INSPIRATION: Make history tomorrow!
Catalyzing Newport coordinators, Kathleen Shannon and SueEllen Kroll, invite us to change the course of history. As this catalyst residency with Carol Coletta and Daniel Harris of the Knight Foundation comes to a close, the Local Action Team is looking to the future, developing a project that will make history.
Make history tomorrow!
We came across this February 2013 Atlantic Magazine list of “What day most changed the course of history?” The moments ranged from wrong turns and untimely deaths to inventions of steam engines, microscopes, and Michael Jackson’s moonwalk to civic innovation resulting in women’s suffrage and our nation’s independence. It reminds me to thank history for what we have today and to make history tomorrow.
The world is definitely filled with uncertainties. And we will not always have the answers or make the right decisions, but are we willing to stand by and do nothing when we could make a difference in a day? These courageous figures in history didn’t stand by and let chance lead their futures. They took responsibility and acted — learning from doing, creating, and sharing bold ideas within their community. Their actions not only made history, but also made progress and built their and our futures.
So whether you spend your historical day getting married, giving birth, or saving the world – make history. These historical characters and moments in time were not meant to be stored in a book or a museum to be observed. They inspire us, and they do even more. They are a part of us, our culture, our community, and our everyday living in Rhode Island – in the colonial home that housed generations of families, the school that awaits our children, the printing press that shares our ideas, the boats that transported our families to this nation, the women and men that gave their lives for our freedom, and the city that invited them to live. We must find courage and strength to persevere, to overcome barriers, and to continue the legacy of innovation that history put to work for us.
So we ask you today, what would you do tomorrow to change the course of history? What actions would you take? And if you could, who would you ask to help? And who would it benefit?
What Day Most Changed the Course of History? The Atlantic, February 20, 2013