I'm 33 today. There is a large framed portrait of John F. Kennedy that hangs on my bedside wall. I asked for it for my 13th birthday and this weekend, I realized that I have had it for 20 years. It has hung on every bedside wall of every room I have lived in since the 8th Grade, from Indiana to California, DC, to New York, Europe and South America, and it still hangs next to my bedside today.
At the top of it is an inscription from President Kennedy’s address at Amherst College just a month before his death, an inscription I’ve known by heart since saving asking for that poster:
"The men who create power make an indispensable contribution to the Nation's greatness, but the men who question power make a contribution just as indispensable, especially when that questioning is disinterested, for they determine whether we use power or power uses us."
As the anger and sadness of the past few months gives way to introspection, I’ve been reflecting on that portrait. I realized that every good movement in this country, and frankly in the short history of mankind, has come from good people questioning power. The (mostly) men who questioned a king in England gave rise to this nation. Their wisdom was questioned by the abolitionists and then by the suffragists and eventually by another King who questioned a long and dirty hold on power. All were told to fall in line, to deal with it, to get over it, but they didn't, they kept questioning and reminding people of unpleasant truths.
I understand that people may be annoyed or want to move on because it is unpleasant or divisive to keep talking about unpleasant truths. I disagree, I think we all need to get past the small talk, I think we're all better for it if we connect and debate on a deeper human level rather than sweeping away what we find difficult. For the next few years and beyond, I think it is imperative to continue posting and questioning and reminding people, even when - no especially when - it is most uncomfortable, not to cast blame, but to keep power honest and true to what we think this world ought to be.
In that same speech, President Kennedy said,
"The artist, however faithful to his personal vision of reality, becomes the last champion of the individual mind and sensibility against an intrusive society and an officious state."
To my fellow artists, this is the time to step up. You are often the most critical members of society - the great ones are at least - because any artist worth her weight in salt is motivated by a concern for justice. I'm not an artist, all I have are words, and I will be using them more than ever because without any formal power, the power of our arguments is all we have left. One group or ideology has a monopoly on passion. And progress isn't inevitable without people pushing for it every day rather than every four years. So, we'll keep creating, writing, posting, doing, especially when it gets tired and after this moment passes - That's why the life of any great artist is solitary, because it's usually way out there on its own.
Inspiration comes in many forms and it isn't always the uplifting kind. I've been looking for silver linings for the past few months, and I've found one, I'm 33 today, and I'm fortunate to feel this type of disappointment and subsequent passion at a time when I still have a whole life to do something about it, rather than when it was too late.
Here's to another 20 years with JFK at my bedside, 20 years of being annoying but necessary.