Community organizing has taught me so much and it’s given me a renewed purpose. Leading people is one thing, but learning to empower others to stand themselves is something else entirely. I've been in front of groups of people my whole life. This has been something so much more. It’s more than being a good boss, more than being a good teacher, this is being a good citizen, a steward of the future.
We are at a cross roads in this world. Like all of us I think about the future. I look into the eyes of my beautiful son and I dream about his world. That world could be one of two very different visions. I can see both in front of us. Which will it be?
I remember holding his little toddler body after his spinal surgery. He was fragile and groggy. His arms dangled against me helplessly. I remember his little heart beating in my hands. I felt so clearly then, like I have in other flashes of time, his very life was my responsibility, no, my purpose. That was a feeling of such gravity and powerlessness as he lay so ill.
I think of all the families that don't come through what we did. I think of all the families who don’t have healthcare at all or the transportation to get 70 miles to the best doctors. What if that had been us? What about all the children that don't return helpless and groggy to their parents? Who fights for them? Why hasn't the battle been won? It’s amazing how injustice can be so apparent and yet be so unsolved.
I knew then something had changed. I had all the energy I needed inside of me. All I had to do was stand up. So, I did. Along the way I have learned more than I hoped. Barack is right. We all want basically the same things. We all know that. We just have different ideas about how to get there.
So, as I see it we have two choices. We stand around and discuss, or even argue, about how to make things happen or we step up and we do it. I've always been a do-er. I'm not one to stand around and wait for something to save me. I can do the saving. We all can. You can.
That's just one of the reasons I keep going. Americans deserve Universal Healthcare. I am out supporting the budget because it lays the ground work to accomplish just that.
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