Fire and Ice

By HARVEY WINJE

December 20th — Now in its second year, the Winter Solstice Lantern Parade brought light and delight to South Minneapolis on the longest night of the year. Community lantern making workshops and the parade event are organized by Phillips’ own Semilla Center for the Arts and Barebones Puppets, along with In the Heart of the Beast Theatre, and Artstart. PHOTO: Laura Hulscher

This Wendell Phillips quote was a response to a friend, Brother May, who had asked, “Wendell, why are you so on fire?” after a fervent speech against the moral outrage of slavery.

Phillips’s reply highlights the immense challenge he and other abolitionists faced in changing the deep-seated apathy, indifference, and resistance to their cause. The “fire” represented his passion and moral clarity, while the “mountains of ice” symbolized societal inertia and opposition to abolishing slavery.
There is societal inertia and opposition to

“Peace if possible, Justice at any rate”
Wendell Phillips

(another of the quotes Phillips favored) when it comes many issues confronting us today. The late Senator Paul Wellstone claimed the quote as a favorite, along with