Stephen Downes
Stephen's Web
Robert F. Kennedy
Because I have never been to Washington before, I took the day today to take the Metro into the city and to walk around. If I ever have any pretensions of grandeur, a day spent wandering around D.C. in complete anonymity is a good remedy.And so it happened that on this day, June 6, 2008 - 40 years to the day after his assassination - I found myself standing at the final resting place of Robert F. Kennedy, thinking about war and peace and about in these historic times.
Kennedy's grave, as you can see from the picture above, is a simple wooden cross, usually unadorned, except on this day of all days. There is a dignity and grace in anonymity, and far better people than I have walked this Earth, their contributions unremarked, their names unknown.
Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
On this day, I'll spare a thought for my friends in the United States, to wish them well, and most of all, to wish them peace.
Various Authors, Wikipedia, June 6, 2008 8:46 p.m.. [Link]
Comments
Re: Robert F. Kennedy
Very powerful post and larger message, Stephen. RFK was a significant influence on me in my earlier years; he seemed to be able to elevate the discourse and remind all of us that we are part of a larger tapestry. Thanks for the reminder.
Peace,
Rick [Comment]
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Re: Robert F. Kennedy
Funny Stephen,
When I read you quote from RFK on your Half an Hour blog the other day, it seemed a profound metaphor for our political and social moment, and hearing today it was the 40th anniversary I though of that post earlier this morning. And now this post eloquently frames the important space for a quiet pause and reflection on where we are, and where we are going.
Thanks,
Jim [Comment]
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Re: Robert F. Kennedy
No one recognized you in D.C.? Wow, that must have been a shock for you. [Comment]
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Re: Robert F. Kennedy
As you say, it is a historic time. Bob Herbert has a nice editorial in the New York Times today, called Savor the Moment. It begins "Friday was the 40th anniversary of the death of Robert F. Kennedy. Had he lived, he would be 82 now." The link is http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/07/opinion/07herbert.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Recently I've found images from the 60's shouldering their way back from the past. Recalling the day when I was a college freshman and JFK died. Or when I got married the day after MLK died. Or when I watched from a Peace Corps stint in West Africa the other horrible events of 1968. These images and your message have touched me in a surprisingly tender spot, one I long thought was merely scar tissue.
Thank you for your post. I hope you never cease calling things as you see them.
Gary [Comment]
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Re: Robert F. Kennedy
June 6th is also the anniversary of the Normandy invasion, and seeing the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in your photo reminded me of a smaller, simpler one in Nova Scotia, with the names of people from my tiny home town. Anonymous except to their families, memories of them fading but not vanished.
It took a lot to sweep away that particular oppression. [Comment]
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Re: Robert F. Kennedy
I am glad you took some time in DC to explore and experience some very powerful places. I went to high school in the suburbs of DC back in the day when you could actually drive in front of the Lincoln Memorial and the White House and meet your father for lunch at the State Department without passing through a security checkpoint. It felt more like "the people's capital" in those days.
I was in Ann Arbor when I awoke to the news of Robert Kennedy's assassination. Earlier in the summer I worked for his rival, Eugene McCarthy, in Indiana. My interest in politics ended shortly thereafter as I watched the Democatric Convention and the commentators continually proclaimed that all of those delegate votes accumulating for Hubert Humphrey were "as expected." Why did we bother if the outcome was already anticipated?
My visits to the Vietnam Memorial include touching the name of a soldier I never knew but whose name I carried and shouted as part of the March on Washington in November 1969. We were young and idealistic and hopeful that peace was possible. Forty years later I am no longer young.
Ellen [Comment]
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Re: Robert F. Kennedy
A healthy dose of perspective is good for all of us now and then (Anymouse's (waspish?) comment notwithstanding). There are people who go completely unnoticed and underpaid when they contribute so much to society, and others who are paid far too much money and accorded far too much respect for doing things that don't really amount to much in the grand scheme of things.
I wonder what future anthropologists will make of our society?
Irma Bombeck once said "My faith in the government will be restored when my son's school gets as much money as it needs for a new school bus, and the air force has to hold a bake sale to buy a new bomber."
Perhaps mine will be restored when a teacher of special needs kids earns more than a football player. [Comment]
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