by Councilman Joe Cobb
(These are remarks I shared at the NAACP Youth Light Up the Night event)
Martin Luther King, Jr. whose life and birthday we celebrated Monday, once said that “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
The past year has brought us face to face with this darkness, this deeply embedded trauma – some brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, yet its deeper roots within the pandemic of racism and the oppression of white supremacy. Our neighbors of color are tired from the trauma, opened up by incidents that hearken to the days of slavery, lynching, Jim Crow and urban renewal. We, who are white, are, in many ways, just beginning to see the travesty of it all, just beginning to see the role white privilege and power plays in oppressing communities of color and the residual trauma it has caused. Many are just beginning to realize that until we dispel the darkness within ourselves, our light will not fully shine.
The protests of last summer revealed the deep chasm in our collective body, the agony of breath taken and anguish unfettered, and the riots of Wednesday, Jan. 6, opened its treacherous wounds. It seems beyond imagination that we would see a confederate flag being waved through our Capitol, or a noose hung on its grounds, or a sacred edifice to our beloved democracy spoiled. The pain within us all is deep.
In our own city, we see and experience what happens when the light within us begins to fade. When the light begins to fade within, we become vulnerable to depression, to loss of purpose and direction, to lack of will. We start to believe that we aren’t meant to dream, that we aren’t meant to imagine the possibilities, that there aren’t possibilities that we are only meant to survive.
We hear the cries of loneliness. We hear the shouts of anguish. We hear the pop of gunfire. We wrestle and fight for something, for anything, and the experience of these moments leaves us all groaning and heaving in unbearable sadness and grief, wondering – what can we do? how can we be better, more buoyant, more hopeful, more loving?
Dr. King’s words begin to stir again, within us and around us, words of light and love, and the chorus begins to swell, as Maya Angelou adds, “nothing can dim the light which shines from within,” and James Baldwin sings that, “One discovers the light in the darkness, that is what darkness is for; but everything in our lives depends on how we bear the light. It is necessary, while in darkness, to know that there is a light somewhere, to know that in oneself, waiting to be found, there is a light. What the light reveals is danger, and what it demands is faith.”
To be a light is to risk being vulnerable, to risk sharing our love, to risk sharing our spirit, to risk the danger of making our lives and this place we call home better, to risk transforming ourselves and everyone and everything around us.
To address what breaks us apart and tears us apart, we must be honest with ourselves and with each other, address the things we don’t understand or don’t yet know and walk alongside our neighbors whose burdens are so heavy from four centuries of grief, that they just want someone to come alongside and listen, lift up, empower and embolden.
The events of these last few years, and this last week, may leave us weary, yet among us, and throughout this city, are the fresh, energetic and brilliant lights of our youth, and our neighbors and our elders, turning on and tuning into what makes transformation possible.
When we work together, we can begin a path toward transformation – creating sacred, safe spaces (like tonight) for truth-telling and healing, recognizing our interdependence and connection, finding a sense of equality, building a city of equity, honoring each other with respect and giving everyone a voice – even the quiet among us.
We are called upon to listen deeply, to embrace our collective responsibility and accountability for meaningful, life-changing efforts that will transform our greatest challenges into pathways toward healing and renewal of hope. Within this work is Light, and Love, and Peace.
We are a Star City, not only because we have a star that shines brightly on our mountain. We are a star city because we are a city who believes that everyone is a light and bears a light into what is possible, what is imaginable, what is dream-able, what is livable, what is achievable.
Each of us is a light, and together as bearers of light, our mutual light shines as a beacon in Roanoke, Virginia and throughout the world.
