Public speaker and author Paul Loeb spoke in the Borah Theater on Monday evening. Steven Devine/Argonaut

Author helps students realize their potential

After writing two books, “The Soul of a Citizen” and “The Impossible Will Take Awhile,” author Paul Loeb decided to switch from the written word to informing the public on citizen involvement.
After traveling to a variety of universities, Loeb arrived at the University of Idaho on Monday night and spoke about on his goal to educate communities about themselves.
Loeb said education was not a necessary component in making a difference.
“There is a perfect standard set,” he said. “But everyone can be shy or not know it all. We don’t do things we want to because of perfect knowledge, but because something tugged at us.”

He gave a few examples, including Rosa Parks. He said he was disgruntled that CNN had portrayed her as the start of the Civil Rights Movement when he had appeared on the channel. Loeb said Rosa’s husband Raymond got her involved.
“We get this image of Rosa and her tired feet, starting an unintentional movement on this bus,” he said. “But in reality, all the while before this, strategy and training sessions had been underway.”
There was a movement going on behind her and it was ready to support her, he said. 
Loeb said the purpose of his story centered on the fact that one person can make a difference with other members in the community backing the individual and can make history forever.

He also spoke about Ed Nixon, a man in charge of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a labor union that was created in 1925, and how he influenced Martin Luther King Jr., to get involved in these movements in Montgomery, Ala.
Loeb said, at first, King didn’t want to be involved — he was just one person in the mess. But according to Loeb, Nixon pushed him, and King got his start with the popularity in Montgomery.
“Without Nixon’s push, King may not have ever gotten his start, and history could have unraveled in so many different, and maybe unwanted ways,” he said.
Another idea he brought up was being positive in negative times. Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu, and his ideas of a better society in South Africa, was his example.

“Yes, he was shot down many times,” Loeb said. “But he kept going, always following through.”
When faced with a critical crowd, he said Tutu talked of his community and how they wanted to be the first to fly a rocket to the sun.
“He was told that was impossible with the heat,” Loeb said. “He replied, ‘We will do it at night’ Yes, almost an uneducated idea, but he was reflecting humor in a time of seriousness, which is needed to keep
everyone going.”

Loeb talked about Tutu’s funniness at a Los Angeles Convention the first time he saw him.
“He was dancing,” he said. “The man was battling prostate cancer at the time. But the Nobel Peace Prize winner was dancing.”
Loeb also pointed out that Tutu values, “the grace of the world.”
In addition to his stories, Loeb talked about involvement. He spoke about a student who was at Connecticut College and picked a congressman she liked that represented what she wanted in a political leader.

He said she worked hard to campaign for that person, and the congressman ended up winning by 27 votes. He talked about how she thought she hadn’t made an impact even though she had. He said as individuals, we can make a difference.
“Individuals should get together and form communities and backing to make that difference, and make that change,” he said.
He said it is hard work, but it really can help.
“Hope is believing in spite of the evidence and watching the evidence change,” he said.

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