Tunneling Toward Light
photo: Kevin Snow
“Let America Be America Again,” Langston Hughes penned in 1935 for us in 2024. Watch Aldo Billingslea’s impassioned recitation of this poem. His voice imprints the words on our hearts. “America never was America to me.” For whom and how many does Hughes speak, both then and now? “Let it be the dream it used to be” for “immigrants clutching the hope.” Ours remains an incomplete experiment—“the land that never has been yet.” Still, the poet’s promising forecast: “And yet I swear this oath—America will be!”
What a sadly perfect time to embrace this poem. Grief, the spirit’s consuming flattener, holds sway. The pro lost the 2024 presidential election. A con won. Grief’s pall lies heavy. Waiting for it to run its course, I wonder if grief can sprint. Still, I feel lucky and grateful to have witnessed Vice President Harris’s brave, intelligent, and joyful campaign.
In her first post-election speech, Harris stirred her distraught audience: “Here’s the thing: Sometimes that fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win. The important thing is don’t ever give up.” In a little over three months, she and her running mate Tim Walz gave us their all. Every bit of all. I was certain that theirs was the winning ticket. Millions of first-time voter registrations, hordes of volunteers fanning the country, throngs of all backgrounds at campaign rallies, and Harris’s detailed proposals and dignified persona. Closing her post-election remarks, she pointed to the sky. “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. Let us fill the sky with the light of a billion brilliant stars!”
Watch New Jersey Senator Cory Booker’s tee shirt-clad remarks shared shortly after the election. “We should feel grief but never despair because love remains unconquerable.” In these frightening times, we must “care for one another and deepen community.” I met someone a couple of days ago who confirms Booker’s assurance that “no kind deed is ever in vain.” Spying a barista’s kiosk on my way home, I futilely emptied my pockets searching for coffee bean funds. A man put down his two cups of just-purchased coffee and returned to the counter. Rooting around in his much deeper pockets, he bought a bag of the “House Blend” for me. We chatted in the parking lot, my donor a construction company owner recently moving here to care for his mother. We walked together to our cars after he fetched his mother from a next-door appointment. A cup of the House (of Representatives) Blend raised in a toast with Booker: “Let’s be hope and not look for it.”
So we shore up, forge ahead, imagine beyond. Listen and seek. Enjoying a lifetime of this country’s benefits, I can’t excuse my turning away and giving up. Cynical disengagement would only add to my own and to our nation’s burden. I can’t pay attention only when resting assured. Steady the pace—win the race. Take breaks—give back. Stay the long, long course ahead.
Let’s accept Mary Oliver’s “Invitation” to a goldfinch concert. Mingle in the thistles. Why are these goldfinches singing so joyfully? The poet feels quite fortunate to be alive on such a fresh morning “in the broken world.” Quiet…. Perhaps the birds’ singalong tells us something vital. Shhhh…. “You must change your life.”
Okay. Learn new dance moves. Clear the mind. Take a walk. Hold hands. Have faith in a new generation of leaders. Discover and support winning coalitions. Focus on efforts to reverse the deadend course ahead. Protect eyes and ears from the jaw-dropping poison, cruelly-criminal stupidity—learn the predictably little that’s necessary and immediately tune out. Goldfinch.
Here's three sources I’ve found meaningful recently. Among many thought-provoking articles in Waging Nonviolence, check out this one touting a wave of new movements. The Intercept challenges savvily, exhaustingly, and beneficially. And Bluesky gathers a fast-growing, socially-progressive online community.
music shushes fear
beat…breath in…beat…breath out…breathe
sturdy calm content
Pangs ache. Dreams pile up, intuition shuts down, confusion runs around. Say hey to the upbeat vibes in Incognito’s “Positivity.” Hang around, positivity, linger. “You have got to learn how to please your mind / Tryin’ to find a way to spend your time.” Roll, shower, sleep in positivity. When it strays, and it will, trust its return.
“Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing.” Create your anxiety-free space, decorate it, make it roomy. Come in—zone out. Incognito’s cheery musicians jazz up an old song with new pizzazz. “Everybody needs a change / A chance to check out the new.” Walk, bike, motor—hats, drums, laughter. I’m in. Where’re you? Whatcha doin’?
His hands rotating and grin widening, Quincy Jones conducts horns and strings, pedals and keys, and a swaying chorus. Featuring singer Tevin Campbell, musicians of all ages join in their belief in “Tomorrow a Better You, Better Me.” Count on your hopes and dreams—step out and stand strong. Listen to this intergenerational community! Watch the experienced saxophonist entice younger blowers. “If tomorrow is light in a place where there is none…There’s a promise of love tomorrow has.”