I have been down lately. As I mentioned earlier this week, November was really rough. The recent (and increasingly frequent) terrorist attacks coupled with a shocking American response to the Syrian refugee crisis has made it feel as though the world is a very dark place.
But we must fight that darkness. And the nonprofit sector must lead us there.
Life is a constant interplay between dark and light. As actor Patton Oswalt wrote after the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013:
“You watch the videos of the carnage and there are people running TOWARDS the destruction to help out…Every once in awhile, the wiring of a tiny sliver of the species gets snarled and they’re pointed towards darkness. But the vast majority stands against that darkness and, like white blood cells attacking a virus, they dilute and weaken and eventually wash away the evil doers and, more importantly, the damage they wreak…So when you spot violence, or bigotry, or intolerance or fear or just garden-variety misogyny, hatred or ignorance, just look it in the eye and think, ‘The good outnumber you, and we always will.'”
Or as Mr. Rogers said, when there are horrific acts, don’t focus on the fear and the violence, but instead “look for the helpers.” Focus on those who are working to make the world a better place.
And those working to make the world a better place are the nonprofits. Indeed, one way the good outnumbers the evil is through the leadership of the nonprofit sector — the social movements that champion right over wrong.
And they must. As Rick Cohen so eloquently wrote in his last piece, it is up to the nonprofit sector to rise up in the face of fear and injustice. Indeed, this is playing out right now in my state of Texas where the head of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is threatening to sue the nonprofit International Rescue Committee headquartered in Dallas because they continue to work with Syrian refugees despite the state’s refusal to take Syrian refugees in the wake of the Paris attacks. This nonprofit is fighting the fear and ignorance.
And isn’t that — at its essence — the critical role of the nonprofit sector, to, as Susan Ragusa put it, bring light to the darkness: “Every nonprofit, large and small, [has] a strategic role in bringing greater balance to a world that feels upended by horrific acts and the continued threat of more.”
One nonprofit, the Muslim Public Affairs Council (a client of mine) is doing exactly this. They work to improve public understanding and policies affecting American Muslims. They have been incredibly busy lately trying to convince Americans that ISIS does not represent Muslims. MPAC’s critical role is to be the voice of reason and understanding amid the terror and the backlash rhetoric. They are working tirelessly to show American policymakers how to turn away from the dark and embrace our better nature. As MPAC staff wrote recently:
“It is easy for us to pay lip service to America as the beacon of freedom. To be such an example to the rest of the world, yet not allow the world’s tired and poor to reach that freedom, makes our values mere slogans as opposed to truth. The home of the brave must not be scared to hold on to its principles, most especially during the times it is easiest to let them go.”
And that is the antidote — isn’t it — to the fear, the hopelessness, and the violence? We must pick ourselves up, gather our courage, and seek the light. We must strive, always strive, to find and embrace the better angels of our nature.
And nonprofits must lead us there.
Photo Credit: “S S Hope” by Herman Hiller, Library of Congress
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