The Harry Potter Alliance

By Andrew Slack

August 27, 2009

Senator Ted Kennedy

If ever the United States Senate had a leader who would passionately stand up for the rights of minorities, the underprivileged, and a dream of a country and a world where people come together, where beyond their differences their aims are identical and their hearts are opened, it was Ted Kennedy.

As the world mourns the loss of one of it’s great leaders, that feeling is especially strong here in Massachusetts. Boston will not be the same without one of those three Kennedy brothers in an elected position. Ted Kennedy carried on the dreams embodied by his late brothers John and Bobby, and took those dreams to new levels. It is rare to find a politician who is both larger than life and who consistently champions the needs of those who are not being heard. Even small things that he led have become cultural institutions. It was Ted Kennedy who led the effort to allow young people aged 18 and over the right to vote. Before that time, a US citizen had to be 21 to vote (yet they could be sent to war at 18). Ted Kennedy led the charge to have that changed and that is only one small victory amongst a string of victories throughout his career that were about elevating and amplifying the human condition. It is a small victory that the HPA felt last year through the Wizard Rock the Vote campaign.

As many of you know, the HP Alliance is a nonpartisan organization that does not promote or denounce any political party. Today is a day when Democrats and Republicans, people all across the US political spectrum mourn the loss and honor a man who fought for a better world. I am heartened to see that in recognition of this great man, at least one conservative group has suspended ads today fighting health care reform. Regardless of their differences with Senator Kennedy, they recognize and respect the passion and enthusiasm of a man who fought for the betterment of this world.

It is very odd timing that Senator Kennedy passes in the midst of this health care debate- what he referred to as the fight for his life – the chance for all Americans to have access to health care without insurance companies exploiting or blocking their access. Hopefully Senator Kennedy’s passing will allow Americans across the political spectrum to pause and remember that while health care as a Civil Right may appear at first glance to be controversial, history will look back at it not as a partisan struggle but as a victory for equality. When Senator Kennedy’s older brother John was assassinated, the nation paused and remembered JFK’s wish for more Civil Rights for African Americans and passed the Civil Rights Act and helped inspire President Lyndon Johnson to quote the Civil Rights mantra on television: “we shall overcome” – moving the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior to tears.

Senator Ted Kennedy has remained a constant reminder of where we have been and where we are going in the journey toward equality and a world based on the principles of mercy, compassion, and love.

Whatever is to come for this current debate around health care, nothing can damage or shortchange the positive contributions that Ted Kennedy had spent his life contributing.

What a great privilege for all of us that we got to share this Earth with him. May his soul find peace, may his family find healing, and may his spirit and legacy continue to live on.

Below please read the words of Alan Khazei, founder of Be The Change.

“Dear Friends and Colleagues:

“On behalf of ServiceNation, Be the Change and our extended community, I would like to express our profound sadness over the passing of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, as well as our deep appreciation for his life’s contribution and our most heartfelt sympathy to his extraordinary family.

“Senator Kennedy is the true godfather of the service movement. Without his tireless commitment, this movement as it thrives today never would have come about. He indelibly changed the fabric of America by not just inspiring, but personally enabling millions of citizens to give their time and skills to improve their communities and country. Through his visionary and bipartisan leadership in authoring the National and Community Service Act of 1990, the legislation that created AmeriCorps in 1993, and most recently with his good friend Senator Orrin Hatch, the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act of 2009, he created the infrastructure that empowers people all across our nation to put their energy and idealism to work addressing critical social needs.

“I count among the greatest blessings of my life the opportunity to get to know, work closely with, be inspired by, and learn from Senator Kennedy. He was the greatest champion, friend and leader anyone could ever wish for. I will always remember his caring heart, strategic mind, bountiful laugh, and his unyielding dedication to the cause of social justice for all.

“I have been blessed to have many special moments with Senator Kennedy and would like to share one of them. Michael Brown and I were so honored when Senator Kennedy agreed to be the graduation speaker for the first City Year corps of only 50 young people in 1990.

“Senator Kennedy entered to rousing cheers from the hundreds of family members, supporters, volunteers and friends who had gathered for this big day in City Year’s young history. He quickly picked up on the energy in the room and enthusiastically joined the corps as they began their trademark PT exercises.

“Senator Kennedy looked down at the speech his staff had prepared for him and you could see he had other ideas in mind. The topic was public service. He knew this like the back of his hand. Kennedy threw away the speech and spoke movingly from his heart. I remember his words like it was yesterday.

“Senator Kennedy told the City Year corps members they stood in a long line of young people making change for the better. That it was young people who rode the freedom rides, sat in at lunch counters and marched and protested for civil rights. It was young people who answered President Kennedy’s call to Ask Not and signed up in droves to join the Peace Corps. It was young people who walked the snowy streets of New Hampshire to end the Vietnam War. It was young people who drove the women’s movement and the environmental movement fighting for equality and a healthy planet.

“And now, it was young people once again, serving through City Year and other programs like it across Massachusetts and the country, who were demonstrating their idealism to build a better America. And Senator Kennedy pledged to all of us to get back to Washington to see that the National and Community Service Act of 1990 he had just introduced would become law.

“When he finished, we all rose to our feet and gave a prolonged standing ovation. Everyone felt like we were participating in a little part of history. Little did we know then that Senator Kennedy would not only get that law passed, but he would stay at it for the next twenty years, day in and day out, through thick and thin championing the cause of service until the passage of the overwhelmingly bi-partisan Serve America Act this past spring.

“Ted Kennedy, like everyone in his extraordinary family, lived by the motto “one person can make a difference, and everyone must try.” And oh what a tremendous difference he made through five decades of public service.

“As those of us at Be the Change and across the service movement mourn his loss, we take comfort in knowing that the impact of Senator Kennedy’s life and work will reverberate for generations to come. His very personal and unyielding commitment reminds us all that there is no higher calling than service to one’s community, country, and world. And that is the best way each of us can carry on his legacy.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Senator Kennedy, his wonderful family and all whose lives have been changed by this singular American hero.”
-Alan Khazei
Founder and CEO, Be the Change, Inc.