J. Davy Crockett III

Some news reports grab your attention and will not let go—particularly when they involve some desperate situation that affects masses of people. We see many such epochal forces going on now with massive flooding across the South in the United States, resulting in widespread property damage and loss of life. Yet a few hundred miles away from some of the affected areas, California—America’s most populous state—parches in prolonged drought.

Has it been 50 years since that fateful day in the spring of 1965 in Selma, Alabama, when racial tensions boiled over as the Civil Rights movement focused on the hardened segregation culture of the “Old South?” As the decades have passed, much progress has been made in racial relations in the South and throughout the country. The brutality of the opposition back then, and the bravery, naïveté and willingness by the marchers, who were seeking the right to vote, to confront centuries of prejudice is still shocking today.

Have you noticed? Something has changed in the basic fabric of our society. Bedrock moral principles of conduct for orderly, successful entities seem to have evaporated. Brazen lies are commonplace at the highest levels of government. It's not just yearning for the good old days—integrity is going extinct. Is there hope for a better world?

The state school board meeting room was packed with standing room only. I was there to observe the proceedings and to show support for an application for a Charter School (a school open to the public that is privately funded and operated). The richly paneled room was equipped with the latest technology, including a large flat screen monitor so everyone could see those coming before the board and the board members as they responded. The meeting droned on for hours as the proponents of various educational matters presented their cases, pro and con.