Bayard Rustin was a strategic visionary. Martin Luther King, Jr. trusted his advice because he could analyze the outer dynamic that made the inner struggle seem so intractable. He understood that it is the outer dynamic that must be changed for our society to fulfill its greater promise. His essay From Protest to Politics informed a generation. It spoke of the power of organizing, of taking the rights won through protest and solving our community’s problems. In other words, he told us to grow up. As a mature movement we had achieved great goals, as a nation we moved forward with much struggle, and as a people we were given the chance to lead not just our movement but our nation.

During the last decade we’ve devolved back into a movement of protest; looking through the wrong end of the telescope; finding very real problems then choosing to behave as if we are powerless. We are not powerless and while the struggle does continue; to ignore the reality that the landscape has changed is to strain at a gnat. As long as we see ourselves as a subset of the greater whole still seeking equality we lose our focus. Only if we see the brilliant possibilities can we overcome the dull despair of struggle.

That is our faith, our heritage and our mission. We must move from protest to politics to progress. Barak Obama is a symbol and much more but he is not a panacea. We must not like Moses strike the rock and leave the Promised Land to a next generation as we sentimentalize the ‘struggle.’ When Moses struck that rock he did it out of impatience; out of a spirit of protest. Yes we must always long for more, we must feel impatience and demand better, but we must not allow that impatience to make us lose focus.

We must protest from the seat of power not the streets. We must protest by organizing. We must protest by talking to our neighbors and yes loving them. We must protest by talking to our 'Tea Party' neighbor about his kids. We must protest by turning off the voices of politics be they in agreement with us or disagreement. They preach division and competition and if we spend more time listening to those voices than to our neighbors we are spectators not participants in society. We must protest this zero sum game and know that each day we go to work; we struggle to make the best for ourselves, for our family and for our community. We must protest by taking responsibility for our people. We must protest by working for a better day, not as a subset of a people but as an American people.

Listen to the poetic affirmation contained in the words sung so eloquently by Odetta: "This little light of mine. I'm gonna let it shine."

That light is our youth. That light is the next generation of leaders. When we encourage them to engage in protest only; when we encourage them to belittle those who speak for a different path; we treat them like children. When they mature and put away childish things they think of our struggle as only a fashion for a moment in time but not as a real solution. Are we leaders or Civil Rights Movement Re-enactors?

We must encourage them to read; to lead; to question authority with a respect that understands that they do not have all the answers. Those answers are found in themselves and in the discipline to organize and learn. The answers are difficult and not a matter of black versus white or left versus right.

Rustin's words ring true today:

'The role of the civil rights movement in the reorganization of American political life is programmatic as well as strategic. We are challenged now to broaden our social vision, to develop functional programs with concrete objectives. We cannot claim to have answers to all the complex problems of modern society.'

If we fail to recognize that those angry voices that seem to oppose us are speaking out of the same passionate sense of frustration we lose an opportunity. If we answer only with anger or derision rather than compassion we dehumanize our neighbors. We become a caricature to them as they are to us. We close a door. We must have the courage to speak truth to power with dignity and without the need to change hearts and minds. We must understand and listen and in so doing we will find common ground rather than a wall.

How sad that we erect a wall based on who we think our opponents represent when in fact they may only hear one source of information. We must speak and offer our voice so they see that we do not wish to destroy their way of life but rather have many of the same concerns. We take our children to schools that need more, we manage an ever decreasing household budget and make difficult choices each day. We are not the opposition we are the community. We must see them the same way. Otherwise we will simply battle one another while those forces aligned to win the greater battle sit back and watch. While we fight one another they steal from us both.

We need not bring others down to raise ourselves up. We must rise. We must lead. Time to grow up, give thanks, get to work and let our light shine. In doing so we will illuminate a nation and that light set on top of a hill will bring vision to the entire world.