The Secret to Healing the World
we
are a house divided
black white
four against
democrat republican
pick your side but stay
in your lane
there used to be a time when we
couldn’t even sit in this room together
some would argue we still can’t
we seem to be farther apart
than ever before in recent months
we’ve been hit with a health crisis
followed by a heart crisis and those
sequence of events have pushed us even
farther apart
mask no mask
us them
black lives matter
all lives matter
during this time have you found yourself
saying things like i’ll just stay
in my bubble this
has nothing to do with me
this is not my problem well
bubbles burst and world problems
definitely have a way of expanding
i am a we are the world kumbaya girl
remember coca-cola’s fame song i like to
teach the world to sing
in perfect harmony
i’m the personification of that
even though i drink pepsi
i like people to get along it’s easy
it’s not messy
it’s not complicated i like you
you like me what’s so hard
about that but even
as a kumbaya girl i found
myself divided
choosing a side a few years ago
my neighbor flagged me down as i came
home from work
he was waiting for me on the grassy
knoll of our cul-de-sac
now up until this point he and i had
never
shared more than a polite wave or a
pefunctory head nod
i didn’t even know this man’s name
but on any given day you could find him
outside working on his house or his car
in his perpetual jeans and gray tank top
complete with the matching sweat stains
but on this day he motions for me to
come closer
i’m not trying to be funny
i’m not trying to be funny he repeats
i’m gonna put a battle flag in my yard
say what now oh
he means a confederate flag
at this time there were growing calls
for confederate monuments to come down
because a white guy had just killed nine
black people in a south carolina church
i’m just doing this because the
government says that i can’t
he defends my neighbor
he said a few more things but what i
heard
was
it’s your property do whatever you want
but thanks for telling me
my husband and i are the only black
family
in the cul-de-sac and while i really
did believe that he could do whatever he
wanted
on his property the next day
when i got up opened my door
and saw that flag flying in full grande
across from my house
he had just made it personal and i chose
a side
i chose black i chose
angry and i chose
those people
there are stories all around us of
people
who are divided but not separated
whether stories of race like civil
rights activists
ann atwater and kkk leader cp ellis
or even musician daryl davis have you
heard of this guy
he actually converts kkk leaders out of
racism
these are people who’ve gotten over
their deep racial divides
to make lasting change for us
and what about the stories of class and
social economics
like journalists steve lopez and
nathaniel ayers
a homeless musician they met on an la
street and their lives have been
intertwined for decades
where steve uses his influence
to help nathaniel with his mental
illness and homelessness
and there are stories of injustice with
wnba star
maya moore and wrongfully convicted
jeremy irons they met during a prison
ministry
and she spent years of her life
fighting to overturn his
conviction
these are just a few tales of
friendships
and alliances that just don’t
make any sense
but each one of these people did
something different
they witnessed they took the time
to get beyond labels titles
and notions they
made it personal and in that process
they became advocates champions
allies
but as human beings though
we like our positions we like
our divides and while our position
can be harder to move our point of view
can be influenced swayed even
a few months later my neighbor flagged
me down again
waiting for me on the grassy knoll of
our cul-de-sac
do you eat eggs yes
i eat eggs he hands me a carton
from my hands i have too many
and with that gesture our polite waves
and perfunctory head nods became
conversation and my neighbor
became dave and yes
in case you’re wondering dave and i have
had the conversations
about slavery trump obama
and 30 years worth of good
neighborhood gossip y’all dave has all
the tea
the world tells us that we should hate
each other
but we don’t we’re different
we come from different worlds we see the
world through different experiences
but we can and we do
live in peace together
but y’all ain’t naive
dave and i we ain’t never gonna run
in the same circles nor vote the same
interest
we really don’t need to understand each
other
that is not a requirement for life on
the planet
but i do believe the most
sincere and vulnerable thing
that we ask of each other as human
beings
is will you be a witness
to my life
when we witness the lives of others we
break down
barriers to start building a bridge
we actually support educate
and encourage each other for who we
are not who we are told
the other should be
and the goal of this bridge is not to
get to the other side necessarily
that would be nearly impossible the goal
is to get to a place of respect
where we can demolish old beliefs
and build anew
when we share our stories and give
voice to our experiences we carry
each other within us our knowledge
expands
but our worlds get smaller
because our eyes truly can’t see
what our brain doesn’t know and when we
witness each other we color in those
stereotypes
and characteristics to give depth
and dimension and it is
only then when the very foundation
of our position starts to shift
so pick a side better yet
pick a middle where red
and blue become purple and black
and white become one
think of all the things that we can do
together when we make it personal
because within the context of our lives
our hashtags and our mantras
we are simply pleading with each other
see me because i
matter i
matter you
matter
and a life that is not seen
is a life that is not value
help alleviate another person’s anguish
by simply acknowledging
their proof of life their proof
of existence to heal
the world we must
become a witness and we can start that
today i’d like you to turn
to your neighbor and if you’re watching
this online just say the words out loud
but ask this very simple question
will you be a witness to my life
[Laughter]
and now a house divided
is blended and it’s okay
if it’s messy it’s okay if it’s
complicated
because when you become a witness
you do so with the understanding that
one day we will all be together
on the bridge in the throes of change
not divided not one-sided
just together dedicated
to keeping this bridge open for
generations to come
because it really is true
we’ll make a better day
just you and me
that’s the song that i hear
let the world sing today
thank you