This essay was published in the Lancaster, PA newspaper (LNP) on Wednesday June 18, 2025.

I had the opportunity to participate in a recent benefit concert for Church World Service Lancaster, planned and implemented by Barry Kornhauser of Millersville University’s Office of Visual and Performing Arts and hosted by the Ware Center. In my capacity as founder of Music For Everyone, my role was to tell the story of what has been one of the most meaningful collaborations in MFE’s 19-year history.

Songs For Justice is a convergence of music, spoken word, visual art, poetry, historical analysis, current commentary and discussion questions compiled into a vinyl record and information booklet. Our goal in this ongoing initiative is to stimulate dialogue and, hopefully, change around issues relating to human rights and social justice.

Each record also highlights a Community Benefit Organization doing good work on the featured issue. When we decided to dedicate a volume to highlight issues related to immigration and refugees, we naturally turned to Church World Service Lancaster as our partner. It resettles and works to protect the rights of refugees, immigrants and asylum-seekers in Central Pennsylvania.

Church World Service Lancaster is a major reason why Lancaster has the largest per capita refugee population in the United States. We should be extremely thankful for the work they do. These refugees add immeasurable vibrancy, wonderful diversity and significant economic impact to our community. It’s one of the reasons Lancaster is such a unique place to live.

Church World Service Lancaster is an effective, influential and important “weaver” of the fabric of our community. But it’s not simply a result of the refugees they resettle but rather the values and principles that drive the organization’s work.

Church World Service Lancaster is a two-way mirror. Its work both reflects and influences what we, as Lancaster County residents, believe to be our values. We are kind, empathetic, generous and welcoming. We care for our neighbors with compassion regardless of whether they grew up next door or arrived from the other side of the planet.

At its core, Church World Service, like Music For Everyone, builds community.

Church World Service Lancaster has been particularly hard hit by the actions of the Trump administration. But Church World Service Lancaster is not alone. Federal cuts in programs relating to health care, the environment, the arts, housing, education, food security and scientific research — all to fund tax breaks for the wealthy — are beginning trickle down to impact a wide array of programs and services throughout our county.

The result has been chaos, confusion and division. Sadly, much of it by design.

Such cuts are particularly cruel because they are designed to impact the very programs and services, big and small, that build and hold our communities together. And that is precisely the point — to destabilize communities by instigating chaos leading to confusion, frustration, hopelessness and a weakening of the will to fight back.

In other words, these are anti-community building efforts designed to destroy the spirit and fabric of a community by overwhelming it with an environment of cruelty, fear and division.

Given what we’ve witnessed so far, the chances of community benefit organizations working on these critical community building efforts getting much help from the federal government are slim. Nor will the state be able to cover shortfalls, as it often simply passes through funds received from the federal government.

In other words, we are on an island. It’s just us, fellow Lancaster County residents.

In such an environment, our individual and community values will be tested as never before. We will be challenged to live up to those values, both privately, and perhaps more importantly, publicly.

While there was great satisfaction and hope backstage among the 20 or so musicians who volunteered their time and talent to support Church World Service Lancaster, there was also a palpable sense of confusion, frustration and angst. Like so many of us, they feel the need to do more. The endless onslaught of these community-breaking federal actions has left many feeling helpless and unsure of what to do.

It is a lot to absorb. The challenges are daunting.

But I am confident that we will meet the moment. I believe we will pull together to help each other to weather this onslaught of forces designed to create chaos and erode our sense of community.

It starts with our values. Our fundamental values must lead the way.

While we should continue to think globally, we must act locally. Whether a neighbor or a stranger, we must acknowledge them. We can connect and collaborate with fellow citizens and organizations. We can dig into our pockets a little deeper to support those organizations that create, build and strengthen our community. We can speak up, speak out, volunteer, organize, rally and march.

All peacefully. But with purpose.

Despite the difficult challenges ahead, we will whether this onslaught precisely because of the values we, as a community, believe in and are willing to fight for. It will take courage and conviction.

Last Saturday’s “No Kings” rally of 4,000 attendees in Binns Park was a great example of the power of collective community activism. That said, we’ve got so much more work ahead of us. But we are not afraid of hard work. We will overcome because ultimately our Lancaster values of love, compassion, tolerance and community will trump those of hate, cruelty, and division.

Let’s get to work.

I recently read John Lewis: A Life by historian David Greenberg. He argues that only Martin Luther King, Jr. contributed more to the civil rights movement than Lewis.

What struck me most about Lewis was how he was utterly courageous and courageously committed to using the non-violent resistance teachings and methods of Gandhi and MLK to fight for social justice and human rights. By the time he turned 21, he had been jailed close to 20 times.

While participating in various marches, rallies and sit-ins, he and his fellow activists were regularly kicked and beaten with bats and chains. During the Freedom Bus Rides through the South to call attention to the segregation of public facilities and spaces, he and his fellow riders, both Black and White, were fully aware that in many towns, they would be “welcomed” by hate filled mobs fully prepared to brutally beat, if not kill, them. Often, while local and state police looked on. Sometimes, those local authorities “participated” themselves.

It’s no wonder several of the riders left sealed envelopes containing their last wills and testaments with ride organizers before boarding the buses. Yet, Lewis never wavered in his beliefs, words, deeds and sacrifices for the cause of freedom and justice.

This book was not only inspiring, it was extremely challenging. It has left a nagging, haunting question in my mind. In the same situation, would I have been as courageous and committed as John Lewis? Would I have been willing to absorb the vitriol and the blows that he and others endured to resist non-violently? Would I have been willing to put my life on the line for freedom and justice?

I fear we will all have to consider the same question. Not in 2026. Not next month. But now. This is no longer hypothetical.

Last Saturday, an estimated 5.0 million citizens gathered in over 2,000 “No Kings” rallies held throughout all 50 states. Thankfully, those protests were peaceful. But if they continue to grow in scope and passion, we must consider the likelihood they will turn violent and perhaps, deadly.

What might happen when that occurs? History tells us that martial law would likely be declared. Martial law has been declared at least 68 times in the United States. These declarations have been made by local, state or federal officials and have occurred in response to a variety of events, including wartime threats, civil unrest, labor disputes and natural disasters.

When martial law is in effect, the military commander of an area or country has unlimited authority to make and enforce laws.

In other words, you lose all your rights, including your first amendment rights which guarantee freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and the right to petition the government.

In such a tense, unstable environment, anything can happen, including shots being fired. Sound far-fetched? It’s not. Members of the Ohio National Guard turned their guns on US citizens protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University in 1970.

The point is not to be alarmist, but rather realistic and cleareyed about what’s at stake.

Not since the Civil War has our nation and democracy itself been on such shaky footing. Free speech, freedom of the press, voting rights and the rule of law are all under attack. Universities are being threatened for allowing protests and using equal opportunity tenets in admissions. Law firms are being threatened if they represent anyone fighting wrongs of our government. Our allies and trading partners are being penalized aggressively, such that America may find itself a country with few friends among the democratic nations. Immigrants who have been lawfully granted residency in this country are being deported and sent to heinous prisons in El Salvador. Habeas corpus, or the right of due process, is being ignored. Programs such as Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are on the chopping block. Educational, health care, foreign aid and environmental institutions, standards and programs are being dismantled. Books are being banned and History is being altered or erased entirely.

The result is widespread chaos, fear, distrust and anger. Clearly, we, as a nation, are heading into a period of intense civil unrest.

Which brings us back to John Lewis.

Make no mistake, there will come a time when we all must choose a side. Fealty to a dictator or adherence to the United States Constitution and rule of law? What will you do? And how far will you be willing to go to defend democracy?

I know how John Lewis would have responded. The question we must ask ourselves is how we will respond.

Choose wisely. History is watching.

My writing was featured in a post for The Presser Foundation titled, “Music as the “glue” that holds communities and society together” this past month! You can see the original version here.

An ongoing debate within the educational community relates to how to classify music programs within the academic curriculum. Specifically, whether music and the arts should be considered an extracurricular or core activity.

While some schools incorporate music as part of the general, core academic budget, most junior and high schools consider music an extracurricular activity. This is due to the notion that music is a nice, “add on” offering, but not necessarily critical from an academic standpoint. If this were not the case, why is it that when budget crises hit, decisions regarding which programs to downsize or eliminate always seem to focus on athletics, music, and arts programs?

However, when you consider the relative educational value and effectiveness of arts education, it’s clear that if utilized strategically, music can be the “glue” that holds the entire curriculum together. Music is math. Music is reading. Music is language. Music is science. Music is logic. And most important, music fosters creativity. In short, music’s value rests in its universality–its potential to link all the other core educational activities into a comprehensive educational experience. And as such, it should be the foundation of a well-rounded curriculum.

Music’s universality also places it in a unique position as a resource for community and societal impact and influence beyond the school walls. Similar to how music can be the glue of an educational curriculum, if utilized effectively, it can also be the glue that holds our communities and society together.

Consider the various positive community building outcomes that the arts can produce. Obviously, community investment in music yields significant educational outcomes. Stated differently, every issue we face as a society, whether relating to health care, the environment, or global politics, in this increasingly fast-paced and interconnected world, is becoming more complex. And the only way we will be able to solve these increasingly complex challenges is to develop in our populace a corresponding increase in creativity; the ability to think outside the box. And the most powerful weapon in our educational and societal arsenal to teach and foster creativity is music and the arts.

But it goes beyond that. Every societal and cultural advancement throughout the history of mankind has been driven by an individual’s or group’s spark of creativity. From the “invention” of the wheel to discoveries in science, medicine, aviation, to name only a few, all started with a spark of creativity.

Creativity is literally the fuel that drives societal innovation and progress.

But that is simply the start. Music and the arts can also be an economic driver for communities. It’s no surprise that many communities have invested in the arts as a key resource to create economic vitality, many to great success.

Further, there is an increasing amount of research, writing, experimentation and application of the arts as an individual therapeutic and public health tool. Music’s power and potential to uplift and inspire as well as to calm and soothe has existed for as long as it has been played. And scientists, researchers and medical practitioners are discovering and developing additional ways to utilize music for healing virtually every day, from managing pain, addiction and PTSD, to treating dementia, depression, and anxiety to improving motor coordination in people suffering from cerebral palsy.

Music has also been a powerful platform to frame, highlight and spur change regarding issues relating to social justice and human rights. While we all have a responsibility to “bear witness” to the events in the world around us, for musicians and artists, that responsibility is far more fundamental. It is the essence of what they do. As legendary musician and activist Nina Simone said, “You can’t help it. An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.”

Finally, the act of engaging in listening, singing, or playing an instrument to learn, grow, or simply enjoy, whether alone or in a group, results in a more engaged and active populace.

So rather than thinking of music and the arts as an extra, a frill, or something nice to have, perhaps we should be thinking of the arts as the glue that holds our society and communities together because:

A more educated and creative populace equals a stronger community.

A more vibrant economy equals a stronger community.

A healthier populace equals a stronger community.

A more just society equals a stronger community.

A more engaged populace equals a stronger community.

Taken collectively, community investment in the arts is about leveraging their “connectivity” and universality to build community. In today’s increasingly fast paced, interconnected, yet increasingly polarized society, investment in school and community music programming is anything but an “extra” or a “frill”.

In these times, it is essential.

Learn more: www.johngerdy.com

No sooner had I posted an essay on how the purveyors of “Anti-Wokeism” are cowards, did the Republican Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, provide another example of not only that cowardice but also how he has done something that will, over time, make all Floridians poorer.

DeSantis recently vetoed $32 million in state funding for arts organizations. This was another shot across the bow of scapegoating the arts in the ongoing war on “wokeism” in America. DeSantis claimed that taxpayers would find funding for many arts projects objectionable because of its sexual nature or other reasons. Meanwhile, arts advocates say these cuts will devastate arts and culture in the Sunshine State.

The reason the arts and the artists, musicians, poets, and creatives of all stripes who create that art are being attacked and targeted as part of this “anti-woke” ideology, relates to the primary role of artists in any society. While we all have a responsibility to “bear witness” to events around us, for musicians and artists, that responsibility is far more fundamental. It is the essence of what they do. For example, music is a powerful platform to highlight, frame, and spur change regarding issues related to justice and equality and thus has played a critical role in every human rights movement in the history of mankind. Nina Simone articulated this well. “You can’t help it. An artist’s duty is to reflect the times.”

Artists have a responsibility to hold a mirror up to society, a mirror that reflects the truth and sheds light upon the realities of that society. And that reflection of truth is what terrifies these anti-woke “crusaders” because, at its core, art challenges us to think. Art expands our perspective and can break boundaries. But DeSantis and his ilk do not want to expand our perspective because they only want one perspective to ever be considered…their own. They don’t want to expand or break down barriers because they want the barriers they have established, defended, and maintained to remain solidly in place.

Rather than seeking truth, they prefer to keep people ignorant and fearful because they believe the public isn’t smart, thoughtful, and trusted enough to be exposed to facts, history, and truths. As I wrote in my previous essay, they fear that if we are exposed to that history and truth, they will be exposed, not as righteous, American “heroes” or “patriots”, but as lying frauds.

But it’s more than that. From a public policy standpoint, attacking the arts community and cutting arts funding is counterproductive. While DeSantis might believe that these cuts in arts funding will save taxpayer money, at the end of the day, they will leave Floridians poorer in many ways. Here are three, among many:

Economically: The arts are a vitally important economic industry, generating revenue, creating jobs, and developing communities. For example, Americans for the Arts partnered with the Division of Arts and Culture and Citizens for Florida Arts, Inc. to measure the economic impact of Florida’s arts and culture industry.

The study, published in 2023, revealed findings including:

• Florida’s arts and cultural industry generated $5.8 billion of economic activity, including $2.9 billion from nonprofit arts and culture organizations.
• This economic activity supports 91,270 full-time jobs and generates $3.8 billion in resident household income.
• Florida’s arts and cultural industry delivers $694.7 million in local, state, and federal government revenue.

In other words, the notion that communities that support the arts and culture do so at the expense of economic development is simply not true. The arts are an industry that creates jobs, generates government revenue, and drives tourism.

Public Health: A growing body of research is making it increasingly clear that the next big frontier in how we, as a society, leverage music and the arts for community benefit relates to its power and potential as an individual therapeutic and public health tool. Music and the arts are being employed to treat a wide array of medical conditions from managing pain and addiction, to treating dementia, depression, and anxiety, to improving coordination in people suffering from cerebral palsy. In short, the medical community is just scratching the surface of applying music as an important public health tool.

Rather than attacking the arts, we should be investing in them if one of the outcomes is advancement in leveraging the arts’ potential as an individual therapeutic and public health tool.

Education and Workforce Development: Music and the arts are universal in nature. As such, their power and potential as an educational tool is unparalleled. For example, music is more than notes played and songs sung. Music is math. Music is reading. Music is language. Music is logic. The research and data are clear in that children involved in music programs score higher on standardized tests. It’s also clear that students involved with music programs are more academically engaged and less likely to face disciplinary measures.

While developing technical skills in math, reading, and language is critical, it is the development of various personal skills, values, and characteristics, with creativity at the top of that list, that reveals the true extent of music’s educational impact. For example, every issue we face in today’s increasingly fast-paced and interconnected world is becoming more complex. And to meet these increasingly complex issues and challenges, we must develop in our populace a corresponding increase in creativity; the ability to think out of the box and at a higher level. Music’s potential to teach and inspire creativity is unparalleled.

That said, these technical and creative skills must also be accompanied by the ability to collaborate with others; to bring diverse people and ideas together in a cooperative effort to address those complex challenges. Once again, music’s potential to teach collaborative skills is profound. In fact, many CEOs view creativity and the ability to collaborate with others as the two most important and desired characteristics of the workforce of the future.

Public investment in the arts is not an investment in the arts per se because the arts are about more than the art itself. Rather, it is an investment in the positive public outcomes the arts produce, among them economic vitality, positive public health outcomes, and educational and workforce development, to name only a few. From a public policy standpoint, slashing arts funding and attacking the arts community, is myopic, shortsighted, and counterproductive because “starving” the arts community amounts to starving yourself, your neighbors, and your state of the increased wealth, health, and growth the arts produce.

Learn more at: www.johngerdy.com

In considering America’s ongoing “culture wars,” I remain amazed at the absurdity of those who attempt to “brand” people, companies, or organizations as being “woke” and, therefore, somehow not “real” Americans.

According to Merriam-Webster’s definition, “woke” is to be “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).” Given that definition, I can’t understand what is so shameful about being aware of and attentive to facts and issues about any subject, including racial justice. If being “woke” means I am curious and want to learn and, in the process, grow as a more informed human being, please count me in.

Disparaging “wokeism” is about stoking paranoia and fear of anything or anyone who is different. More bluntly, it’s about wanting to keep people ignorant by using fear to paint anything or anyone who is not White, straight, mostly male, and often Christian as a threat to “our” societal values and “our” American way of life.

That begs the question: Who gets to define what it means to be an American, and who anointed them to do so?

America is a nation of immigrants. It is a melting pot of people from all walks of life from all over the world. Refusing to acknowledge that diversity or trying to define what it means to be an American is grotesquely distorting “our” history and reality as a nation, a nation that consists of over 300 million citizens. Given that diversity, how can anyone be so impudent to think that they have the right to define our “values” as a nation and society to be the “values” of only those who look or worship like themselves?

It’s all about fear. But fear comes in many forms. In this case, there is another type of fear at work, and it’s much deeper and more dangerous than meets the eye. These self-anointed cultural arbiters are afraid of being discovered for what they are: weak, paranoid, and unable to accept the realities of a changing world. While they attempt to project strength behind the façade, weakness and fear reign. And because they fear change, they want to convince us that we, too, should be afraid. They do this because the fear they face is the most powerful and frightening of all—the fear of facing The Truth.

Such deep-rooted fear can lead to dangerous, myopic, conspiracy-driven behavior. If you try to hide things, you must remember where you hid them. If you don’t hide things, you always know where to find them. The truth is a lot easier to remember accurately, than are lies previously told. In other words, the Truth shall set you free.

These self-described “patriots” and ‘heroes” fear having to acknowledge, confront, admit, and own the evidence and truth that for over 400 years, it has been White men who have established the rules, created the societal norms and institutions, and written the history that has served to maintain the White power structure. They stoke paranoia and fear to hide the fact that rather than being seen as strong, righteous heroes who are “protecting” us from harmful, “un-American” history and truths, they will be revealed for what they are doing. They are working to keep people ignorant and fearful because they believe the public isn’t smart, thoughtful, and trusted enough to be exposed to facts, history, and truths. And they fear that, armed with those facts and truths, they might be able to decide for themselves what to think of that history, those truths, and those who are actively whitewashing, ignoring, or distorting those truths.

In other words, they fear that if we are exposed to that history and truth, they will be exposed not as righteous American “heroes” or “patriots” but as lying frauds.

The first words our first child heard were my wife’s who, in the middle of a C-section procedure, called out, “Get a chair; my husband’s goin’ down!”

After regaining my senses, I was able to shake off this utter failure in my first test of Fatherhood because I was to be the stay-at-home parent. I’d have plenty of chances to redeem myself.

That said, there were challenges and moments of insecurity. As much progress as we’ve made regarding gender roles, the stay-at-home Father remains an oddity.

Some think you no longer have a “real” job. While they talk about work, you offer a detailed primer on the finer points of changing one child’s diaper before the other crawls off the bed or in the general direction of a deep body of water. Talk about the pressures of a real job!

And there was more than one occasion when, standing in line at the grocery store, one child precariously “surfing” on the seat of the cart, the other safely “caged” but wreaking havoc with the groceries, when a grandmotherly type would remark, “Oh, how nice. You’re babysitting.”

My response? “It’s called parenting.”

Another challenge was maintaining your Fatherhood self esteem in the face of “Super Moms”. Super Moms have everything under control — always on time, kids impeccably dressed, lunches nutritionally balanced, diaper bag fully outfitted, all of it color coordinated including a Ziploc bag of freshly baked snack time cookies for their child’s entire class. “How do they do it?” I’d wonder. It was enough to make any Dad feel inadequate as a Mom.

And then there were the weekly “playgroups” where stay-at-home parents would meet, children in tow, for coffee, snacks and some adult conversation. Always with wonderful spreads of food — symmetrically sliced fruit and a wide selection of breakfast items, often including three selections of quiche, all in a spotlessly organized house. My menu consisted of two items — coffee and frozen pizza.

Fatherhood entails is a lot of doubts and second-guessing. Often, there are no right answers. You do your best and move on. But I never once doubted that pizza- centered menu because being able to creatively “doctor up” and cook to perfection, a frozen pizza is an essential parenting skill. And it’s a skill that keeps on giving as your children don’t fully appreciate it until they are teenagers.

Fatherhood also provides countless moments of joy.

Dropping them off at school comes to mind. There is great joy in cranking up Little

Feat’s “Fat Man in the Bathtub” as you approach and slowly make your way through “car line”. Windows down, volume up, van rockin” and everyone singing. All at 8:00 AM! Now fully jazzed up and bouncing off the walls as they exited the van, I’d wave and say, “They’re yours now. Back at 3:00. Good luck.”

Fatherhood taps your every emotion — from intense heartache when your seven year old is retching into the toilet due to the flu and all you can offer are comforting words and a cold, wet washcloth pressed to her forehead to bursting pride when your son does something thoughtful and kind for a complete stranger. And there is tremendous pleasure when you realize your daughter’s guitar skills have far surpassed your own and, in her sly way, she let’s you know it.

There are bittersweet tears when they go off to college and you realize they’re grown up. But there is also great satisfaction when you begin to see the lessons you’ve taught come to fruition. Ultimately, that’s what Fatherhood is about — giving them the tools and instilling in them the values and perspective to make their own way in the world. While it’s difficult letting them go, ultimately it is their life to live.

And it happens so fast. One day you are passing out in the operating room and the next day your son is not only beating you in H-O-R-S-E, but trash talking as he does it!

There is however, comfort in knowing that Fatherhood is constant and forever. Once a Father always a Father no matter where you are or whatever stage of life you maybe in.

Yes, there is nothing more difficult than being a Father. But there is nothing better.

That’s why whenever you see kids giving their Father a hard time, get their attention, point your finger and say, “Look at him. He’s your Father. You only have one. Take care of him!”

Because every day is Father’s Day.

John is Father of Wallace (28) and James (25) Gerdy.

“If you are not making mistakes, you’re not doing anything.”

John Wooden

In writing The Journey of an Old White Dude in the Age of Black Lives Matter, I drew on my life experiences as well as a tremendous amount of reading and research. I also talked to many people, Black and White, about the issue of race in America.

Since the book was published in 2023, I have continued to read about and research these issues. A common theme I hear from Whites is that while they want to do the right thing and become a positive force for social justice, they struggle to find the courage to take the next step to do something concrete and meaningful. Given the increasingly fraught nature of the issues at hand, it is scary to go out on a limb in any meaningful way. Speaking out, asking questions, or putting themselves in situations where they might not be in the majority might open the door for them to be criticized or “called out” if they misspeak or misconstrue a situation. In other words, they feel there is risk involved.

Like virtually every other White person, I’ve made mistakes and made disrespectful or poorly thought-out comments and assumptions. I have been called out for them, and rightfully so. If being called out increases my understanding of how my words or actions were out of line and caused others pain, I want to know so I don’t do it again.

Perhaps I am naïve or simply lucky, but all those times I have made mistakes, POC have always been patient and gracious in pointing out my errors and providing me the space and grace to contemplate those missteps and adjust my behavior accordingly. In other words, due to such goodwill and kindness, the perceived risk is far less than you might imagine.

But let’s talk about real risk.

How about the risk that enslaved Americans faced when considering escaping from a plantation to head North for freedom? Think of how horrifying that must have been. They risked men and dogs in pursuit and the possibility of capture and return. A return that invariably led to being whipped and tortured or hanged or even burned to death, all depending on the mood of the plantation owner/enslaver on that particular day.

Yet hundreds, perhaps thousands, did it anyway. It is a testament to raw courage and the fact that the urge for freedom and equality is something that cannot be suppressed. It is fundamental to human nature and existence. And how about the risk that Black Americans faced every day in the Jim Crow South? Even today, every time POC get stopped by police, they face tremendous risk depending on the mood of the policeman on that particular day.

Being a force against racism requires lifting your head up out of the sand to confront your biases and shortcomings. It can be pretty uncomfortable. But let’s be clear. The “risk” that us White folks face around this issue is minuscule compared to the risk Black Americans have faced for over 400 years in simply living their lives. So, we must overcome our white fragility and fear of risk and muster the courage to do something meaningful rather than merely talk about it.

We are all somewhere along a developmental continuum relating to issues of race. It is a lifelong journey. But as with any journey, taking those first steps requires a leap of faith and the trust that if you make a mistake, at least you are making an honest effort to do something to try to make a difference. And when those mistakes occur, you must trust that better angels will provide you the space and grace to learn and do better.

In other words, if you trust in peoples’ better angels, you will find that the risk is well worth the reward.

A major point of contention in America’s ongoing “culture wars” is being fought over book bans. Parents, activists, school board officials, and lawmakers are challenging books at an increasing rate. People of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community are bearing the brunt of these bans as books about race, gender, or sexuality are disproportionately challenged.

Except in the most egregious cases, this is educationally irresponsible as reading controversial books fosters critical thinking, provides a more diverse understanding of our world, and perhaps most importantly, nurtures empathy. In today’s increasingly diverse and polarized American society, anything that fosters critical thinking provides a more diverse understanding of our world, and nurtures empathy should be embraced and celebrated. If we are to overcome cultural divisions in America, the only way to do so is by creating opportunities to foster a culture where our differences are acknowledged but not vilified, our understanding of each other increased rather than ignored, and empathy toward our fellow humans is encouraged rather than discouraged or dismissed as being “woke.”

How can we unite as a country and society if we are unwilling to listen and attempt to understand voices, perspectives, and experiences that are different from our own? All voices are part of our collective community of Americans. We are an increasingly diverse nation of immigrants, and the notion that we can come together as a society without seeking to better understand such diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives is misguided and myopic. This is who we are. To survive as a healthy society, we must accept that reality and begin to work towards leveraging our diversity for the greater common good.

My understanding of how book bans can impact our worldview was recently raised and solidified after reading a critical, illuminating book by Percival Everett. James is a brilliant, powerful reimagining of the story of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn from the eyes of the enslaved person Jim’s point of view. Reading it recalled how it is the winners (White men) who get to write the history of our nation. This truth has never rung truer than when discussing the issue of banning books.

Because White men have controlled virtually all levers of power in our society for over 400 years, they have written our history. It is a history that has whitewashed and downplayed the challenges facing Blacks in a country that has denied them not only their fundamental rights but also their dignity and basic humanity.

Let’s be clear. The history taught in American schools falls woefully short of an honest, unvarnished account of racism in America, particularly around the dark institutions of slavery, Jim Crow, and the Civil Rights era. If you write the history, you tend to write a version that sheds the most favorable light upon yourself. It’s human nature.

Why is it important to highlight and examine the history of the Black experience in America, particularly as viewed by Black Americans themselves? The answer is straightforward. Without a truthful, unvarnished account and understanding of the past, we will never be able to recognize and address the challenges of the present and future. To that end, it is critical that we provide space for POC to tell their stories because their stories, like ours, are American stories. And because Whites have little understanding of what it means to be a POC in America, we should listen with respect, humility, and empathy.

With that as context, the purpose of this essay is to articulate what I experienced while reading James. Throughout the book, Everett offers a look into Jim’s thoughts and reactions to various situations. For example, in one scene, Jim shares a laugh with another slave when “we spotted a white man up the road. There was nothing that irritated white men more than a couple of slaves laughing. I suspected they were afraid we were laughing at them, or else they simply hated the idea of us having a good time.” (p. 27)

Or, when Huck asked of Jim, “Being a slave you got to do whatever your owner say to do?”

“Whateber dey say, I said. ‘Wheneber dey say. Dey say, ‘Jump,’ I say, ‘How high?’ Dey say, ‘Spit,’ I say, ‘How far?’” (p. 42)

Or when Jim explained to his children, “Whites expect us to sound a certain way, and it can only help if we don’t disappoint them. The only people who suffer when they are meant to feel inferior is us. Perhaps I should say ‘when they don’t feel superior.’” (p. 21)

Everett’s perspective and storytelling regarding what an enslaved American might have thought or how he or she might have reacted to various situations or experiences was powerful. Multiple times throughout the book, I found myself thinking, “He’s right. I hadn’t thought of things in that way before.” I repeatedly found myself nodding in agreement with Jim’s observations or commentary and shaking my head in disbelief at the examples of things Jim was expected to do or how he was expected to behave in various circumstances. This led to more shaking of my head in disbelief at the strength, intelligence, and courage it took to simply survive as an enslaved American. It caused me to wonder whether I would have been able to survive such vilification, disrespect, and outright hatred and cruelty.

But the overriding feeling I experienced was empathy. Everett’s writing is powerful because after processing my disbelief at the cruelty and inhumane treatment he experienced, I felt a tremendous sense of empathy for him.

Becoming more knowledgeable and open to the realities of Black Americans’ perspectives provides the space and opportunity to change your beliefs and behaviors. In short, to become more understanding and empathetic. This is precisely why we must provide access to books that offer different viewpoints rather than banning them. We all benefit when we are exposed to narratives that have not been written solely by White men. Huckleberry Finn was published in 1884. There has never been a retelling of that story from the viewpoint and perspective of an enslaved Black American. Hearing that perspective is long overdue.

Banning books that offer perspectives other than those of White men is simply another cowardly and myopic way to continue to erase or whitewash a crucially important part of our collective American history. It is irresponsible and benefits no one other than those who want to keep us mired in a world that no longer exists.

Dr. John R. Gerdy is the author of The Journey of an Old White Dude in the Age of Black Lives Matter: A Primer

As someone who held a career scoring record in basketball, only to have it broken by a once-in-a-generation talent, I feel for the legacy of “Pistol Pete” Maravich. Maravich held the NCAA career Division I scoring record of 3,667 points for 54 years before the University of Iowa’s Caitlin Clark finished her collegiate career with 3951 points.

In my case, I held the career scoring record (2,483 points) at Davidson College for thirty years before a guy by the name of Steph Curry came along and tallied 2,635 points.

Before moving forward, I want to be crystal clear about a few things. First, it is not my intent to throw shade on Clark or women’s basketball. Scoring that many points on any collegiate level is an incredible feat. And, Clark’s role in building on the work done by women’s basketball icons such as Cheryl Miller, Cheryl Swoopes, Jennifer Lobo, Maya Moore, Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, and others, in taking the visibility and popularity of women’s basketball to unprecedented levels is extraordinary. For proof of her impact, simply consider the fact that for the first time in NCAA history television ratings, for the 2024 women’s Final Four were higher than those of the men. That is a groundbreaking achievement.

It’s about time!

Frankly, I prefer the women’s game to the men’s. There’s less dribbling and one-on-one play and more passing and movement. While women can’t produce gravity-defying slam dunk highlight moments, the game flows better and is a much more beautiful, no pun intended, game to watch.

So, make no mistake. I am a big fan of women’s basketball and of Caitlin Clark. She is simply amazing. And while we marvel at her shooting and scoring ability, she is an even better passer. Not only did she lead the country in scoring last year, she also led it in assists. Clearly, she is a once-in-a-generation player. And what she has done to elevate the popularity of the game has been nothing less than sensational. So, when it comes down to which player will have had more of an impact on the game of basketball, Clark’s impact will be far greater than Maravich’s. Kids all over the world will be emulating and imitating her many moves ensuring her impact will be broad, deep, and long-lasting.

I fully understand the power and reach of such an impact. Pistol Pete had that type of impact on me when I was a basketball-obsessed thirteen-year-old in Northern New Jersey in 1970. That was before today’s ubiquitous television coverage of college basketball. I had heard about and read in magazines such as Street and Smiths and Sports Illustrated about the exploits of this skinny, floppy-haired basketball sensation from Louisiana State University with his signature floppy socks who was putting up incredible scoring numbers.

So when LSU received an invitation to play in the National Invitational Tournament in New York City and I learned that the game would be televised by a local New York station, I was glued to our black and white television in anticipation. To this day, that introduction to Pistol Pete Maravich remains seared into my memory.

The first time he touched the ball was when he controlled a defensive rebound. While there was nothing notable about securing a rebound, what he did immediately afterward was. He took one dribble and unleased a perfectly placed behind-the-back full-court length pass into the hands of a streaking teammate for an uncontested layup. My jaw dropped and my head almost exploded. Did I just see what I just saw? A perfectly placed full court perfectly behind the back pass? Really? I knew Louisiana was a long way from New Jersey, but this dude was from another planet.

Later that afternoon, I was back on my usual playground basketball court practicing behind-the-back passes. I also begged my mother to buy me some floppy socks, just like Pistol Pete’s.

But contemplating who has a more profound, long-term impact on the game is not what this comparison is about.

It is about the pure act of scoring. Of putting points on the board. In this context, despite having tallied more career points than any Division I player, man or woman, Caitlin Clark is not the greatest scorer to ever play college basketball. That honor belongs to Pete Maravich. While Clark is a better pure shooter (46.2% from the field and 85.8% from the foul line vs. Maravich’s 43.8% and 77.5% respectively), Pistol Pete was a better scorer. There is a difference. Being a good shooter is about the simple act of shooting the basketball. Being a good scorer requires more than simple shooting ability. Specifically, scorers have a unique ability to be creative and persistent in being able to create shots, often when being double or even triple-teamed against defenses that are designed specifically to stop them from scoring. Again, the point is not to diminish Clark’s otherworldly ability to score points, both as a pure shooter and scorer who can create her own shots. She’s both a tremendous shooter and scorer.

But as a pure scorer? Maravich is in another category.

Let’s consider the numbers.

Clark scored 3,951 career points over the course of four years and a total of 139 games for a career average of 28.4 points per game. This, versus Maravich’s college career total of 3,667 points scored in just 83 total games. That averages out to an astounding 44.2 points per game! That’s more than one point per minute. And that was before the 3-point shot! It is an astounding statistic. The next closest men’s career scoring average is 33.8 points per game by the great Oscar Robertson.

If your team counts on you to score, doing so becomes an obsession. If you successfully fulfill your role as defined by your coaches and teammates, the chances of your team winning games improves. Thus, I approached each game with a “scorer’s mentality,” which means that you are obsessed with figuring out ways to score points. Or, to put it another way, I never met a shot I didn’t like.

I did my fair share of putting points on the board during my college career with a per-game average of 23.4. As much as I was obsessed with scoring and as hard as I worked to score points, I simply cannot imagine anyone averaging 44.2 points per game over three seasons. The only scoring feat more impressive was Wilt Chamberlain averaging 50.4 points per game in 80 games for the Warriors during the 1961–62 NBA season.

Again, the purpose of this essay is not to diminish the brilliance of Caitlin Clark. It is simply to suggest that while we celebrate her brilliance that we also give due respect and pay homage to Pistol Pete Maravich, the greatest scorer in the history of the college game.

Learn more at Johngerdy.com

Sustained business growth and success requires strategic risk-taking.

Companies look to expand their markets, products, and customer base to remain relevant and profitable. They are forward and progressive in their outlook and strategy. That’s what corporate “Research and Development” is about a strategy and effort to remain on the cutting edge of knowledge relating to their product or industry and, in the process, stay one step ahead of their competitors.

Inherent in any R&D effort is a degree of risk. Effective business leaders understand and accept a certain number of failed initiatives because they know that they will become stagnant if they don’t take strategic risks that push the envelope. They also know that even in failure, there are lessons learned that can lead to future success.

In other words, strategic risk-taking fuels business progress and growth.

If strategic risk-taking can spur organizational vitality and growth for for-profit businesses, why are Community Benefit Organizations (CBOs) so risk-averse? Granted, the definitions of “success” for for-profit companies (financial profit) and CBOs (community impact) are different. That said, the means by which CBOs succeed are, in fact, the same as for-profit businesses. In other words, CBOs must make money to be able to make a difference.

So why shouldn’t CBOs take strategic risks or engage in programs or initiatives that “stretch” or test the limits of their mission? If strategic risk-taking is necessary for for-profit businesses to remain vibrant, current, and profitable, why would that be different for CBOs? This is not to imply that risk-taking should be open-ended. Risks must be strategic and should connect tangibly to the organizational mission. That said, a case can be made that it is more important for CBOs to take strategic risks because of the community needs they are attempting to address, from homelessness, food insecurity, educational reform, environmental degradation, or public health, to name only a few, are more critically important from a societal and community well-being standpoint than a businesses’ need to generate profits.

Here’s the problem.

In the case of a business, taking strategic risks designed to enhance profit is considered smart. However, if risks are taken by CBOs and fail, regardless of the knowledge gained during the process, the organization is viewed as acting irresponsibly as stewards of donors’ contributions. But is that any more irresponsible than remaining uncompromisingly glued to the same programs, strategies, and outcomes year after year, mainly when operating in a rapidly changing world where the issues and challenges CBOs are working to address are increasingly more complex and critical? If CBOs don’t take strategic risks and push the boundaries of their missions, they, too, will become stagnant and unable to capitalize on the opportunities presented by such challenges. Yes, some risks may fail. But when they do, you learn from them, move on, and apply the lessons learned to future endeavors. This seems like a reasonable price to pay for an opportunity to break boundaries that might result in transformative change and community impact.

Think of organizational mission as a living cell with boundaries that can be nudged, prodded, and, when necessary, punctured rather than an organism with hard, concrete boundaries. One suggests flexibility and awareness of changing needs and circumstances, while the other suggests inflexible, head-in-the-sand thinking.

In other words, the ability of CBOs to be nimble, flexible, and able to adjust and respond to rapidly changing challenges is critical. This requires poking and prodding at the limits of, or “stretching,” organizational mission and operations.

But what does “strategic risk” look like for CBOs?

Here’s an example.

Music For Everyone (MusicForEveryone.org) is a CBO I founded in 2006 with a mission to cultivate the power of music in Lancaster, PA. Like many CBOs, businesses, and community groups, in 2020, we were faced with the challenge of responding to the widespread unrest that resulted from the George Floyd murder. Many organizations and businesses responded by writing a social justice statement, placing a Black Lives Matter sign on their front window, and thinking that this response was adequate. While we did write a social justice statement, we had to do more. The explosion of civil unrest that boiled over after the killing forced us to consider how we might leverage our resources and music’s power and potential to meet our mission in the context of these current events.

In such a racially charged environment, the risks of taking the issue of social and racial justice head-on were significant. Would embracing this highly emotional and explosive issue alienate our donors? As a very visible public organization, any missteps (and there were several along the way) would be magnified. In doing so, would we open ourselves up to increased scrutiny regarding exactly how diverse our organization truly was?

The fundamental questions were, “How does this fit into our mission?” And second, “Were we willing to place all the effort and progress we had made in building the organization over fifteen years at risk by embarking on this endeavor?”

In the end, our choice was clear. First, music has been at the center of every human rights and social justice movement in the history of mankind. Couple that with the fact that most of the students and families we serve consist of people of color, only intensified that feeling of responsibility to act in a concrete and meaningful way. In short, we had to “stretch” and evolve our mission in response to the challenges of our times.

As a result, MFE’s Songs for Justice was born.

SFJ is a convergence of music, spoken word, visual art, poetry, history, and discussion questions into an ongoing series of vinyl 45 records. Each record includes inspiring and educational information and resources to stimulate dialogue, healing, and change. They feature various leaders, events, and narratives around an array of civil and human rights causes and issues. Each record also identifies a particular ethnic or cultural theme or group, such as the BLM movement, LGBTQ+, women’s issues, or a particular issue relating to social justice, such as criminal justice reform. Finally, we partner with CBOs that are doing good work on these issues by providing a platform to highlight their work.

We are now six volumes and counting into this journey, and the results and benefits to MFE have been transformative.

As we began to strategize regarding what such an initiative might look like, it became clear that we had to take an unvarnished, honest look in the mirror before we did anything. How could we think about establishing any outward-facing initiative regarding racial justice without first inwardly examining our organization regarding our own diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and profile? Such self-reflection can reveal uncomfortable truths when, after such honest self-examination, you find you might not be living up to the standards and ideals you profess to believe in and act upon.

Thus began a 360-degree review of our policies, procedures, and bylaws seeking to diversify the organization strategically. We found that while we have had POC on our board, we were not directional and strategic regarding our diversity efforts, from our board and committee structure to the vendors we used and the musicians and artists we hired.

It’s been an interesting and challenging journey. Perhaps the most important lesson we’ve learned is that once you commit to lean into organizational diversity, it is an ongoing commitment and challenge rather than a journey with a definitive ending. It required us to be strategic and directed in identifying potential contributors to the project. For the program to succeed, we had to cast a wide net, from musicians to visual artists, poets to graphic designers, photographers to historians and community activists. Many of the contributors were young POC emerging in their fields who had not had much exposure to a wide audience. Given MFE’s high visibility in the community, being a part of the SFJ project helped raise their community profile. This was particularly important as POC make up about half of Lancaster City’s population.

And while these contributors benefitted from their involvement, MFE benefitted as well. SFJ expanded our “roster” of contacts in all these areas so we could tap for future projects, services, events, and potential board and committee members. Our community events, which featured mostly white musicians and artists, now feature musicians and artists from various races, cultures, and backgrounds. The various businesses and vendors we use have also become more diverse and closer to reflecting the wide diversity of our community, as has our board and committee membership.

Given the highly emotional stakes and risks in wading into those turbulent waters, we have seen no downturn in general giving. We have also been able to raise the money to continue to produce these records in the foreseeable future. Apparently, rather than our donor base and community criticizing or distancing themselves from this project and MFE’s efforts to highlight issues relating to diversity and racial justice, it appears that our community has embraced those efforts. Perhaps this is proof that if you are willing to take some strategic risks and your heart and aim are true in undertaking them, others in the community will support your efforts to do the right thing.

So, was there a risk in stretching our organizational mission and programming to achieve a more significant community impact through SFJ? Of course. Was there risk in creating the impression that we were wasteful and “taking our eye off the ball” in applying organizational resources in this way? Absolutely. However, in a rapidly changing world of increasingly complex societal challenges, CBOS must be proactive and willing to assume a measure of strategic risk to remain vibrant, relevant, and effective in producing positive community impact.

In short, whether for for-profit businesses or CBOs, progress requires strategic risk-taking.