Where is the Change?
Why are we not seeing the CHANGE we were promised
in those heady days leading up to November, 2008?
Should I just end this conversation before I begin?
Should I just use the insanity defense?
Why did we buy into that expectation of CHANGE?
Were we mesmerized by Nina Simone singing in the background…
Everything must change
Nothing stays the same
Everyone will change
No one, no one stays the same
I am trying so very hard to see some positive changes that perhaps are so subtle, and seemingly, imperceptible to my wary, and yes, weary eyes.
Yes, we have healthcare legislation that we are told offers medical care to all, with additional benefits, such as the following, to help ensure the plan's success for certain groups:
Financial assistance to help pay premiums for the lower socio-economic members of our communities
Extensions on parent policies for young people, 26 and under, too old to be dependent, and too young and inexperienced to be independent
Coverage to those who have pre-existing conditions.
Yes, thankfully, we are getting rid of No Child Left Behind, which has left so many behind in public schools across America. Education systems so intent on improving test scores that educating children was lost in the shuffle. Imagine being a student in K-12 education during the NCLB era. This was the "learning" experience:
- Stressed out teachers constantly berated by media, some parents, and administration, no matter how well the performance, yes… performance. It has to be a performance with keywords like engagement, hook, and activity being the politically correct terminology. Lesson plans geared towards the ultimate goal… the test… not the learning
- Multiple Choice Questions as the assessment of choice… not much thought going into that
- Critical thinking stifled by pour in … flow out research based teaching strategies with little time for creativity, self-motivation, flexibility, or plain old common sense.
And, yes, the United States of America had and has a person of color in the White House. Oh my, how things have CHANGED.
But where is the CHANGE we were promised?
Where is the CHANGE that sprawled across the Mall, and throughout every street, not only in Washington, DC in January, 2009, but also throughout cities and countries around the world? Multiple thousands of people all together, different nationalities, cultures, ages, colors, genders gathered together to celebrate and welcome this CHANGE.
My 13-year old son expressed that his experience of being amongst such a mass of humanity that had come together despite so many differences to embrace CHANGE was the highlight of his trip to the inauguration.
Again, I ask… Why are we not seeing the CHANGE we were promised?
The House and government has changed… more divisiveness.
Race relations has changed… more dangerous and economically challenging than ever to be a "black" male in America.
Education has changed… more expensive, less learning
Hopefulness has changed … more loss, more foreclosures, more unemployment
Love has changed… more anger, more hostility to all things different
Common sense has become uncommon.
It appears that the insanity defense may just have to come into play. In that burst of HOPE for CHANGE, thinking that YES, WE CAN… we did what we always do… look to others to change our lives, repeating the same action, election after election, looking again for a different result. That this time, it would all be different. Insanity.
Everything must change
Nothing stays the same
Everyone will change
No one, no one stays the same
This is truth…
But…. The change has to come from within.
Each one of us who was on the Mall, in the streets, in front of the screens on that morning of change must now say to ourselves… it is not the government that must change, it is not my employer that must change, it is not my co-worker, my family, my spouse, my friend, my enemy… that must change. It is I who must change….
The Changes that are continuously promised during every election cycle only come because of us… we take the chance to press that button… not to sit and wait for something to happen, but to make that CHANGE a reality …
We must remember that it is still up to us to press the button, take the next step, continue to move forward because any movement is CHANGE. But, we are the CHANGE. The button we must press is our own reset …not rewind button.
Turning our thoughts into actions. Turning our dreams into a reality that stays filled with HOPE that results in POSITIVE CHANGE.About the author
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