By Jesse Greist

 

There are so many people that have opened hearts and changed our minds

So many heroes whose brave faces fill our books and films and signs

But we must also remember everyone who dared to came along

Who filled the crowds and shouted loud whose voices sang the songs

So I ask:

Where would Mahatma Gandhi be if he alone marched to the sea?

And if only Julia Butterfly climbed the trunk of that Redwood tree?

Where would the Dalai Lama be if he’d fled alone into the dark?

Where would Jesus be without John, Matthew, Luke and Mark?

Where would each refugee be if there were only one small boat?

Where would Susan Anthony be if only she suffered for the vote?

Where would Pete Seeger be if he’d sang a solo chorus?

And if Rachel Carson had been the only scientist to implore us?

And Clara Barton if her army of healers had never been incited?

And Cesar Chavez if farm workers had never become united?

Where would Jackie Robinson be without Ralph Branca on his team?

Where would Martin Luther King be if he alone had dared to dream?

The names we lift on banners , that we celebrate on special days

Have all our names behind them, we have helped them on their way

For no one changes anything by challenging the sea

But waves of change are made by drops joined in community