One of the most beautiful realities of the United States of America is our beautiful array of colors. Browns. Dark brown, light brown, medium shades of brown. Varying shades of white. Black hair, blond hair, red hair, brown hair… And you can see these colors in many places as we travel across the country or just throughout the city. Variety. Diversity. To many this diversity of colors, races, ethnic groups is beautiful.
When we allow our minds to go beyond the surface beauty that our eyes see and take into account that we’re looking at persons who are mind/intelligence;feelings/emotions and able to experience joy, sadness, excitement, anger; spirit who longs to belong, to fit in, to be accepted and embraced, heart that, in most cases, wants to embrace as well as be embraced, and realize that these same attributes belong to everyone regardless of color, or race or ethnicity, we easily come to realize that in our diversity we have much in common. So much in common that even though some cultural differences do exist, that which makes us common pervades. Our humanness.
We know that because cultural differences (diversity) exist, marketers consider cultural facts when trying to effectively market to a specific group. We may be tempted to conclude that that which makes us different is most obvious and significant when it comes to marketing. But although there may be different factors to consider as companies consider their target markets and how to best reach them, we shouldn’t overlook the other obvious and basic fact that all of the groups are seen as someone to reach.
We know that there are many forms of religion and even within Christianity, there are variations in how we worship. But while these differences exist, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that peoples of all colors, races, ethnicities find it important to worship, to practice religion.
There is much more that can be said about our commonalities that often trump our differences/diversity but, hopefully, the point is coming across.
On January 20, 2009, the day of his inauguration, President Barack Obama proclaimed “January 20, 2009, a National Day of Renewal and Reconciliation” and called “upon all of our citizens to serve one another and the common purpose of remaking this Nation of our new century.”
After decades, especially the most recent past, of moving back towards a time of extreme division, it’s important that the people of our nation be reconciled to one another across gender lines, party lines, race lines… It’s clear that the majority of America’s people (along with the majority of our fellow man around the world) celebrate Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency. Those of us who do celebrate should continue to do what many were doing during the campaign. Examine ourselves. We should continue to look deeply into our souls, our minds, our attitudes, our personalities and more and more clearly see who we really are. It’s important that the harmony that began during the campaign doesn’t begin to fade within a few months or even a few years of Mr. Obama’s presidency. We shouldn’t allow continued hard times or a greatly improved situation determine how we respond to each other. In the end, we should not focus primarily on our common circumstances but, rather, our common humanity as we determine whether our embrace of one another will be temporary or lasting.
Recently:
- Sept. 6: Ben Morgan et al (1pm); Embracing Destiny (2pm)
- Sept. 7: Dr. Frederic Luskin (1pm); The Great Recession, The Great Response (2pm)
- Sept. 8: Jason Maynard (1pm); Across the Country (1:30); Spiritual Perspectives (2pm)
- Sept. 9: Dr. Rob Foster (1pm); Newsorite™(2pm)
- Sept. 10: Laurie Locklear (1pm); Alvin and Barbara Franklin (2pm)
- A Struggle for Unity?
- Aug. 30: How Are We Doing? Pulling Together? (1pm); Exercising Our Freedoms (2pm)
- Aug. 31: Michael Lythgoe (1pm); Energy & Food (1:30); Laverne Gold (2pm); Newsorite™ (2:30)
- Sept. 1: Embracing Our Children (1pm); Need A Ticket to Ride? (2pm); Across the Country (2:30)
- Sept. 2: Social Security and Deficits (1pm); Bringing Home the Bacon (2pm); Ticket to Ride pt. 2 (2:30)
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This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 at 7:50 am and is filed under Blog/Conversation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Yes. We. Can. We Must Do What We Can
“Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggest; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea — Yes. We. Can.” President Barack Obama
Yes. We. Can., the cry that first began uniting people all over the world in support of Senator Barack Obama for the 44th Presidency of the United States of America has become the spirit of this generation. We have the finest schools, the best tools, and the most gifted students. And because we’re faced with the greatest challenges than any generation before us, we must embrace the most in-your-face opportunity and dire need to help one another. We must do what we can.
In his first days in office, President Obama has already begun conversations with world leaders for peace in Palestine. He has stepped up efforts to leave Iraq to her own people. He has made plans that will beef up our efforts towards victory in Afghanistan. His economic stimulus plan is on the table. He has appointed the best people in order to get the most difficult work done as we move ahead. He has also appointed the best people to oversee the effectiveness of his administration’s policy at home and strategy abroad. We must do what we can.
However, we cannot afford to wait around to see what President Obama is going to do about renovating our education system for greater effectiveness. You can rest assured that he is going to invest in each of our children’s future and every students’ education. We must begin work now to insure that when he begins to make changes that we will have waiting for him the best students and student programs possible for those investments. We are the ones who will ultimately make the decisions that will influence the effectives of this Obama campaign for change. We must do what we can.
Let’s go into our schools as volunteers or at least make ourselves available to our child and grandchild’s teacher and principal. We must remember educators aren’t trained to deal with children. Their greatest effectives is among students. Their expertise and professional acumen bogs down and clogs up with children. Children are a great distraction to classroom instruction on all levels. Children are selfish by nature which makes them unable to become a part of the group for their own personal enrichment, progress, and development. We must do what we can.
Children belong at home with their parents. Parents meet the needs of children and send them forth as students. Teachers meet the needs of students. It stands repeating that everyone knows that a disciplined child becomes a successful student. It is the parent’s job to discipline their own children. Teachers too must discipline their own children. They have neither the tools nor the time to discipline your child. We must do what we can.
We increase the necessity for hope in every little boy and little girl as we set the tone in their classrooms for them to dream more and dream bigger. We must do what we can.
Cornell ‘RG’ Harris
The HipHopProof Solution
Yes. We. Can. We Must Do What We Can
“Now the hopes of the little girl who goes to a crumbling school in Dillon are the same as the dreams of the boy who learns on the streets of LA; we will remember that there is something happening in America; that we are not as divided as our politics suggest; that we are one people; we are one nation; and together, we will begin the next great chapter in the American story with three words that will ring from coast to coast; from sea to shining sea — Yes. We. Can.”
Cornell ‘RG’ Harris
The HipHopProof Solution
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