“I must honestly confess that I go through those moments
of disappointment when I have to recognize the fact that
there aren’t enough white persons in our country who are
willing to cherish democratic principles over privilege.”
There’s a time in your life when you’ll be striving, reaching, seeking. Every new subject, every new interest, every new person will crackle with the possibility of sparking and bringing alive a part of you that you didn’t know existed. It’s the kind of ride you’ll know you’re on when you’re on it. It needs no label. And what’s more: by definition, you’ll enjoy it. It feeds the ego. For most, it occurs in late teens, early twenties. For some, it’s delayed by loss but ignites later in life, when there is time and space. For still others, tragically, it never happens.
One reason I love this power plant so much is because
there’s no reason it had to be built with all these
intricate details and grandiose architecture. It’s just a
power plant, after all; all it had to do was create
electricity. I think that demonstrates a fundamental
change of philosophy in the way we construct the world
around us.
To me, the world is feeling more and more disposable.
Everything is created as cheaply as possible, and it is
simply a means to an end. But, when Port Richmond station
was built, the builders thought they were constructing
something that would serve future generations for
centuries, and when we’re creating something permanent,
it’s only natural for us to want to inject art and
creativity and craftmanship into it. It’s part of what
makes us human — and that’s what lacking from so much of
what we build today.
When I work in downtown Minneapolis, I drive home past a boarded up store spray painted with: “REST IN POWER, GEORGE FLOYD.” Invariably, I read it aloud to myself, alone in the car, and it gives me some hope. After the inhuman, brutal, cruel murder of Floyd in May, I was so relieved to see a national and then international series of protests. Judging by their duration, intensity, and organization, this could be what it looks like when the baton from the Civil Rights movement is taken up again to continue and escalate the fight against the inextricably intertwined institutions of United States racism and United States policing.
