Understanding.

Anthony Hopkins, as John Quincy Adams, addressing the Supreme Court during the trial scene in the movie Amistad ...

When a member of the Mende encounter a situation when there appears to be no hope at all, he invokes his ancestors. Tradition. the Mende believe that if one can summon the spirit of one's ancestors, then they have never left ... the wisdom and strength they fathered and inspired will come to his aid.

James Madison.

Alexander Hamilton.

Benjamin Franklin.

Thomas Jefferson.

George Washington.

John Adams.

We have long resisted asking you for guidance. Perhaps we have feared, in doing so, we might acknowledge that our individuality we so, so revere, is not entirely our own. Perhaps we feared an appeal to you might be taken for weakness. But we have come to understand, finally, that this is not so. We understand now, we've been made to understand and to embrace the understanding that who we are is who we were.

We desperately need your strength and wisdom to triumph over our fears, our prejudices, ourselves. Give us the power to do what is right ...