What are you? A human being.
Today I am grateful for fresh air, working limbs, food in our refrigerator, and meals shared as a family.
I also appreciate that, even in the racially homogenous rural farm country I grew up in, I was shown and taught the dignity of all humans, all living things. And that I was instilled with some level of tolerance and open-mindedness.
Not that my parents addressed diversity all that much, but that means they also didn't talk down about others either, regardless of race, beliefs, etc. My mother's well-worn phrase of "If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all" sounds far less trite and far more wise to me in my adulthood than in did in my youth.
Our world, our nation, and the grassroots level of our communities are in need of this reminder of human dignity, tolerance, open-mindedness. The reminder that we who share this planet are far more alike than we are different.
On Saturday, Darcy and I attended an event to honor our community's black history and to also challenge us all to do our part to end racism. I appreciated the history reading and the performance of Blackout Improv, an all-black comedy group with goals of laughter and social justice.
The event and the performances left me with food for thought, primarily what I already mentioned above. What we as humans have in common is far more unifying, and should be, compared to the divisive nature of focusing on how we differ.
We all smile, laugh, cry. We all want the best for our family and friends. We all want to be contributing members of our communities, to make a difference. We all need to eat, sleep, have shelter, clothing, and clean water to drink. We all have the same senses, organs, limbs, blood, and the need for oxygen. We all experience joy, sadness, pride, grief, anger, happiness, and frustration.
One of the skits the improv group did was about mixed race and the question of "What are you?" that people will sometimes get. Would you ask a person who is white-skinned that question? The response of "human being" got the audience's attention. So true, so profound.
If we start from common ground, and there is plenty of it, then maybe there is hope to close the narrow-minded gaps and fear-filled divisions that have driven wedges between groups of people and only feed more ignorance and fear.
I also appreciate that, even in the racially homogenous rural farm country I grew up in, I was shown and taught the dignity of all humans, all living things. And that I was instilled with some level of tolerance and open-mindedness.
Not that my parents addressed diversity all that much, but that means they also didn't talk down about others either, regardless of race, beliefs, etc. My mother's well-worn phrase of "If you can't say something good, don't say anything at all" sounds far less trite and far more wise to me in my adulthood than in did in my youth.
Our world, our nation, and the grassroots level of our communities are in need of this reminder of human dignity, tolerance, open-mindedness. The reminder that we who share this planet are far more alike than we are different.
On Saturday, Darcy and I attended an event to honor our community's black history and to also challenge us all to do our part to end racism. I appreciated the history reading and the performance of Blackout Improv, an all-black comedy group with goals of laughter and social justice.
The event and the performances left me with food for thought, primarily what I already mentioned above. What we as humans have in common is far more unifying, and should be, compared to the divisive nature of focusing on how we differ.
We all smile, laugh, cry. We all want the best for our family and friends. We all want to be contributing members of our communities, to make a difference. We all need to eat, sleep, have shelter, clothing, and clean water to drink. We all have the same senses, organs, limbs, blood, and the need for oxygen. We all experience joy, sadness, pride, grief, anger, happiness, and frustration.
One of the skits the improv group did was about mixed race and the question of "What are you?" that people will sometimes get. Would you ask a person who is white-skinned that question? The response of "human being" got the audience's attention. So true, so profound.
If we start from common ground, and there is plenty of it, then maybe there is hope to close the narrow-minded gaps and fear-filled divisions that have driven wedges between groups of people and only feed more ignorance and fear.
Comments
Post a Comment