Eleanor Roosevelt remains one of the most inspiring human beings ever to bring grace into our collective lives, so I've borrowed a line from her "My Day" column of Jan. 1, 1937, to end 2018 and welcome 2019.
Roosevelt commenced her six-days-a-week newspaper column on Dec. 30, 1935, and continued it until Sept. 26, 1962, shortly before her death. She did miss four days when President Franklin D. Roosevelt died. And during 1961 and 1962, as her health declined, cut back to every other day. But it remains an astonishing record and the column archives, a rich resource.
A staunch and at times fierce advocate of civil rights at a time when racism still was in full flower in the United States, her calm and measured voice changed hearts and minds --- and her life spoke, too.
The seeds of racism and of various newer "phobias," too, have been watered generously during the last two years, have sprouted and are growing. There is no doubt about what her response would be, were she with us still in ways other than word and spirit.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. eulogized Mrs. Roosevelt as “perhaps the greatest woman [of] our time” and praised “the courage she displayed in taking sides on matters considered controversial” and her “unswerving dedication to high principle and purpose.”
It would do us well to consider her example and follow it during 2019 and beyond.
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