Letter from the Editor

By Stephanie Jackson

This year is a year of transition. After eight years under the Bush administration, our country is taking a new turn by choosing a new commander-in-chief. This long awaited, and constitutionally mandated, new beginning is one of hundreds of potential revolutions on the horizon. Our country is a conservative one. This is not, necessarily, saying that America is politically conservative. What I mean is that America, as a united people, is often slow to change its ways. From year to year, technology, entertainment and fashion change drastically, but our collective views on everything from what is moral to what is acceptable public behavior barely make any progress. While I won’t even begin to argue that every social moré in place is an unnecessary restriction, I often find myself wishing I were in a time of more widespread social change. Judging by the recent political atmosphere, however, I just may get my wish.

Occasionally, America finds itself at a time of great social advancement. The last great movement came in the 1950s and 1960s, which saw the birth and growth of movements concerning everything from civil rights to the end of the Vietnam War. These movements, and many more that grew up alongside them, resulted in such once-unbelievable achievements as Roe v. Wade and the end of the draft. Segregation was ended, women began to move up in the work force and Rock N’ Roll music was popularized all within the span of a couple of decades. The activism of normal Americans from all walks of life ended a war and changed the lives of everyone living in the nation.

Just a century before, the 19th century, probably the most socially revolutionary time in history, saw developments like the theory of evolution, socialism and the end of slavery. Everywhere from France to America felt the extensive reach of progress that began years before with the French Revolution. Progress and change reached throughout this century, setting the stage for the even greater changes that were to come in the middle of the 1900s.

Now, even as I write this, we are on the verge of what could be the age to humble even these great periods of progress. There is so much change to be had, so many movements hinging on the verge of erupting. There is the movement for the rights of the gay and lesbian community that gained momentum in the early 1990s only to peter-out as it faced slow state-by-state battles for the rights of its members. There is the pro-choice movement, again facing great pressure from its opposition, as new, more conservative judges take seats in the U.S. Supreme Court. Of course there are always struggles for the equality of non-white races and women, but these battles have extended to include an ever-growing Hispanic population and transgendered people. Immigration rights, universal healthcare and the true separation of church and state are age-old arguments again gaining steam in the national spotlight.

As more and more Americans are voicing their distain for the imperfections of the nation, it is up to each and every one of us to find something we believe in and help lead the fight for America’s acceptance of it. Who will be our next Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Martin Luther King, Jr. or Gloria Steinem? It is up to us to keep our great nation just that, by not only pointing out its flaws but also by leading it in the right direction to cure its ails. If enough of us start to get involved in something, the only result is a change, a transition. We have already seen what has become of the once insulted Green Movement, which now stretches from wind-powered plains in Kansas to the catwalks of New York City fashion week. Just imagine what could happen if everyone fully dedicated himself or herself to a change and really worked to inspire that same passion in others. We can more than live up to our forefathers in the progressive movement; we can create the greatest atmosphere for social advance the world has ever seen. Now is the time; the door is open.