Anniversaries of Progress: Then and Now

In the last week, we’ve seen the first African American accept the nomination of a major American political party for the office of President of the United States, and the selection of a female as the running mate for the Republican Party this year. What a time to be living in America and to be studying its politics and government. Only in this unique country could both of these events be possible. It was forty five years ago yesterday that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to proclaim an urgent message to the American people.

“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children,” he said. One can only imagine what it must be like for someone like John Lewis, a hero of the civil rights movement, to bare witness to the candidacy of Barack Obama and the real possibility that he may be inaugurated as the 44th president in less than five months.

Eighty-eight years ago this week, women were granted the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Yet, the passage of the amendment was only the beginning and through the last nine decades women have broken one barrier after another in a perpetual climb towards an inevitable breaking of the political glass ceiling. Hillary Rodham Clinton said this week that her campaign put 18 million (the number of votes she received during the primaries) cracks in the glass ceiling and today Sarah Palin, the 44-year old Alaska governor who is John McCain’s selection as a running mate, said that she hopes that with her election she can break one more barrier by becoming the first female vice president. One can only imagine what it must be like to be a female born before women were even granted the right to vote to see the progress of women in politics over the past year.

As we prepare to welcome both presidential candidates in New York City in less than two weeks for the Service Nation summit, these momentous occasions provide a great insight into the progress that has been made towards equality and representation in this country but it also serves a reminder of all of the progress that still lies ahead.

Leading up to, during, and after the Summit I hope to be providing additional insights and comments about the campaign, national service and the times in which we live. Please feel free to contact me at chrisgolden07 AT hotmail DOT com with your thoughts.

My friend Chris Golden and I are excited to begin keeping you up to date about our personal preparations and experiences surrounding the ServiceNation summit. We are two of the 100 young leaders who will gather in New York City for a summit and experience of a lifetime in roughly two weeks. Chris and I became friends while freshmen at American University. We’re both really interested in current events, politics (even though we’re near polar opposites on the political spectrum), and citizen service.

Yesterday we finished up a press release about our plans to attend the ServiceNation summit, and it was sent back to our hometowns and college campuses. It was important to us to get the word out, especially to our peers, about ServiceNation and the grassroots effort to improve our country that will follow. It was also important to demonstrate the involvement of young people in this movement. I think it is great the organizers of the summit made such a deliberate attempt to engage and reach out to young people, the future of our country.

More than any other recent generation, my generation, the Millennials as we like to say, have a desire to serve their country and give back. Perhaps it’s because we found working outside what we perceive to be a broken political system is more effective. Perhaps it’s because we are defined by the 2001 terrorist attacks and are inspired by the subsequent showing of national unity and call to service. Whatever the reason, young people are becoming more engaged and our communities and country stands to benefit immensely because of that.

For example:
This week I have had several friends attend the Democratic National Convention, as many more prepare to fly out to the Republican National Convention next week (one as a delegate, one as a journalist, and one as a page). I have a high school friend who, in his junior year of college, is running for state senate in Rhode Island. I’ve met teenage school board members, leaders of civic movements like 18in08, and non-profit leaders, such as where I work at Mobilize.org. The power of our generation is enormous, and it is reassuring that ServiceNation recognizes this and wants to tap that potential in this movement going forward.

I look forward to meeting other young leaders across the country and hearing their stories. We have so much to learn from each other. And while we are still two weeks out, we’re not wasting any time. Thank you, Facebook. More on that tomorrow.