The Plain Dealer / Cleveland.com: When faced with despair, Dr. King’s message reminds us that hope and light always lie ahead
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Each year, we commemorate the life lived and lessons preached by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with a day full of acts of service, unity, and celebration in our communities. Since 2020, the significance of this holiday, Dr. King’s legacy, and his prophetic words about despair and hope have resonated more strongly than ever.
During the past three years, America has faced a century’s worth of trials and tribulations. A global pandemic ravaged our country taking millions before their time, families faced multifaceted hardships of lost jobs and rising costs, and mothers struggled to find baby formula for the infants whose generation will shape the future of our country.
We saw these hardships and other crises disproportionately impact marginalized communities. Communities of color succumbed to COVID-19 at higher rates than white communities. Low- and moderate-income households remain more likely to suffer adverse health outcomes due to the climate crisis. Black mothers continue to face the highest rate of maternal and infant mortality in the nation.
And when we start to recover from this onslaught of terrible news, another wave of crises throws us once again against what feels like a mountain of despair.
We saw the consequences of lax gun laws late last year when seven mass shootings occurred in seven days. This daily sequence of tragedies reminded us to think about the victims and their loved ones — how many chairs would be left empty during the upcoming holidays? How many candles would never commemorate another birthday? How much love was ripped unjustly from our world through these tragedies?
There is no way to measure the heartbreak these questions evoke compared to the grief felt by the family and friends of lost loved ones.
Over time, and when compounded, these hardships and tragedies can seem impossible to overcome. But hope and light always lie ahead. As we climb the mountain of despair, we find little stones of hope that allow us to keep moving forward and fight on.
During these times of unconscionable hardship, we saw Americans come together like never before. Despite being the most physically isolated from each other during the pandemic than we’ve ever been before, we still found ways to touch one another’s lives: families sewing masks for families, neighbors playing music on balconies for neighbors, and strangers organizing food drives for strangers. COVID-19 was an enormous mountain to climb, but these acts of kindness were small stones of hope as we ascended toward the summit together.
We continue to see these stones of hope from legislation passed during one of the most productive Congressional sessions in history. Starting this year, the Inflation Reduction Act caps the price of insulin for our seniors at $35 a month and marks the most significant investment to combat the climate crisis in our country’s history.
The CHIPS and Science Act brought back more good-paying manufacturing jobs than all those lost during the pandemic recession. Additionally, the Bipartisan Infrastructure law addressed legacy pollution and environmental injustice on an unprecedented scale.
When the mountain of despair feels insurmountable, allow Dr. King’s legacy to resonate in your being, and remember to find your own stones of hope. Whether it’s showing kindness, fighting hate, or engaging in acts of service to help those who need it most, we can all make a difference in each other’s lives by working for the collective good, one stone of hope at a time, to reach the mountaintop together.
Congresswoman Shontel M. Brown represents Ohio’s 11th District in the United States House of Representatives.