7 Lessons from Senator Cory Booker’s Legendary Senate Floor Speech

"This is a moral moment."

via NBC

I went to bed just before midnight on March 31 after reading about Senator Cory Booker taking to the Senate floor for a form of “filibuster.” When I woke up eight hours later, with the winds of a good night’s sleep in my sails, I was amazed to see him standing at the podium. It was a new day. A new month. I was rested. And I was impressed.

A full workday has passed and Senator Booker is still behind the podium. His voice is not faltering, though it is breaking, now and then, with pure emotion. He’s swaying a bit while reciting long passages of the Bible, literature, and quotes from heroes from memory. He’s sharp. He cares. He is still at the podium, closing in on 24 hours.

I was waking up to a rare day with nothing on my calendar. I could do anything I wanted! I could sleep late. I could go thrifting. I read on the couch all the live-long day. It turns out, all I wanted to do is listen to an icon using his actual voice, sacrificing his actual body, because he loves this country and he loves its citizens.

I organized my bookshelves and listened. I made breakfast (scrambled eggs with mushrooms, goat cheese, and dill) and listened. I prepped dinner (pork chops and chocolate mousse¹) and listened. I ate my lunch (this weird and insanely delicious bean toast – add lemon!) and listened. I cannot tear myself away.

As someone taught that Democrats are evil and immoral (true story, no notes) I have learned to see the world and politics from a more complete lens. I am a proud Democrat. I ran for city council as a proud Democrat, not in spite of my faith, but because I came to see that its policies most closely (though not perfectly) aligned with my faith. Republicans do not own the “Christian” banner. I’ve known that now for many years. It is an entirely different thing to watch someone like Senator Cory Booker in action. I’ve learned so much today by listening to an exhausted man who shows no sign of falling apart. As I told a friend, “I believe in prayer today.” I can feel the prayers holding him up and I can feel mine blending with the chorus. I so desperately needed a reminder that we still have a say. We are not impotent.

Here are the top seven lessons I’m taking away from Senator Booker today.

1. We are all capable of acting with moral courage

“I’m scared, too. But fear is a necessary precursor to courage,” Senator Booker said several times today. As I’ve listened, I’ve fought my own fears, rooted in real life situations with profound consequences. The definition of “terrorism” is, “The unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.” It is Executive terrorism that has my mind spinning, alternating between defiance and fear. I understand the impulse to get quiet. The stories running through my mind cannot are left unspoken out of a deep sense of protection for people I care about. Earlier today, I felt a jolt of fear just texting a friend about one story in particular. (Are they reading my text messages?) This is not a normal way to think. The terror is very real. And yet some of us (like me, and maybe you) are not at immediate risk in the ways others are. Will we go quietly? Will we close our eyes and shut our ears? Will we believe this is not our problem? Timothy Snyder says that to resist tyranny, we must not “obey in advance.” May our fears light the way for our own moral courage, with Senator Booker’s leading by example.

2. Small things are never small

Early this morning, the Republican talking points had already taken root: “What’s the point? This is performative and meaningless.” These bold attempts to discredit someone’s courage are a clear indicator of the threat courage poses to dishonest, unserious people. The way we spend our breath is the way we spend our very lives. Within a society, we each do our small part, believing small things are never small. They build. They bloom. What Senator Booker is doing is immense, and everyone knows it. It is deeply inspiring and validating. His body and mind are being taxed on live stream while he meets this moment. He is spending his breath on what he believes is an urgent crisis. He is spending his breath as an emblem of courage and conscience for the rest of us. May we do likewise and speak up.

3. Spiritual obedience is not defined by white Republicans