Once upon a time we were a country and a society that fought for progressive ideas. I know because I documented it just over a decade ago when I wrote and edited my book, Wisdom of Progressive Voices. My idea was to track the history, to tell brief bios on those great Americans who envisioned a better country and world for all of us, and to provide some inspiring words.
Wisdom of Progressive Voices was published in 2010 after I saw my beloved native state of Wisconsin elect Scott Walker governor. Within weeks of taking office in 2011, Walker basically destroyed over a hundred years of progressive history — Fighting Bob LaFollette, William Proxmire, Earth Day Founder Gaylord Nelson.
I tried to sound the alarm and warn that Wisconsin was just the first step. If we forgot our history…if the Democratic Party couldn’t remember its FDR roots or the likes of Henry Wallace and Paul Wellstone, then, well, things would become really difficult.
Recently, as I began to start the “uncluttering” process in my house, I came across a box and said, “What’s in there?” To my surprise, I still had one box of Wisdom of Progressive Voices, shipped to me from my printer a few years back. Much like the progressive movement, it was forgotten and dusty.
So what to do with these books?
I decided why not try to offer them to anyone who might want to have documentation of a time in which we tried hard to make this a better world and planet for all.
