“It’s what we can learn from history that can give us what we need to deal with the present, and create the future,” UCLA Distinguished Professor of History Dr. David N. Myers, director of the Luskin Center for History and Policy, spoke to an audience with the Wende Museum’s Executive Director Dr. Justin Jampol on Thursday, March 6, 2025.
The premier event in a new lecture series at the Wende, entitled “Engaging with the Past to Make Sense of the Present,” started at 6 pm on a rainy evening, and Jampol lauded the the crowd for making it out despite the weather. “We have a full house; whatever they say about Angelenos and weather, we are tougher than that.”
As a bonus, Assembly member Isaac Bryan was on hand, and was introduced as a graduate of the UCLA History Department that was the nucleus of the event. Bryan has a Masters from UCLA, and credited the Luskins with helping to make his success possible.
Myers offered that when UCLA History Professor Dr. Kelly Lytle Hernandez had to cancel a speaking engagement and sent Bryan in her stead, he’d been disappointed – until he heard Bryan’s presentation. “This graduate student just blew us all away with his command of the facts.”
Bryan presented the Luskins with a formal Resolution, noting that it was a part of his office he enjoyed using. “I can do a Resolution for any occasion.” Meyer Luskin gave a few remarks in gratitude, saying “I didn’t prepare anything, so brevity is easy,” and thanked the Assembly member for his commitment to public policy.
The conversation between Jampol and Myers telescoped between looking at the big picture, and considering the small details. The fascism that Europe dealt with in the 20th Century and what the United States is currently experiencing have parallels, but many significant differences.
Looking at the entire globe, Myers also brought in the fallacy of the either/or perspective. “When we talk about the Middle East, people tend to focus in on a one state/two state solution. What we are overlooking is the whole spectrum of solutions that fall in between.” He brought up the history of the Balkans, and Northern Ireland, as similar political situations that suffered through multi-generational violence, but found a way to create and sustain peace.
The current political situation, while grim, is by no means unique. Listening to historical examples can open the focus towards a future that can be different.
Judith Martin-Straw
Photo credit – Dane Twichell