Dear President Carter-When you asked US to do uncomfortable things-for future generations-I Listened
Writer/director
Angela Combs,
Dear President Carter
............
When you asked Americans to do uncomfortable things in sacrifice for future generations, I listened. You weren't talking about bravery of the kind that Grace's family had exhibited; your call was to sacrifice comfort by consuming less oil. You said that we could move forward by preserving rather than destroying. ... You said the answer to our socio-economic and humanitarian woes was not in plundering the earth, but in protecting it. You made us brothers and sisters in the same uncertain boat of humanity.
..............
Your extraordinary leadership was the foundation of my high school years, so when I turned 18 in 1980 and cast my vote for the first time, I voted for you. My dream of how the world should work was immediately disappointed, and over the years I witnessed how it became popular to blame government, how "citizen" became conflated with "consumer" and how the prosperity doctrine became a wildly popular religious and social belief -- and I bristled.
I returned to college in 1993, as a newly divorced single mother, raising my children in Los Angeles after being accepted to UCLA. I went to school on loans and grants and had no choice but to ignore the naysayers with their xenophobic whisperings against the dangers of sending my children to Los Angeles Public Schools. I was told the schools were undesirable and that I could fudge my address to get my kids into a "better" district. But I knew full well that what LAUSD offered could not be taught in a history book and that my children would have the privilege of developing friendships with people of all colors and creeds, and learning from the inspired teachers who made it their life's work to serve the most underserved.
Our apartment became the afterschool home to so many children of differing racial, ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds, who later went on to college along with my own kids. These young people are now quite literally endeavoring to save the world and I can personally trace this back to you. My oldest son is a progressive organizer who works for the AFT, because he believes that public school is the only place where our nation's children can come together in such diversity and empathy under the educational leadership of dedicated professionals (who would suffer the abuse and scorn of an ungrateful nation). My daughter, an artist and arts educator, recently said to me "I can no longer participate in the slave labor clothing market" and vowed that she would only buy clothing that was produced humanely. This is a sacrifice for her (a college educated young woman who makes barely more than minimum wage) to pay much higher prices for the sake of others. My youngest son studied sociology at American University and once called me, lamenting the political mucking of the word "feminist" because he could not understand how equity could be a controversial notion.
When I had no safety at home, when food was scarce and my life seemed impossibly violent and out of control, you became President. You instilled a belief in me that moral leadership will win. You led with the highest standards and it changed my life and eventually the lives of my children and so many others. Look around and see what you have sown in the next generation. Thank you President Carter for your prescient service to me and my family, to our country and the world. Thank you for your grace.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/angela-garcia-combs/dear-president-carter_b_8028498.html
via:
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2015/08/dear-president-carter-thank-you-by.html
it is the Humility
always, the Humility
Everything he says and does is graced with that Humility.....
We all hope President Carter will be here to continue to inspire even more of us....
kp
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Truth told to people who had no interest in it.
