I am very lucky to live minutes from Broadway and I am grateful for 2 for 1 ticket season that makes great theater, like Hell's Kitchen, more available.
As I reflected on life in the 90s, I smiled thinking about the powerful music tying Keys' loosely autobiographical story together. I sighed thinking about the pervasive "stop and frisk" mentality. And then I remember a mom of a kindergartener who long ago implored me to make her boy read saying, "He has to do good in school because he's black. He'll grow up to be a black teenager. You know what that means."
I am sure that skin tone, religious beliefs, and native language do not determine any individual's right to live, love, and work in America nor do they indicate propensity towards crime. How do we move away from profiling towards a society respectful of and embracing diverse cultures, perspectives, and viewpoints?
5 comments:
You pose the question I keep wondering. Definitely don't know the answer. Yet, I do know that the arts, like theater, keep us thinking and striving. And I do believe ensure literacy in our youth will help.
It seems we are going backwards in time. We'd come so far in embracing others and working toward equity, and now we are living in The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss. With stars upon thars, we feel superior. No one is all that, and I hear you loudly and clearly and feel every bit of the powerful pulse of this slice. We are all human, and that is what should matter. The news and these days sicken me sometimes.
It is a sad state in which we live when those is charge are doing the things they should be working to eradicate. arjeha
Anita,
Amen to all you e said here. That heinous SCOTUS decision will be used to profile black people, too. One day theater goers will watch plays based on this period of time. I wish more had access to theater now. Especially issue-based dramas. You didn’t mention it, but the hypocrisy in allowing the military and cops to racially profile and telling colleges they can’t makes me cussing angry.
Though it is trivial in light of the serious observations within this post and your concluding words, I am a bit envious of your proximity to Broadway and your opportunity to see Hell's Kitchen. Alicia Keys is a force to be reckoned with. Language is power; so it seems is the color of one's skin, a particular language, and "my" religion. This sobering reality is a target of many artists—thank goodness for that!
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