On Hope, Optimism, and the Way Forward
**Date:** 06-23-25
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“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” — Helen Keller
After a string of gloomy, rainy Saturdays, the sun shone warm and bright as Muller Plaza filled with people. They were there to celebrate a new chapter in the history of Oneonta’s downtown.
The embrace of our performing and visual arts is driving Oneonta’s renaissance, and the Al Gallodoro Memorial Stage is striking evidence of this new era we’ve entered. The stage is a work of art that provides a continuous connection to the audience, and a unique integration to the space around it. The pergola roof is in constant shadow-play with performers and the audience.
This wonderful new stage will complement our “Thursdays in the Park” programming with downtown performances every Friday and Saturday.
Our Public Arts commission is working with area artists to adorn our blank walls with murals, and our Main Street windows are becoming a gallery for displays of art and history.
Oneonta’s renaissance hasn’t escaped the notice of developers. Several long vacant buildings are subjects of discussion or imminent news.
All of this is good. All of this gives me hope for the future.
These are the things we can control, and I feel confident about our trajectory.
But then… there are the things we can’t control.
Everyday a new and terrible bit of news, so often unprecedented and potentially harmful to individuals and families.
A community member, taken from his home – seemingly absent warrant or charges – and “disappeared” into a system that is unresponsive and confrontational. Programs like the Job Corps threatened with shutdown, without evident concern for the futures of the young people that had grabbed that lifeline, or the health of the workforce and skilled labor pool it supports.
The collection of our most personal data. Inconceivable threats to the efficiencies of Social Security, and the funding of Medicaid. Attacks on education, science, and history in the name of an ideology. The gutting of agencies that protect and support us.
Our military used for surprise attack, an act of war, without the authorization of congress and domestically, against the will of local officials. A likely recession coming. And democracy itself increasingly threatened.
As citizens, we can do nothing less than speak out. We have that right, and it’s our duty.
And so, we rally, and we march.
If we are successful, we will motivate our representatives to reacquaint themselves with their oaths of office.
We need their attention. For that we need ever-expanding numbers. In this crucial moment, we need to grow the movement.
Our daily newspaper ran an editorial that may have left some readers confused or concerned for their safety at a rally.
The editorial advised of specific actions for those attending rallies, (for example writing the names of their attorneys on their arms and turning off facial recognition on their smartphones.) This is good advice for conditions and situations that warrant it. The conditions in Oneonta did not and do not.
The main goal of a peacekeeping strategy at any gathering is situational awareness – understanding conditions on the ground. Rally goers in Los Angeles face different conditions than those in Oneonta.
I wish that the editorial writer had been aware of the quality of communications between the rally organizers and our police department, or the multiple trainings and resources provided by Indivisible, of which we have multiple local chapters. Contrary to the well intentioned, but misinformed advice provided by the editorial’s author, the Cooperstown-Oneonta chapter is proactive, collaborative, and communicative, with a trained contingent that is specifically assigned as marshals and peacekeepers, So, in contradiction to the counsel of the editorialist, the directions of those leading the rally should be heard and followed.
It is a priority that rallies are a safe place to channel our voices in opposition.
The concerns of the citizenry must register in the Senate and Congress. To make that happen our rallies need numbers, and those exercising their first amendment rights should feel secure in doing so.
You can feel secure.
I wish I knew that this unfolding constitutional crisis was going to resolve well.
I hope to God that it will.
But, as quoted at the top, “Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
We have to be confident.
We can’t let up. We must keep working to make our city a better place to live, with a better future for those who follow us.
The same is true of our country.
It’s our challenge and responsibility.
We are not an island, but controlling what we can, the plans for Oneonta give me hope.
And the increasing engagement of our neighbors in fighting for freedom, justice and the constitution give me optimism.
