Smiley: Why we must never let misery have the last word

I once sat on an airplane next to the great basketball coach John Chaney. His Temple Owls men's basketball team had just been crushed by an opponent in a pretty embarrassing loss.

I had a lot of respect for Coach Chaney and, trying to find something nice to say, I uttered something like, "Well, after that loss, I know your guys are really pumped to win this next game. Coach, this should be a blow out for your team!"

Chaney looked at me, and as graciously as he could, schooled me on the fallacy of my argument.

As I shrunk in my seat, he essentially told me that if his team had to get blown out one game, just to get motivated to win the next one, then the best they could ever do was a .500 season. They'd never lay claim to a winning season; no chance of receiving that coveted invitation to the big dance in March. 

I'd never thought of it quite that way, but upon reflection, he was dead right. You can't go anywhere taking one step forward and two steps back. 

That's how I feel about America right now. In 2008, we took a giant step forward with the election of Barack Obama as president. But just eight years later, we've taken two gigantic steps back. 

American is fast becoming American't. 

President Donald Trump just can't seem to get it together, and we're fast becoming the laughingstock of the world. The Mexican president cancels, the Australian leader is insulted.

"Make America Great Again?" More like "Make America Ache Again." There's a painful price we'll pay — short- and long-term — for all of Trump's ignorance, arrogance and hubris. 

With each passing day, a mockery is being made of our democracy. It's debilitating being bombarded with the daily drama. Incoming! We can't dawdle like this endlessly. 

What can you do? 

Assign yourself. 

To what?

To that societal injustice that shakes your soul and makes your spirit scream. You know the one — that thing you're constantly complaining about, that thing that makes you sick to your stomach, that thing that makes you angry enough to cuss, that thing that pulls at your heartstrings and makes you cry. You know the one I'm talking about, right? 

Well, make yourself a committee of one and assign yourself to do something about it in this moment of graft and greed over grace and generosity, partisan politics over public policy, and personal profit over public good. 

To be sure, this is an ugly moment, but misery must never have the last word. We must resolve to not take another step backwards, not even to gain momentum.

As we celebrate Black History Month, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminds us that, "The ultimate measure of a people is not where they stand in times of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of controversy and challenge." 

I think we're about to find out who we are, really.