A Nostalgic Touch
| Publication year | 2020 |
| Pages | 61 |
| Citation | Vol. 89 No. 6 Pg. 61 |
July 2020
What are you doing to fight for social justice?
by Matt Keenan
It was on Thursday, March 12 when our third son, Robert David rolled his rental car into the city limits around 9:00 p.m. It was a two-day drive from Brooklyn, where he had lived the past two years. He arrived with a slight fever, and his mother dispatched him to the basement for two weeks, where the microwave, WIFI and cable were readily available.
He recovered, and later received a positive antibody test.
His unexpected arrival followed by Kansas City's stay-at-home order offered the opportunity for engagement. As the walls shrank, and he came up from the dungeon, we had many robust discussions. Some were light. Like when it came to cinema. I channeled Ben Mankiewicz of Turner Classic Movies and gave introductions and running commentary to "Cool Hand Luke," "Lawrence of Arabia," "The Way We Were," and to the greatest comedy ever made—"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."
He took them in and offered his own favorites like "The Count of Monte Cristo."
Politics percolated to the surface. We engaged on politicians and the direction of our country. Robert was more than willing to engage in a point-counter point reminiscent of the early years of 60 Minutes. When his cup overflowed from old timer wisdom, he dropped, "OK Boomer," and left the room.
But everything changed on May 25th.
It would be a modest understatement to say that on May 25th, the lighter tone of topics took a different turn. The events that began in Minneapolis and then swept across the globe spoke loudly how much progress remains ahead of us when it comes to so many things—but particularly in regard to racial equality and justice for all.
My viewpoint, while relevant, seems insufficient to capture this moment. Two of my law partners, Buffy Mims, in the DC office and John Lewis, Jr., who practices in our Atlanta office, and who chair our firm's Diversity and Inclusion committee, sent around a firm-wide e-mail on June 5th that is worth quoting here, in part:
"We must raise collective awareness of the factors that brought us to this place, and consider how we can use the lessons of this sad but inevitable period in our history to root out inequities in our own profession and firm. Racism is, indeed, America's original sin. As a society, we are now, in a sense, paying the wages of that sin...
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