6, 2021, Capitol Hill was stormed, while Raskin’s family was in town. One feeling I did not experience was fear, because we had already just experienced the worst thing that could ever happen to a parent.” 6, in the middle of the violence and assaults on the Capitol. There were many emotions I experienced on Jan. Raskin wants to highlight Tommy’s life, and his lasting impact, his “profound moral, political and philosophical commitments, and those things are of intrinsic value to us,” and how those commitments intersected with his mental health crisis. We lost him all too early, but there are lots of things that all of us can learn from his life.” “It’s also a very tough assignment to live that way. “It’s a very beautiful mission,” Raskin said. The family wants to eventually pull together a book of Tommy’s essays, poetry and meditations to share what he had to say. “Although he didn’t make much money as a young man, in his different jobs, whatever he did make, he pretty much gave away to the groups that were doing the work he believed in,” Raskin said. Tommy was also opposed to war and violence, and supported causes like Amnesty International, humane societies and other groups advancing human rights and animal welfare. “This is a great agony and misfortune for all of us in his family and friends who loved him.”Īlong with Tommy’s philosophical views, Raskin said he was a “passionate vegan,” who rejected the eating of animals as “barbaric and unnecessary cruelty.” “Tommy battled depression in the last few years of his life and felt trapped and suffocated by it,” Raskin said. Raskin said he wants to use his platform, at the Institution and writ large, to raise awareness and to honor people who have loved ones who struggle with mental health. But he was really a philosopher and confronted all of the major problems in philosophy and tried to work them out on a daily basis.” “He was a second-year student at Harvard Law School. He was a playwright, poet and a stand-up performer,” Raskin said. As in the essay, in an interview with The Chautauquan Daily, Raskin discussed the passions Tommy had in his life, both politically and philosophically. That essay, and their courageous candor of public grief, went viral. 4, 2021, with an essay-length statement in tribute to their son. Raskin and his wife, Sarah Bloom Raskin, took to their Medium account on Jan. The three separate events each required three different kinds of courage. 6 insurrection, and two weeks before Raskin presided over President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial. 31, 2020, just seven days before the Jan. Raskin lost his son, Tommy, to suicide on Dec. “You’ve got this narrative of personal tragedy and national trauma happening at the same time.” “I think what we’ve been most intrigued by is how he responded to a pretty deep personal tragedy all alongside being a national leader,” said Chautauqua Institution President Michael E. And when considering speakers, everyone involved in planning wanted to extend an invitation to Raskin. Week Eight, programmed in partnership with Ford Foundation President Darren Walker, has been in the works since early 2021. That decision was made several weeks prior to the attack on Salman Rushdie last Friday in the Amphitheater. Today’s lecture was changed from the Hall of Philosophy, the traditional ILS location, for security purposes. today in Norton Hall to start Week Eight of the Interfaith Lecture Series “New Profiles in Courage.” He will give his lecture, “It’s Hard to Be Human: The Political, Philosophical, and Mental Health Struggles of Tommy Raskin,” at 2 p.m. A span of seven days in which the unthinkable happened forced him to push through for the rest of his life.
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