The Beauty of Fear

"So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear...itself." President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

FDR spoke these words in his first inaugural address in 1933. At that time, the country was in the depths of  its greatest economic depression. The general public was captured by one of two emotions at that time, depression or fear. For a new President to say these words and stand up the fear of that moment must have taken tremendous courage.

It takes courage to stand up in the midst of fear. Think about it. How many times have you found yourself in situations filled with fear? Loss of a job, home, loved one, marriage, friendship. Physical fights, verbal fights, and emotional fights. How many times have you stood up to those moments versus the times you've wilted under the pressure? We've all been there and we'll all be there a few more times before it's all said and done.

Right now, our country is in a similar place as it was in 1933. No, we're not in the middle of a great depression (of course some might suggest otherwise, with good reason), but in some ways it's actually worse. In 1933, there was no such thing as "out sourcing" or "global competition" or a "global economy" There were no definitive superpowers, most civilized nations had there own niche or a role to play on their respective continent. The world we live in is a much more complex and interconnected one,  you only need look as far back as 2008 for proof. When the U.S. had the economic version of the flu in 2008, the rest of the world caught a cold, because our world market makes it so that if any major economy suffers, we all feel a measure of its pain.

The U.S. has a public education system in such disarray and dysfunction that people would rather destroy it than go through the trouble of trying to fix it. Social security and Medicare (two more issues that didn't exist in 1933) are either ready to run out or are facing the proposal of major cuts. Our national debt is so high that our "friends" whom have been buying up that debt because they believed it was a sure bet that they'd get a pretty good return on their investment once rebounded are wondering out loud about how much more debt they can afford to invest in. Elected officials at the state and federal level would much rather "win" and leave millions of its constituents out in the cold, than "lose" and sacrifice for the betterment of the people they all swore an oath to represent. Lastly, the country has been stripped of its long standing (though some believed undeserved) superior credit rating of AAA. These are just a few in a long list of domestic issues we're facing and I won't even touch the international ones, I'll save that for another post.

There are a lot of reasons every person living in this country should be afraid right now. I'm not going to go to the well of "out of our darkest moments, this country has risen to the challenge, time and time again, only to come out of it stronger and more able than before!" and I'll tell you why, because that would be a lie (as well as trite). Our country was a country born out of conflict, but it was only after that initial conflict that we came out a better product than we were when the fighting began. Since then we have fought and fought and fought throughout our history and while we have gained more allies, markets, wealth, and military experience & power.

One thing we have not gained as a nation after all of the times we've "risen to the challenge"is wisdom. We still find ways to put the best face forward on our mistakes and see our successes as proof that we are without a doubt, the "best and the brightest". When the truth is, we are so obsessed with being the best that we won't dare stop to take a look at the mirror for fear that we'll see pimples, scars, discoloring or hairs out of place. All things that can be dealt with, if we can get over the fear of imperfection or even (shudder) no longer being the brightest star.

What I will say is that out of fear, comes growth. Out of fear, if we so choose, we have the opportunity to shine a spotlight on our weaknesses. Life brings us fear so that we might become aware of the weak places hidden inside of us and be able to strengthen them to become the very best versions of ourselves. Geoffrey Canada created the Harlem Achievement Zone in 1990 out of fear that children in Harlem were more likely to die from drugs, gang violence or poverty than succeed in education and attend college. The One Campaign was created out of fear that third world countries would not commit to the civic and economic infrastructures necessary to reduce or eliminate poverty among their own people.

A father might decide to get more active in his child's school to address his fear that he's not involved enough in his daughter's life. An engineer could chose to volunteer her time to a local school or non-profit organization to stand up to her fear that there are not enough young people actively involved in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. An African-American man with an advanced degree, years of non-profit/political management and educational coordination experience  might choose to create a program or organization focused on civic education and civic engagement to stand up to his fear that generations of youth are growing up without any connection to the democracy that their country was founded on.

You could decide to take the fear you have about something going on in your neighborhood, city, county, state or country and stand up to it, turning that fear into a beautiful opportunity. Or...you could just continue to be afraid.

What will you do?

A Life of Civic Engagement

Most of the time I talk about being civically engaged through methods such as voting, joining community groups or boards, etc. Today I spoke with a living example of civic engagement. For the sake of anonymity we'll call him JM. We crossed each other's paths while I was checking out the UT Austin Alumni Center during a field trip my program was taking on campus and JM was taking pictures of the center's main lounge. He explained to me that eventhough he attended UT as a student many years ago, he'd never been able to visit the alumni center. While a student at UT, JM became ill and his illness significantly limited his experience as a first-year student and eventually caused him to drop out of school altogether.

After recovering from his illness, JM kicked around for a while before finally earning his degree in Education from a local institution. Flash forward to the present time and he is now teaching Math at a high school in the Rio Grande Valley. He tells me that he has too many students in each of his classes, most with students that often worry more about being shot or having a roof over their head than solving equations and proving theorems. Still, JM smiles when talking about a few students that "get it'. Students to whom he has pledged to do whatever is possible to help them get where they want to go. This simple, unassuming and ordinary looking man, astonishes me with story after story of connections that he has made with his students and their families.

There was one story in particular about several students on the brink, torn between school and gang affiliation, with tremendous potential and a former student (also gang affiliated) who visited with JM after school. The former student asked JM if any of his students were giving him any trouble or not showing up to class and upon hearing about these students the former student assured JM he would "take care of it". From that moment on, those same students might have skipped other classes, but never JM's class. JM gives me a dizzying list of all of his ideas and thoughts about what his kids need and the ways that he's able to get his kids to open up see a way to a life better than the current one that is a daily fight to survive.

As I listen to JM brag about some of his students and articulate the hope that he has for his future pupils, I cannot help, but wonder if JM will ever do anything more than teach Math in the Rio Grande Valley. As if on cue, JM tells me that he is considering a return to UT to enhance his education, but isn't sure whether or not doing so would be worth it. I don't know if JM will take his gifts and passion any further than the depressed region of southern Texas and I don't know if he and I will ever cross paths again. What I am sure of is that while JM may not see it, he is a living, breathing example of what it means to be civically engaged. JM is not just teaching the kids in his class, he is showing them support and accountability that most of the world around them doesn't have time or the energy to offer.

JM is investing in his community the greatest resource his has in his possession, himself.  By doing so, he is proving that it doesn't take much to become civically engaged, just eyes to see a need and the will to answer it.