What Song Shall They Sing?

I attended a Rally Against Hate last night on campus, and was surprised at the variety of ways in which students expressed their belief in justice for all people. The poems, rants, and dramatic recitations gave power to their feelings, hopes and dreams. At the end, we adjourned outside to the Quad, and, holding glowsticks aloft, all were asked to join in singing the words to "We Shall Overcome." It was at that point I realized the chasm that exists between my generation and that of today's university students. Very few sang the words, because very few of them knew the words. The Civil Rights movement was contemporaneous with my birth, so I was a small boy for much of the activism. But I do remember hearing the words and tune to “We Shall Overcome” many times, as it was the anthem of the movement. It occurred to me during the rally that folks of the generation before me as well my own have not been very effective at passing on the songs, words and the spirit of the movement. I have been around college students for enough years to know that they feel passionately about justice and equality, and they have their own songs and artistic expressions to convey that passion. But the stories, the music and the spirit of the Civil Rights and Peace movements have not been conveyed to them in a way that enables them to incorporate them into their own movements. For students, each rally is a new event; there does not seem to be a sense of continuity from one generation to another. The same can be said for the necessity for continuity of our religious traditions and faith stories. Today's students do not possess a sense of urgency about such things, because those of us who have come before them have not conveyed it very well. As a result, we are playing catch-up, continually. It is not true that our young adults lack passion and a prophetic spirit. It may be true that those of us who know the stories have not been terribly effective in communicating them. So we must strive ever harder to convey the truth of the Gospel, whose mandate for justice provided the foundation for the Civil Rights and Peace movements. The story is there, it just needs us to continue proclaiming it. Otherwise, the stories that this generation of young adults pass on will be sadly, and irrevocably, incomplete.