In this episode of the Possibility–Action Network, Dr. Stephen Middleton — Possibility Man — reflects on Benjamin Franklin’s famous observation at the close of the Constitutional Convention. For months, Franklin wondered whether the carved sun on Washington’s chair was rising or setting. Only at the end did he conclude: “It is a rising sun.”
Dr. Middleton explores the powerful contradictions of 1787 — especially the status of Black Americans — and connects Franklin’s insight to the American creed and the ongoing struggle for belonging. The episode also recalls Franklin’swarning: “A republic… if you can keep it.”
Listeners are invited into a moment of self-reflection:
Where in your own life have you been living as an outsider?
Where might you let your own rising sun break through?
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Have a story, a question, or a possibility you’re exploring?
Email Dr. Middleton: [email protected]
Break Free from Emotional Distress: A Practical Guide and Personal Journey on Amazon by Stephen Link for Purchase: https://a.co/d/1reMixR
I grew up in a rural community in South Carolina. My father was a general laborer, and he, along with my mother and their eight children, were sharecroppers. I am their sixth child, and I spent my formative years picking cotton and plowing with a mule. I gained a burst of insight when I was 15 years old from an internal consciousness that told him I could do better with his life. I heeded the inspiration and enrolled in college, graduating with honors. I earned a Master of Arts from The Ohio State University and a doctorate from Miami University (Ohio). I received a Golieb post-doctoral fellowship from the New York University School of Law, where I enrolled in the first-year curriculum and the Legal History Seminar. I began teaching at Wilberforce University in Ohio. I also taught at the University of Cincinnati and was a long-time constitutional history professor at North Carolina State University. I was the inaugural director of the African American Studies Program at Mississippi State University. I have lectured and presented scholarly papers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. I presented at the American Society of Legal History, the British Legal History Association, the Southern Historical Association, and the Association of African American Life and History. I have lectured at the University of Washington, Cambridge University, and Keele University in the United Kingdom. My scholarly endeavors have taken me to three African countries, including Ghana, where the University of Ghana boasts an African Studies program.
As a speaker and workshop facilitator, I presented “Four Elements of Progressive Constitutionalism” in the Amicus Curiae Lecture series at Marshall University (2012); “Abraham Lincoln and Executive War Powers,” Wilmington College (2013); “Reconstruction and the Politics of Expedience,” Old Capitol Museum in Jackson, MS (2015); and facilitated teachers at summer seminars for the National Endowment for the Humanities at Georgia State University in 2016 and 2018.
Now retired from academic work, I am the founder of The Possibility-Action Network and host of The Possibility-Action Network Podcast. I am a speaker, transformational coach, and social entrepreneur.
