Vietnam and all of the weapons of war. They were a rag tag group. These were young men and women standing up against a terrible war and our government's involvement in Southeast Asia. They spoke out, acted out and risked arrest.  In between demonstrations they made soup, gave out cloths and befriended people who lived on skid row. Many of these young kids eventually went to jail for refusing to participate in the war or with the draft. They too spoke truth to power. They were innocent and naive but they were certainly strong. In the end, they ended the war and the draft, pretty major tasks. All of them became my heroes.

Here we are, many years later. The times have changed, the actors have changed, some of the issues have changed, but again young people are standing up to be heroes. We've all become acquainted with the high school freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. First we saw them on camera evacuating their school during and after a horrible mass shooting. Then we saw them as the dead were identified and counted. Then they began teaching a nation about courage and strength. They began standing up and speaking out. They began speaking real truth to power. They helped many of us identify the BS we had been accustomed to and they showed people how not to take no for an answer. These kids are angry as they should be. They are refusing to listen to adult non-answers to the problem of guns and violence. They are using their young logic to identify that some things are pretty easy to figure out - weapons of war like AR 15s don't belong on the street, in houses or in schools. They are beginning to hold adults and politicians accountable for silly and hurtful positions about the second amendment and mass shootings.

Yes these kids are articulate, resilient, and heroes. I put my faith in them to bring about change, to step up and do the right thing in memory of their fallen sisters and brothers. They'll not only find the answers, they will help change a broken political system.

One thing that does bother me though, is that their Black brothers and sisters who stepped up over the past few years pointing out the importance of how Black Lives Matter, were not recognized or greeted with the same understanding and support. We need to think about that.

The Violence - It's All Connected!

I have been a pacifist for most of my life. Initially my pacifism was based in my religion and religious beliefs. Over the yeas it has evolved into a values based, life philosophy.

As I've been listening to and watching all of the tragedy in Parkland, Florida yesterday and today, I've joined with so many others trying to figure out what happened and what's happening in our country. The one message that comes clear to me is how all of our violence is so terribly connected. Our anger with each other, our wars across the world with drones and nuclear threats and starvation. There is also our language and conversations of hate against those who are different, immigrants, people of color, the poor and the homeless. What about the war we wage against the poor with proposals like taking away food stamps and sending people boxes of government surplus food. We need to recognize that violence can be more than bullets, knives and bombs.

We all need to realize that our conversations with each other or perhaps around each other, have gotten more violent. Our President and his supporters, the opposition, Congress, both sides, the media, main stream and fringe, upstate, downstate, rural and suburban, all of us are being more and more hateful. Yes, we're all being more violent as our positions have become more rigid. Name calling, bullying and intolerance are all more examples of the daily violence. We talk about enemies, real and perceived as though it's acceptable to wipe them off the face of the earth. We don't even stop to think about it anymore.

And then....and then...there are the guns. The guns have accelerated, the shootings have accelerated. AR-15s and people arguing that guns made to kill people in large numbers and brutally are a right. Crazy is crazy and enough is enough and we have to say it.

But in the end, we all have a huge job ahead of us in terms of trying as hard as we can to change this culture of hate, to lower the volume and to connect the dots relative this awful violence. We need to help each other and our children to understand that it's all connected and it has to stop. You don't have to be a pacifist to help reduce the violence.

Mistakes and Coverups and Crises Management

It has always amazed me that the Trump White House has never employed or utilized the skills of a Crises Manager. Every organization of any size or import and with half way decent management skills, minimally has a Crises Management Plan and most likely a consultant Crises Manager (usually but not always an attorney) for that fateful day when something goes terribly wrong.

I spent a good many years managing a small private non-profit agency. Over those years, there were many things that could and sometimes did go wrong. We were providing support 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to people with intellectual disabilities. Leading and managing a few hundred staff. People could and did die in the care of the organization, most of the time from natural and untoward incidents. But there was always the potential for that one terrible situation that could in and of itself bring the people and the organization to its knees. Life and death, personnel disasters, potential lawsuits and terrible public relations were always just around the corner.

There were many things I did and read to try to prepare for any such occasion. Workshops attended, policies written and approved, training myself, other managers and our Board of Directors. I'm certainly not the only one who has experienced this. Hospitals, schools and yes, government agencies have all had to learn and prepare for dealing with a crises. Honestly, mine were very small compared to anything I can imagine in terms of some of those larger organizations or running and administering an entire government.

But the principals are pretty much all the same. That's why I'm amazed that the Trump administration has absolutely no one to stand up and tell the President, "you have to do this, we need a plan for all to follow, for the sake of the country and perhaps for the world."

Lanny Davis, a fairly well known Democratic lawyer and spokesperson for many politicians, says it all in one simple line that cuts across all partisan lines. Here's what Davis says, "Tell it all, tell it early and tell it yourself". That's it. It sounds simple but no one in the White House seems to get it.

Mistakes are understandable under stress but can usually be corrected. Coverups on the other hand lead to nowhere but personal and administrative disaster. It's hard sometimes to follow the words of Davis. "Can't my PR person do it?" No. "Can't I fudge some of the facts?" Yes, but you'll regret it when you get caught. Never lie to the press - never. Say you don't have the information if you don't and get back when you do. But don't lie.

This is not a partisan argument but people need to understand that none of this is normal and we shouldn't want it to be. There is real damage being done to the institution of the White House and people working there.  The President should be measured on these mistakes and coverups. It should really scare everyone relative to the incompetence of handling what could have been an uncomfortable but honest discussion of a badly played personnel decision with many missteps. Blaming the FBI, or the White House Security and Personnel Office doesn't wash. The President, the Chief of Staff and the White House Attorney need to clear up the terrible decisions that were made and learn from these errors in judgement.

Killing A Democracy and Keeping Watch

Most people understand that our democracy is far from perfect. Our freedoms are challenged and discriminate against many. Economic and racial justice are more often than not, a huge challenge. Our founding fathers (many wish there were some founding mothers, myself included) had no idea how our country and our elections would evolve. They tried mightily to account for every possibility but clearly couldn't envision either the times or the people who may be involved in the unraveling of their work.

Although we may be one of the oldest, we need to understand that democracies do come and go. Some have more resilience than others. Some are able to beat off their enemies decade after decade. But others do succumb to takeovers and their own death. The United States has been challenged in the past and currently faces a number of really serious threats.

These threats to some degree are known and predictable because they appear historically in the destruction and death of other democracies. We can see them, point to them and recount them. History books tell their stories. So we should study closely the fall and demise of other democracies.

Here are a couple of things that can be guaranteed and that we need to be on the watch for as the United States faces its democratic challenges.

The courts and judicial systems are always attacked and almost always first. Judges are ridiculed and faith in whatever judicial system exists are destroyed. Judges and judiciary personnel are forced or thrown from their jobs and replaced with personnel who will do the bidding of the autocrat who is destroying the specific democracy. Courts and a justice system are questioned at every turn and the institution crumbles. The system is stacked with new people, new judges in large numbers.

Next, law enforcement is attacked and manipulated to respond to the autocratic leader's needs and beliefs. Again, the institution and leaders within national or federal law enforcement organizations are ridiculed, challenged and replaced. A reactionary, and politicized police force takes their place.

Both of the above actions set the stage for the silencing and arrest of protesters as well as the shutting down of a free press.

Some will say that we have checks and balances on all of this. Even if the judicial branch is compromised, our system provides for a legislative branch that will hold back the extremes and abuses of an autocratic executive branch of government. But as we see in our experience and environment today, our legislative branch, with partisan leadership, has become a spokesperson for the autocratic leader.

But all is not lost. These threats require that we keep a close watch on the actions of all of our leaders. We can't turn our heads for a moment. We can't make excuses or stay silent. We have to converse. Our conversations may need to move from living rooms and pubs to auditoriums and the streets. These conversations will need to evolve into chants, songs and screams for justice. We will have to organize better than we have up to this point. But I think we can do it. Most importantly - keep watching and be prepared for more that will have to be done.