Adam Russell Taylor writes that the courageous actions taken by our predecessors aren’t just a milestone to celebrate with a nice speech; they reverberate through our work today:
I often feel I was born in the wrong era. Starting in middle school, I became mesmerized by history of the Civil Rights Movement, especially the courage of Black church leaders through the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the passion of student leaders in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Many of these leaders were deeply inspired in their fight for freedom and human dignity by the Bible, from God hearing and answering the cries of the Israelites in Egypt, to the proclamations of the prophets, to Jesus’ radical teachings and witness.
One of the high-water marks of this seminal period of activism was the “Freedom Summer of 1964,” which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. During that historic summer, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law. That same summer, civil rights organizations mounted a massive campaign to register Black American voters in the state of Mississippi, shining a spotlight on the violent oppression against Black suffrage. We’re also celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1954 ruling against public school segregation in Brown v. Board of Education. But you don’t have to be a civil rights history nerd to understand why these milestones matter today: In case you haven’t noticed, we’re currently in the midst of a major backlash against racial justice, including many of the rights and freedoms that inspired civil rights leaders. These include book bans, assaults on DEI programs, the Supreme Court’s decision to end affirmative action programs in higher education, and forestalled efforts to transform our justice system and end racialized police violence. These courageous actions taken by our predecessors aren’t just a milestone to celebrate with a nice speech and a historical plaque; these actions reverberate through time, offering us inspiration and resilience for the unfinished cause of freedom and justice. | 
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