What Does it Mean to Say ‘Enough’? - A Sunday Letter from Rich
I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “enough” lately. Its use gives rise to both anger and aspiration. Think about it. What have you had enough of? What does it propel you to want?
I look out on this country today and I want to yell from the highest mountain top: Enough! Enough hatred and bigotry. Enough despair and division. Enough. And I find myself yearning for us to renew our individual and collective ability to move forward on our shared challenges. I want action. Real action. Please stay with me here.
This is why I’ve launched a new civic campaign, “Enough. Time to Build.”
I embraced this tagline with multiple meanings of the word “enough” in mind. And I suppose it’s no accident given this word that our first campaign event of 2024 is in Flint, MI, a place that I hold close to my heart, and which I’ll come back to in a moment.
One meaning of the word “enough" comes from the phrase, “Enough is enough.” I often hear people say this when things are at an impasse. When we’re fed up. When frustration has mounted to a breaking point.
In this sense, “enough” means naming what is wrong. In many ways, this is where we find our country. I hear community leaders and citizens alike saying they have had enough of growing disparities and inequities. Enough of pervasive mistrust and fear. Enough of a lack of hope. They are tired, worn out, even scared of sticking their necks out. Some of the challenges we face are new, some have been with us for generations. To any and all of them, it’s only human to be frustrated and angry and to say, “Enough is enough.”
A second meaning is to say, “We don’t have enough.” This expresses a yearning, an aspiration, and a hope all at once. We need more food, shelter, physical and psychological safety. We long for a greater sense of connection and belonging. We demand a genuine voice and agency in our lives.
As we approach our first campaign event of 2024 in Flint on January 17, these meanings of “enough” keep me awake at night. I cannot sleep. The Institute has a long history with Flint. In the late 1990s and early 2000s—after GM closed its plants in Flint and the community was reeling from job losses and failed attempts at various quick fixes—I spent a number of years there working closely with the community. I came to love the community—and the people I came to know there.
The work was slow and hard. Absolutely nothing came easy. Mistrust, violent crime, and abandoned homes were pervasive. Many residents had lost hope.
When I would tell people who didn’t live in Flint about our work there, they would inevitably ask: Why not just let the community die? Wouldn’t that be easier, more cost effective? My response was simple, firm, and indignant: “Because people call Flint home.” People there, both then and now, have a sense of deep pride and a strong connection to their community and to one another. They have a shared history and a desire for a shared future.
The story of Flint—like so many other communities in our country—is one of people who refuse to give up, who fight for a better life day after day after day. Darren, a Flint native, spoke to this struggle when quoted in a front-page Washington Post article that came out during our work in the early 2000s. He said, “This is my home. This is my family. This is everything I know.”
The people of Flint have not given up. Nor shall we.
The response to the different meanings of enough is to come together and build. We must do the hard work of forging trust, getting our hands dirty in the messiness it takes to create progress and generate authentic hope. We must see and hear one another, and reflect the reality of people’s lives in our words and actions. We must make upholding each other’s dignity non-negotiable. Period.
This work begins in our local communities, where we can get things done together and engender our sense of civic faith.
My deep affection in fighting for Flint has never wavered in the years since our work there. It’s why I’m eager to bring this campaign to Flint. Honestly, it’s why I am honored that they asked us to come.
I know the people of Flint have had enough. They yearn to build together, despite the myriad challenges they still face. They exemplify the kind of dogged determination that I believe is the great strength of our communities and this nation.
It’s why it’s time for us to say: “Enough! Time to Build.”
Let me leave you with a question. Two, in fact. What have you had enough of? Even better, what is it time to build?
I hope you write back. I’d love to hear from you.