DAY 140

SOCIAL & POLITICAL COMMENTARY

Humility

WHAT DOES HUMILITY LOOK LIKE?

Humility is the act of being humble, of deferring to another without showing any superiority or self-assertive behavior. Its opposite would be greed and the sense of entitlement that accompanies a state of excessive desire—the belief that a person is entitled to have something for nothing. Entitlement brings with it a sense of superiority and assertiveness that an act of humility can disperse. Humbleness and humility are often placed low in the social hierarchy, a characteristic that is not coveted or cultivated yet expected of those laboring at menial tasks.

Washington, D.C. Government Charwoman, 1942. Photo by Gordon Parks. Courtesy Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Gordon Parks, a photographer hired by the Farm Security Administration (FSA), created a photograph during his time with the FSA that is called American Gothic. Its subject is Ella Watson, a cleaning woman working during the 1940s in the FSA building in Washington, D.C. Ella stands before the American flag, the tools of her daily work in hand. She looks directly at the camera, perseverance, peace, and a sense of honor surround her—signs of humility in the face of adversity. —MLR