The Fierce Urgency of Now

 

I’m embarrassed to admit that I did not know the origin of the words “the fierce urgency of now” when I first heard them used by (then) Interim Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Martirano. 

Here they are in context:

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action. - - Martin Luther King Jr., August 28th, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial on the Washington, D.C. National Mall.

These words came to mind recently when I learned that the crucially important repairs to Oakland Mills High School had been removed from their place in the list of priorities and moved back. Way back. Take a look.

Spring, 2022:

Fall, 2022:

Oakland Mills High School, which has a high percentage of Black and Brown students as well as students who need food support, has been waiting on crucial repairs since (at least) 2009. The school is operating with the original HVAC system from 1973. 

We’ve all heard the term “deferred maintenance” from home repair shows on television. OMHS needs more than one hundred million dollars worth of work because of maintenance that has been deferred. That’s ten per cent of the entire HCPSS capital improvement budget. In one school, in one village, in Columbia, Maryland.

This is no time for apathy or complacency. 

The needs of this one school have been put off time after time. When do we stop calling this deferred maintenance and start calling it what it is: systemic neglect? This isn’t simply a capital improvements issue. It’s an equity issue. 

In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. 

Everyone in Howard County should be concerned about this. You shouldn’t need to live in Oakland Mills to care about students who go to school in a substandard, unhealthy educational environment. They are all our children. Pushing a certain segment of students to the side isn’t simply bad for them. It weakens our community as a whole. It compromises (and has been compromising) their daily lives and their futures. Their futures are intertwined with ours.

Why should they do the hard work to invest in themselves if their own school system won’t even invest in them?

It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation…for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, "Wait on time." Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals. Without this hard work, time becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. So we must help time and realize that the time is always right to do right. - -  Martin Luther King, Jr, 1965 commencement address at Oberlin College 

It’s time. Will you help?

This is a time for vigorous and positive action.

Please email the board or sign up to testify on September 22nd.

Email: BOE@hcpss.org

Sign up to testify: https://bit.ly/omhs-testify

One more thing. I’m going to ask you to boost the signal for this because it is such a time sensitive issue. Share this post and pass along the information. The more that people become aware and informed, the more likely they are to engage and participate. 

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.