Yet, turn on the TV and what do you see? Talk, talk, talk. There are debates, discussion shows, news programs, reality dramas and let's not forget Geraldo, Sally Jesse, Oprah, Donahue, Joan, Ron, Kathy and Regis. It just seems there is too much talking without enough being said. We got the ultimate talking treat this past weekend -- Senate confirmation hearings. We may have shortages of oil, drinking water, jail space and affordable housing, but there will never be a shortage of people who think they have something to say. I've never known talk alone to solve a problem. So let's try something new. Today, I will listen and will repeat and hope someone hears. Roll of thunder hear my cry Over the water bye and bye Ole man comin' down the line Whip in hand to beat me down But I ain't gonna let him turn me 'round The inside cover of the book, Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor says "age 9 and up." In paperback form it barely covers two hundred pages, yet in reality it fills generations. It is the story of struggle, both black and white. More specifically, it is the story of Cassie, a Mississippi fourth grader in the depression era, who heard more than her share. Listen . . . "Baby you had to grow up a little today. I wish . . . well, no matter what I wish. It happened and you have to accept the fact that in the world outside this house, things are not always as we would have them be. "Baby we have no choice of what color we're born or who our parents are or whether we're rich or poor. What we do have is some choice over what we make of our lives once we're here . . . And I pray to God you'll make the best of yours. "Cassie, there'll be a whole lot of things you ain't gonna wanna do but you'll have to do in this life just so you can survive . . . But there are other things, Cassie, that if I'd let be, they'd eat away at me and destroy me in the end. And it's the same with you baby. There are things you can't back down on, things you gotta take a stand on. But it's up to you to decide what them things are. You have to demand respect in this world, ain't nobody gonna hand it to you. How you carry yourself, what you stand for -- that's how you gain respect. But little one, ain't nobody's respect worth more than your own. "You see that fig tree over yonder, Cassie? Them other trees all around . . . that oak and walnut, they're a lot biggger . . . but that fig tree's got roots that run deep, and it belongs in that yard as much as that oak and walnut. It keeps on blooming, bearing good fruit year after year, knowing all the time it'll never be as big as them other trees. Just keeps on growing and doing what it gotta do. It don't give up. It give up, it'll die. There's a lesson to be learned from that little tree, Cassie girl, 'cause we're like it. We keep doing what we gotta, and we don't give up. We can't. "All I can say, Casssie girl . . . is that it shouldn't be." It shouldn't be but still is . . . bigotry, sexual harrassment, homophobia, racism, anti-semitism, abortion, afro-centrism, affirmative action, incest, spousal abuse, date rape. I listen, I hear, but I don't understand. Former German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer said, "We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon." This is what makes us different, unique, special, but it shouldn't be what makes us fear and hate. Who are we? I look and see we all still have two ears and one mouth. If we ever listened we might hear and if we ever understood then maybe we would know. Cassie listened and heard and knew. She responded, "And I cried for those things which happened in the night and would not pass." It will not pass because we will not hear it . . . Kurt Michael Reidenbach is a Wharton senior from Summit, New Jersey.
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