Journal Nine

“Each time a (person) stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others...he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that cans sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

I think that Robert F. Kennedy was trying to say that when one person stands up to make a change, or to stand up for what is right and go against the norm of expectation, it can make a big difference. It sort of reminds me of the idea that people don’t think that their vote matters. However, when someone believes that and doesn’t vote it does matter. One voice is important enough. When there is one person that stands up, perhaps someone else will stand up too and together they can make a change for the better. There are many people who think that their voice doesn’t matter. However, if all those people from different areas decided that their voice did matter, all of the people combined create a large force that does matter and can make a difference.

This quote is quite profound and beautiful. It can mean a multiple of things from making change in the world, or standing up for what a person believes in. Today, there are walls of oppression or resistance that people tend to fall under because so does everyone else. This quote is saying that while we are like that, all it takes is one person to go against others, or take a stance that could create a wave through other people, and have them follow along as well.