Preview Summary –
- There’s been an outpouring of frustration at Townhalls across the country. Folks are upset with how things have unfolded over the past 100 days of public affairs.
- These days we can’t just get caught up with the emotions of things. We gotta understand the evolution of things.
- What if U.S.A. now stood for the United States of Authenticity? It might give us a new way of looking at how we address the issues with clarity.
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It was one of the most anticipated NFL Drafts in recent memory. Folks showed up in droves at the Packers stadium. Others tuned-in for the multi-day, hours-long coverage on cable and broadcast. The big question was, “would Shedeur Sanders get picked in the first round?” Well, he ended up being selected in the fifth round as the 144th pick overall. The experience of ‘dream delay, detour and disappointment’ is one that I can relate to in my own life’s work, as Sanders had in this process. Every sports analyst had their take on what went down or why he got picked so far down. Some wondered, “what kinda impact will he have in the league?”
The answer to that question is gonna take some time to unwind, but we’ve got other issues at hand. Over the past few months there’s been an outpouring of frustration at Townhalls across the country. Folks are upset with how things have unfolded in public affairs over the past 100 days. So, we gotta respond correctly to the cries of the America people over the next 100 days. Those cries might be because, as Fannie Lou Hamer once said, some folks are “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Some cries are because we keep going through the same cycles, where things need to change. Others cry out because they’re hungry for real information, not the misinformation and disinformation in some media spaces.
These days we can’t just get caught up with the emotions of things. We gotta understand the evolution of things. Think about how we went from black & white TV to color TV back when. This shift happened because technology no longer relied on just projecting ‘white light’. Instead, it combined three streams of colored light, (red, green, blue). It’s those three streams that give us the beautiful picture on our color TV set. Furthermore, with B&W TV, if you turn up the brightness (whiteness) too high, it’s hard to enjoy watching. With color, if you take away red, green or blue, that’s sure gonna be a terrible picture.
Maybe that’s some of what we’re dealing with, which is deeper than just what we see in the politics of the day. When folks wanna take away Black history from the American story, that makes the picture worse. When folks just want to turn up the brightness (whiteness) of the American movie trailer, then it’s hard to enjoy living in America or to advance the American Dream. We can use the campaign/platform of See America In Color (SAIC) for how we get a better picture of civic/social issues for a higher level of citizenship. This way we’ll impact culture, like color TVs did back in the day.
That’s why the Civic Revolution gonna be televised. It’s time to ‘set it off’! Let’s break down the issues to breakout a shift in town and country. Folks will understand how we got here as a nation by looking at the U.S. presidencies of John Adams, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. Then, what if the power of the people and the people in power came together in a major way to shore up our democracy? We can take a page from 1798 and regular citizens at the local level, public officials across State Legislatures, as well as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison at the federal level. When we model these actions, our Civic Revolution will be on a fresh path of:
1. Life
The nation’s founders were influenced by the Enlightenment era. They brought that to life in the Declaration of Independence which says, “all men are created equal and are endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights”. What they might not have fully shared is that we’re also born to fulfill certain inner assets around mind, body and spirit. Living a full life isn’t just tied to those God-endowed rights, but also to how we make life ‘pop’, like music does for the culture. When we express these inalienable rights and inner assets, we live like an impact player that’s seen as a rock star.
2. Liberty
For those inner assets to be fully expressed, we gotta have the liberty to think, do and act in ways that reveal our authentic self. It’s the real you that shines through. Otherwise, you’re living out of the ego self which is the made up you. America seems to be wrestling with that too. There’s the real America based on true liberty, and the made-up America based on grievance, hate and divisiveness. Living our best life is like listening to music. Those tracks are built around beats, hooks and bars which create flow. Our inalienable rights and hidden assets (e.g. calling, purpose, passion) can create flow too, a beautiful thing.
3. Happiness
Why is it that some Americans seem so wound up about any and everything? Is it that they’re unaware or out of touch? Our happiness often comes from experiences we have around the good things in life. But there’s also an extended happiness of inner approval and outer awareness. When those carry over to our life’s work, we might find ways to stand on civics the same way we stand on business or stand on sports for our dollars or enjoyment. If that sounds like a stretch, just consider that the founders included happiness in the nation’s Declaration, which they used as a tool of enlightenment to lead with civics.
4. Witness
The thousands who showed up at the NFL Draft can say, “they were there.” They were able to witness events in real time. In the Constitution there’re five objectives for guiding us in real time as a nation. One of them is found in these words: “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” That’s another way of saying we can be a ‘witness’ by being there as things happen and we can be a ‘witness’ in how we leave a legacy. It’s about walking in the shoes of history, connecting the dots across history, civics and culture to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.
What if U.S.A. now stood for the United States of Authenticity? It might give us a new way of looking at how we address the issues with clarity. There’re times we want politics to be a solution for things that are better solved through civics. With civics, we can build a crossover coalition in the spirit of what Dr. King called the ‘beloved community.’ It’s time for a new rising that reflects true enlightenment and puts us on a fresh path in life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness. We can be a witness in shoring-up our democracy. That’s the kind of impact we’ll make in securing the blessing of liberty, prosperity and posterity.
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Tracks: Jac Ross – A Change is Gonna Come – https://youtu.be/ik1_D0Z0qv4?si=HsRuoo_3yef-cbdb
Bruce Springsteen – The Rising – https://youtu.be/P5pNqBhz8uI?si=-YQsmDoZd-KxIadZ
See America In Color 