Hello hello,
I have a real personal dilemma on my mind. Recently, I’ve been navigating the difference between what our elementary school teaches my kids and what I feel is right. In general, I’m super impressed and grateful for the curriculum especially all the social-emotional learning – for example, my kindergartner came home the other day and taught me all about his hippocampus and how it regulates memories and emotions! So amazing. But this same school has also taught my kids that a yellow traffic light means slow down… And I think that a yellow traffic light (usually) means speed up… (which is also my understanding of a yield sign, btw). It’s not a discrepancy the kids and I can easily ignore because my actions are directly in conflict with what they’ve been taught. When we’re cruising around in the Odyssey and approach a green light turning yellow, they will tell me to “Slow Down!”, and I tell them “We can make it!!” While there is definitely a judgement about my driving to be made here, I can’t help but think about it on a more philosophical level. What we are taught and what we see and what we do all shape such a unique interpretation of our experience. I’m more convinced that we all see and hear what we want to see and hear as opposed to any objective reality. At best, we can only be some percent sure of what we think or saw. Never 100.
I just finished one of the most beautiful books – A Little Devil In America by Hanif Abdurraqib. Hanif highlights performers and performances that have gone accidently overlooked or purposefully disregarded for far too long. Particularly performances by Black performers. I learned so much about prominent and should-be-prominent Black artists and the historical context around who was remembered vs. who wasn’t. Hanif’s writing is truly exceptional and lyrical and captivating. I’m so happy he was on Brene Brown’s podcast a while back, and that podcast episode brought me to the joy of reading his work. Consuming something as magnificent as Hanif’s written word always makes me wonder about all the other, equally talented people I haven’t heard of yet! #fomo
https://brenebrown.com/podcast/brene-with-hanif-abdurraqib-on-art-culture-and-black-performance/
We are all making choices by deciding which rules to abide by and which rules to break, which works of art to cherish and which works of art are unworthy, which humans to hold in high esteem and which humans to look down on. All of this is arbitrary and personal. It can only be influenced by learning, experiencing, meeting new people, and finding a new perspective. If we aren’t actively doing those things, we’ll be stuck in our one, narrow view of humanity. What a safe and boring way to live!
#powertoprivilege #blacklivesmatter #courageousconversations
Talk soon,
Jessica