Yesterday I heard from a friend who was feeling discouraged by the Dean/Pelosi/Obama strategy of completely ignoring those who know that faux unity is neither a prudent nor principled route to putting a Democrat in the White House this year. My friend asked where I find my stamina to resist the relentless drive to push this misguided route. The question gave me a moment's pause. I am of course sometimes tired from pressing for justice and good sense in the face of the apparent lack of interest from people who seem to care about neither. Then, I realized that I draw strength from thinking of the many Americans who have worked for justice and good sense, with no guarantees that they would see either achieved. There are well-known Americans in the group. Martin Luther King, Jr.comes to mind immediately. But there are so many who like me are not famous. There are the thousands who marched for civil rights, bravely enduring taunts, jeers, and worse. There are farmworkers who risked everything to unionize so they could work collectively to demand decent living and working conditions. There are individuals I have known personally who resist every day when they observe unthinking and arbitrary exercises of power by people who have some but cannot or will not use their power fairly and responsibly.

In all these cases there were and are no guarantees of success. But knowing that millions of other Americans have demanded justice from powerful people and institutions reminds me that my efforts keep faith with theirs. That unspoken pact among seekers of justice across time and place fortifies my own resolve.