Glimpses of The Good Timeline

by Lisa Suhay

We talk about speaking truth to Power as if it’s rare. Yet rarer still are the moments when we witness Power speak truth to us and our children. I got to see that, and I’m here to mark the occasion because this is what I remember The Good Timeline being like.

I attended the City of Norfolk’s Community U.P.L.I.F.T. Awards to celebrate my friend, recipient, Rosean Lindsey of Park Place, and his anti-bullying and Little Free Library projects.

U.P.L.I.F.T. stands for Unity, Public Service, Leadership, Innovation, Friendship, and Teamwork. The city recognizes individuals, civic leagues, community organizations, businesses, non-profits, and faith-based organizations that make a meaningful impact in the community to help others.

That's how I witnessed that rare moment thanks to Norfolk Councilman John E. "JP" Paige.

The Councilman took the standard grip-and-grin photo with Rosean as the line behind him formed. Paige could have just mechanically moved on, as so many do, but he saw Rosean's little girl taking a photo and decided to bring her into the picture and her father into sharp focus.

Here's THE moment: As they began to walk away, Rosean's daughter turned to look back at the Councilman, who rose to the occasion magnificently with one simple sentence, "Your dad is a great man."

These simple words were delivered like thunder from a clear blue sky, resulting in a moment of awe. He said it with eye contact and emphasis, in a resonant voice from about three feet above her, like a blessing; he spoke it into being in that child's mind and heart.

That was the kind of magic I wake up every day of my life hoping to have the opportunity to put into the world.

These words were no accident, nor were they casual. I stopped him afterward, and it turned out that the Councilman knew exactly what he was doing. “Children need to hear their fathers praised,” he said. “They need them to be ‘great men’ and they need to hear that and have that in their lives.”

According to Dictionary.com, “The specific phrase speak truth to power is credited to Bayard Rustin in 1942. Rustin was a Black Quaker and a leader in the Civil Rights Movement, advocating nonviolent methods in his fight for social justice. In a letter written that year, Rustin stated that ‘the primary social function of a religious society is to ‘speak the truth to power.’ The truth is that war is wrong.’”

We seem to be in a season when power has lost the thread on truth and kindness in what amounts to a war on civility and generosity of spirit.

Seeing someone in elected office have such a genuine moment of truth with someone with minimal access to power—a little girl—was beautiful and healing.

Children who have seen struggle at home need to hear words of praise for parents (dads and moms) who stand up no matter how many times life knocks them off their feet. They need and deserve to be seen by their children as "great."

At that moment, in my city, a great man recognized greatness in her father’s life. She will never forget that, and neither should anyone else.