We awakened this morning to a CNN/Sesame Street special. A Town Hall on race and how best to engage young kids in a dialogue surrounding injustice, inequality, and what they are seeing and hearing all around them. To say it was excellent would be inaccurate. It went far beyond excellent. So much so, I found myself thinking about while I was getting my hair cut just a few minutes ago.
This morning’s special really got me thinking about what appears to be an overwhelming desire to see things go back to normal. The normal we enjoyed before COVID-19 and the cultural shift we are all watching unfold as people have taken to the streets to protest the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Abrey, and Breonna Taylor.
I have a problem with that recognizing we are talking about more than one normal. The one some of us yearn for and another most people would choose to abandon if they could. Those disparate normals have existed side by side for too long.
Too long, with too many even mildly aware there was any normal other than the one they cherished. I’m not sure these different states of ‘normal’ can or should exist separately. In fact, I’m sure they can’t or, at least, shouldn’t.
Our future and the health of our democracy demands more. More from each of us.
Watch the special. Think about normal. The one you enjoyed and are hoping to return to and the one forced upon communities of color. If you do you’re likely to find yourself where I am right now, searching for something better. No longer satisfied with the normal we are about to leave behind.
cnnnormalracesesame streettown hall on race