Powerful Knowledge

Picture, if you will, a world filled with peace, justice, equity, and democracy. A world of abundance fueled by creativity and production; spurned by fruitful collaborations across nations, religions, and ideologies. A world free of hunger and want; where bellies and minds are full and where all are citizens with powerful words and ideas to contribute to the global human family.
Why do we not have this type of world? What have we been led to believe about the inherent nature of humanity and about the inevitability of suffering, ignorance, and war? And how has our education precipitated these negative attitudes toward our world, our possibilities, each other and ourselves? Can the quality of education determine the quality of the human condition? Do we possess the untapped human potential to solve our greatest problems?
I believe emphatically that the answer is yes. Ignorance and nihilism are the leisure of privilege. We disdain what we cannot yet comprehend. Our Miseducation has made that incomprehension the norm. No weapon is more powerful than ignorance, save knowledge. No revolution has been or could be more complete than the immediate and total transformation of human thought and no institution is more essential to that transformation than our public schools. The challenge is ours to provide the necessary (and possible) critical global education to enable all of our people to live in the world of their dreams.

Lifetimes of Action

A Day of Action is a great thing when people come together united for change. I applaud the students, faculty, and community members now and historically that have stood up and spoken out for what they believed in. What we need are lifetimes dedicated to action. The question is not whether the world can change, but how it will change and who will be responsible. A silent, fragmented majority is no advantage to anyone, but the people united and moving as one can overcome even the greatest of obstacles. The twentieth century was testimony to that; advocates came together to demand women's suffrage and civil rights. Students protested to end wars, free political prisoners, and abolish racist, colonial governments such as Apartheid South Africa. We are constantly besieged by the forces of greed, selfishness, and inhumanity. The variable is always the will of the people. What will we do with our moment? What will history say about us? The good news is that the choice is ours because that history is ours to define. We have everything that we need, free minds, the power to speak and act, and, most importantly, we have each other. I am with you because right now, as always, there is no other place to be.