Villeage Voices: Lighting the Way: History, Community, and Hope

By Zaheer Ali

This edition of Villeage Voices is adapted from remarks delivered as part of a keynote address titled “Lighting the Way: History, Community, and Hope,” by Zaheer Ali at The Lawrenceville School as part of its Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Commemoration on January 20, 2025. 

Ali is the inaugural Executive Director of the Hutchins Institute for Social Justice and a teacher in Lawrenceville’s history department. He is an educator and humanities professional with more than a decade of experience directing nationally recognized public history and cultural heritage initiatives.

It's easy to regard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a universally celebrated figure today, but during his lifetime, he was not always viewed favorably. Despite his significant role in the civil rights movement and pivotal moments like the 1963 March on Washington, the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights and the 1965 Voting Rights Acts, King faced substantial criticism and opposition. In August 1966, a Gallup poll found that 63 percent of Americans viewed King unfavorably. His later stands on economic justice and opposition to the Vietnam War only heightened this unpopularity. King’s vision extended beyond civil rights, seeking economic justice and advocating for non-violence at home and abroad.

By the time King stood at the podium on April 3, 1968, to deliver what would be his final public address, he warned, "We've got some difficult days ahead." In some ways, we could say the same of our current moment. We face numerous global challenges, including climate emergencies, such as wildfires in California, ongoing wars and violence impacting civilians, and political divisiveness and the fraying of community bonds. How might we navigate these challenging times?

In that same speech, King borrowed an aphorism from historian Charles Beard, encouraging us to find clarity and hope even amidst adversity: "Only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars." When we think about the dark, we might distinguish between “the dark” and “darkness.” Where darkness implies confusion, isolation or loneliness, and despair, "the dark" could be a temporary state that invites introspection and focus, presence and connection, and possibilities for the future.

King suggested that to gain clarity, sometimes we need to step away from the "man-made lights" and noise of our environments. In a sermon titled, "O That I Knew Where I Might Find Him!" delivered in the early 1950s, King preached, "We need sometimes to get away from the man-made lights of the city and place our eyes on that eternal light which man can never invent. We need sometimes to get away from the noisy tunes of the man-made streetcars and subways and open our ears to the melodious voices of the birds and the whistling sounds of the jostling wind." In our times, one expects that King would tell us to put our phones down.

So, I invite us to lean into this notion of the dark, to disconnect from distractions and re-center our focus on the authentic, natural sources of wisdom and strength. And in the dark, we are guided by certain stars. There are many--we could say joy, faith, or other virtues that inspire resilience. In this particular moment, I would like for us to focus on three: history, community, and hope.

King recognized history as a source of light. In that same sermon, he said, "If our visions are broad enough, we are able to see that the light of God shines through history as the blossom shines through the bud. At times the light might seem dim, yet it shines." History acts as a guide, helping us learn from past struggles and triumphs. Just as we might navigate a dark room based on memory, so too can we use historical lessons to navigate present uncertainties. It provides context and insight, shaping our responses to current challenges.

Have you ever had a sleepover, and you wake up at night and turn to the others in the room and ask, "Are you awake?" When in the dark, our instinct is to reach out to others. Community is another critical source of light. In a sermon published in 1963 and titled, "Three Dimensions of a Complete Life," King stated, "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness." Community offers solidarity, shared purpose, and mutual support, counteracting the isolation and loneliness often felt in dark times. By reaching out to others, we find comfort and collective strength, fostering resilience and shared resolve in facing adversity. Community lights the path forward, reinforcing the interconnectedness that enriches our lives and provides enduring support.

Let us go back to that dark room that you wake up in at night. Once you have used your memory (or sense of history) to determine where everything is, and you have called out to establish your presence and that of others, you move--with expectation, with hope. You see beyond what is materially apparent, beyond the limits of eyesight. That is what it means to have vision.

King, and all those who have struggled to bring about social change, had to have vision to see beyond the material conditions that constrained them, that might have constrained their imagination of what was possible. They had to see the absence of light not as darkness, but as the dark that could be illuminated by their knowledge of the past, their communities, and hopes. "Even the most starless midnight may herald the dawn of some great fulfillment," King said in "A Knock at Midnight," also published in 1963.

Now it is our job to light the way. The word "light" functions both as a transitive and intransitive verb. Transitive verbs have an object that receives the action of the verb, while intransitive verbs do not; they primarily communicate a state of being. To light the way is both to activate and to radiate. So, when we are talking about lighting the way, what histories, communities, and hopes are we activating? What lessons and light do we gain from the struggles of the past for women's suffrage, for Black men’s and women's right to vote, to desegregate schools and public facilities, for gender equality, and the right to marry? From all the major social transformations and illuminations in our nation's history?

But it is not just that: what are we ourselves illuminating? What unique histories, community connections, and hopes can we share with others to help light our collective way? In “A Knock at Midnight,” King said, "[W]alk through the dark with radiant conviction that all things work together for good." Through the sharing of our own lights with each other--our histories, communities, and hopes--we become a constellation that lights up the sky, that lights up the dark, and from which darkness flees. We may not always have physical, or emotional, or psychological light, but with history, community, and hope, we can walk with radiant conviction into this moment and those ahead.

It may be dark, but it need not be filled with darkness. The future is unknown, but if we meet that unknown with hope rather than despair, we understand that the future is not uncertain but filled with many possible outcomes. There are many possible futures that we have the responsibility to help make, to help bring into being, and to help light the way.

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.