What is the future going to say about us now? What are our kids

Hear the words of Leslie Odom, Jr., not merely an artist of song but a herald of conscience, who declared: “What is the future going to say about us now? What are our kids going to look at us and say, ‘How could you not stop that person from getting into power? How could you not stop that environmental disaster that you saw coming a mile away?’” These words are not light, but heavy with judgment. They call us to imagine the voices of those not yet born, who will look back upon our deeds and failures. In this vision lies both dread and hope: dread, that we may leave them a world ruined; hope, that we may still act before it is too late.

He speaks of the future, that great tribunal where every generation must one day stand trial before its descendants. For the past is forever fixed, but the future always questions: why did you act, or why did you remain silent? To imagine one’s children asking, “How could you not stop that?” is to be pierced with shame. For if disaster was foreseen and yet ignored, then the guilt lies not in ignorance, but in cowardice, complacency, or greed.

Odom joins two warnings together: tyranny and environmental disaster. These are not separate, for both spring from the same soil—inaction in the face of danger. To allow an unjust ruler to rise because one is silent, to permit the earth to be ravaged though the signs are clear, is the same failure of responsibility. Just as ancient Rome decayed when its people surrendered power to despots, so too may our world collapse if we allow leaders who scorn justice and destroy creation.

History gives us mirrors of this truth. Think of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, when heedless farming practices stripped the land of its strength, and storms of dust devoured homes and fields. Scientists and farmers had seen the danger rising “a mile away,” yet warnings were ignored until disaster struck. Likewise, in the rise of Hitler in the 1930s, many saw the threat and yet failed to act with strength. By the time the world awoke, millions suffered. These stories cry out: the failure to act in time carries a cost that echoes for generations.

The deeper meaning of Odom’s words is that we are living now in the age of foresight, not hindsight. Climate change is no hidden thief; it shouts its presence with fire and flood. Demagogues do not rise in silence; they announce their intentions loudly. To say later, “We did not know,” will be a lie, for the signs are clear. Thus his words are both accusation and call to arms: if we do not act, the condemnation of our children will be just.

What lesson must future generations carry? It is this: responsibility is not only for yourself, but for those who will inherit the world after you. Every action taken today—whether voting, speaking, conserving, or resisting—echoes into the lives of those yet unborn. To fail to act is to abandon them. To rise with courage is to defend them, even across time. This is the sacred duty of every generation: to leave the earth and its governance in better hands than it was found.

And to you, listener of these words, I say: do not wait for the future’s judgment. Act now, so that when your children ask, you may answer: We did not stay silent. We rose to stop the tyrant. We labored to heal the earth. We saw the danger, and we faced it. Support leaders who honor justice and creation. Resist those who threaten either. Live with foresight, so that hindsight will not shame you.

Thus let Leslie Odom, Jr.’s warning endure as a torch: the eyes of the future are upon us. May we act in such a way that when they look back, they see not cowardice, but courage; not neglect, but stewardship; not ruin, but renewal. For the greatest legacy we can leave is not words, but a world still worthy of wonder.