Labor Day
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Wimp that I am, I am forever grateful that---at least so far in life, knock on wood---I have lived in a time and place that hasn't required great things of me. I've always had all the love, money, peace, and justice that I need in life. Never seen a loved one go to war. Never had to put myself in danger for justice's sake. Never had to work 12-hour days at a back-breaking job.
So I've always been in awe of those who lived in difficult times, times that required harrowing moral choices. The Freedom Riders who went to the South to register black voters during the Civil Rights movement. The Europeans who hid Jews during WWII. The northerners who made up the Underground Railroad. With justice did these people earn a moniker in capitalized letters.
And the labor unions. The people who faced brutal consequences in the early twentieth century to get people living wages, to end child labor, to limit daily working hours, and get the occasional day off. We owe each anonymous worker an incredible debt of gratitude for risking it all, for making the brave choice, to create a more just world.
I know there are lots of movies about these themes, but one recent one is The Great Debaters, which is mainly about a black college debate team but also touches on the labor movement. These movies always make me feel how scary it was to rebel and grateful that there were people who faced down their fears.
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Wimp that I am, I am forever grateful that---at least so far in life, knock on wood---I have lived in a time and place that hasn't required great things of me. I've always had all the love, money, peace, and justice that I need in life. Never seen a loved one go to war. Never had to put myself in danger for justice's sake. Never had to work 12-hour days at a back-breaking job.
So I've always been in awe of those who lived in difficult times, times that required harrowing moral choices. The Freedom Riders who went to the South to register black voters during the Civil Rights movement. The Europeans who hid Jews during WWII. The northerners who made up the Underground Railroad. With justice did these people earn a moniker in capitalized letters.
And the labor unions. The people who faced brutal consequences in the early twentieth century to get people living wages, to end child labor, to limit daily working hours, and get the occasional day off. We owe each anonymous worker an incredible debt of gratitude for risking it all, for making the brave choice, to create a more just world.
I know there are lots of movies about these themes, but one recent one is The Great Debaters, which is mainly about a black college debate team but also touches on the labor movement. These movies always make me feel how scary it was to rebel and grateful that there were people who faced down their fears.
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posted by Anonymous at
12:48 PM
2 Comments:
"Never had to put myself in danger for justice's sake." until now. lynn, i appear to have been bitten by a deadly poisonous snake. would you be so kind as to suck the venom out of my weeping wound? thanks!!!
I have seriously thought about this very scenario lately, because several dogs have been killed by Coppersnake bites this year in Columbia. And I myself saw a Coppersnake not 15 feet away from us during a walk one day. And when I put it in the context of having to save Rocky's life, I have no doubt I could suck that venom out.
Of course, you were asking about YOUR weeping wound . . .
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