Knox Overstreet, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you

"A movement begins with a lone nut, but it takes a first follower to make it a movement." - Derek Sivers

There were two acts of protest during President Trump’s address to Congress this week. Each was a missed opportunity … not by the person who engaged in the protest, but by everyone who let them stand alone.

Rep. Al Green of Texas interrupted Trump’s speech to challenge his threatened $880 billion cut to Medicaid … an action that would have devastating effects on the most vulnerable people in this country. Here’s leader Hakeem Jeffries discussing the impact of those cuts:

Later, Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dover walked out of the joint session, tweeting later, “I just walked out of Trump’s Joint Address on behalf of the people of California’s 37th district. There’s only so much bullshit a person can tolerate.”

These actions took courage. Decorum … the rules of respectability that in our best times we used to keep our gatherings civil and peaceful … must be set aside when it is being used to shield words and actions that do violence to those among us who cannot defend themselves and who are at the mercy of the speakers and those in power.

Reps. Green and Kamlager-Dover stood up — one shouting out and one walking out. They had an impact … but their impact was more spectacle than movement … because their colleagues let them stand alone.

In No Name in the Street, James Baldwin writes of arriving back in New York in 1952 “at the height of the national convulsion called McCarthyism.” He reserved his disgust not so much for Sen. McCarthy and his ilk who were using the time-tested method of scapegoating and fear-mongering to exert dictatorial authority … but for the “cowardice of the liberal community, which I will never forget.”

“What I watched them do to each other during the McCarthy era was, in some ways, worse than anything they had ever done to me, for I, at least, had never been mad enough to depend on their devotion. It seemed very clear to me that they were lying about their motives and were being blackmailed by their guilt; were, in fact, at bottom, nothing more than the respectable issue of various immigrants, struggling to hold on to what they had acquired. For, intellectual activity, according to me, is, and must be, disinterested—the truth is a two-edged sword—and if one is not willing to be pierced by that sword, even to the extreme of dying on it, then all of one’s intellectual activity is a masturbatory delusion and a wicked and dangerous fraud.”

In other words, for all their fancy words about freedom, justice and compassion, those who would call themselves liberals faded into the silent woodwork when their life and livelihoods were threatened … not only not standing with one another but sometimes actively turning on each other.

There’s a concept in leadership called “the first follower.” Watch this short video that demonstrates it:

As Derek Sivers says, "A movement begins with a lone nut, but it takes a first follower to make it a movement."

In this instant … and during the speech … the need for a first follower is not about advance planning … it’s about courage when the moment presents itself.

We’ve all been there. Someone stands up and does something brave … and in that moment our stomachs clench and our mind begins to spin. Assuming we agree with them, the internal wrestling begins.

Do I want to take the risk of standing with this person?

What if this action backfires?

What if nobody else stands up with me?

What if I end up associating myself with something for which my own friends condemn me?

What if this prevents me from doing other, better things later on?

These are all legitimate questions … and in the moment they can cause us to freeze. And they can also cause us to be paralyzed in a state of rationalization. Because being the first follower is a risk — and a lot of times it doesn’t turn out well.

And … that’s how movements are born.

Two examples from movies.

First … when it doesn’t work. You remember this scene from Jerry Maguire … Tom Cruise writes a manifesto and gives an impassioned speech about doing the sports agent business differently and shouts out “Who’s coming with me” as the agency version of the Sergeant at Arms escorts him out of the room.

And Renee Zellweger becomes that first follower … only to discover that there isn’t a second one ..and then she has the "Oh Shit” moment of “what have I done.”

It’s Hollywood, so there is a happy ending. And we all know it isn’t always the case.

That’s the reality. It takes incredible leadership and courage to be the first follower … because there is REAL RISK INVOLVED.

And then there’s this example … my favorite … from Dead Poet’s Society.

Prof. John Keating (Robin Williams) is cleaning out his class office at the end of the movie after being scapegoated for the death of a student to appease the wealth donors who sustain the school. Much like McCarthyism, the students had been threatened to sign statements condemning their mentor or face serious consequences.

And yet at this final moment, one student, Todd Anderson (Ethan Hawke) stands up on his desk and makes a solo protest.

Oh Captain, My Captain.

It’s a quote from a Walt Whitman poem, where the poet pledges devotion to a great leader who has fallen.

But Todd’s action, though moving, would not have had the impact if it hadn’t been for Knox Overstreet. In a wonderful piece of acting, Josh Charles’ Knox struggles with all those internal questions and then gets on top of his desk and echos those same words

Oh Captain, My Captain.

And this time, there was a third follower, and a fourth, and a fifth.

After Keating left the room and the school, you can be sure those boys faced consequences for their actions … some of them might have even regretted it later.

And … they also in that moment were a part of something greater than themselves.

Something with deep passion, love and integrity.

Moments like that … when life and history present themselves and in that moment we have to make a decision are we going to be that first or second follower or will we shrink back … those are the moments from which revolutions spring.

Those are the moments we look back on with pride or regret.

We have no idea in the moment whether it is the strategic or smart or best thing to do.

And … I will tell you I have never regretted standing with a colleague, friend or even stranger who is exhibiting great courage for a cause I believe in.

However I have often regretted letting that courageous person stand alone.

Imagine what could have been Tuesday night if the spirit of Knox Overstreet had come upon just one member of Congress.

If when Rep. Green stood up and shouted, just one other person hadn’t even joined him in shouting … but had simply stood beside him. So that Rep. Green knew he wasn’t standing alone. So that when he was forcibly removed from the chamber at least one colleague would have refused to have him bear that alone.

What if when Rep. Kamlager-Dover walked out, at least one other person had the courage to stand up and walk out with her. Maybe they could have gotten the press to follow them and they could have had an impromptu alternative address where they committed to stand together. To, in her words “not tolerate the bullshit anymore.”

We never know when these moments will emerge. And … we will recognize them in an instant when they do. And in those moments we will have to decide — in a second, even — where we stand.

And in that moment, may we have the courage to stand on our desks and pledge our loyalty to one another come what may.

Because for all the talk about resistance … that is how revolutions are born.

Knox Overstreet, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

May we go and do likewise.