"It was a privilege to have met him", said my ex. I can't believe John Hoope Franklin is gone, this shining star in American intellectual life. No, not solely in our intellectual life, but in our moral and spiritual life, too.
John Hope might have objected to the word spiritual. I don't think, from the brief chat the two of us had about the possibiliity of another life, that he even thought the question was that crucial. He thought this world was pretty good, he told me as he showed me and a friend his orchids.
But he WAS part of our American soul--buffeted by racism, sustaining its blows with not only dignity but bravery, and grace...
Yes. Grace.
My grief is mixed with thankfulness-that he lived, and he lived a long time, and that we got to learn from him.
I suspect that he would not only hope but expect those of us who truly believe in racial and ethnic equality to keep fighting for a world in which these wonderful words are incarnated (sorry John Hope) in the gritty reality of our daily lives. That's what he did.
Thank you for enriching this world with your intelligence, your expectations, your friendships and your grace. Godspeed.
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