Be The Hope, it’s what we need right now
There is a war going on and the current social crisis needs us to be the hope in all the darkness.
Over the past 72 hours, well, year and a half, my Facebook feed, Twitter feed, and daily conversation has become a war zone. It’s far worse than the 2016 election cycle. It’s dividing friend groups. It’s polarizing our work spaces. It’s making open, public conversation a dangerous prospect. It’s wreaking havoc on mental health across the country. It’s impacting our schools and young people elsewhere. It’s forcing families to make certain topics off limits. It’s altering America’s place in the worldview, and not in a favorable light. The daily dialogue has devolved into yelling matches and hyperbolic accusations at alarming heights of tension. And all along the way our children our watching.
In the interest of transparency, I don’t have any children of my own. My nieces and nephews and maybe my dog are about as close as I get. I have worked with youth nearly my entire career and have seen the best and worst moments in their lives. My aim is to uplift the young people in my life and inspire them to be everything they long to be, despite the tempest raging around around them. But that’s a hard, if not seemingly impossible objective in today’s world of constant negativity, assaults on human rights and social justice, equivocation and increasingly heightened risk of ideological isolation over ideas that have been debated ad nauseam for decades. It’s time we, the adults in the room, the people, change the conversation.
We need to bring attention to wrong. We need to call out those that are doing harm to others. We have a responsibility to fight for and defend those who cannot defend themselves. There are fights to be had and battles to be won. But our strategy, well quite frankly, there isn’t one.
We can’t win a war of ideas through knee-jerk reactions, yelling matches and social media comment storms. We can’t convince our political opponents, our neighbors, our co-workers, our friends, our family that the arguments and debates we’re having are valid, that we’re fighting for something bigger, if we don’t show them what we’re fighting for. So let’s show them the hope we believe in, our motivation to fight the good fight. Let’s Be the Hope we’re talking about.
The left wing of American political thought has become a giant tent protecting the masses of diversity that gather there to find protection and solidarity. For decades upon decades we needed this sanctuary. This tent was the birthplace of Women’s Suffrage, Civil Rights, the New Deal, Marriage Equality, and so much more. We’ve had our spats, but now more than ever we must step out into the world and daylight and talk about the beautiful spectacular that we created inside. We need to find our unified voice that celebrates each path toward greater freedom. Our circus of a political movement is a production that must reclaim and showcase its greatest storyline — that all are created equal in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That is the hopeful vision of our nation’s founders and the progressive left. That is the message our children need to hear, that is the hopeful tale we must tell to everyone we meet outside our tent.
Every fight and every struggle — Black Lives Matter, the Fight for $15, Pro-Choice, Immigration Rights, Gay Equality, Trans Rights, Healthcare for all, Climate Change, No More Homeless Vets, and so many more, is rooted in a hope for something grander. But that hope is lost in all the outrage. Let’s change the tune. Let’s start singing a melody everyone is familiar with, maybe they’ll join us. Let’s talk about our hope and the actions we’re taking to make it real.
Our kids, this nation’s youth, the world’s next generation are filled with incredible potential and faced with unbelievable challenges. They need to see that we believe in them, that we believe there is opportunity, that we are creating avenues of good, that we are connecting with all despite our differences. They need to see that they have something to hope for and it’s our job to be the hope that they need.
So rather than changing our social media profile pictures to anti-swastikas or anti-GOP images let’s show them hope. STAND FOR SOMETHING! Stand for the equity of all. Stand for the pursuit of happiness. Stand for choice. Stand for greater freedoms for all. Stand for religious freedoms, no matter the religion. Stand for greater economic opportunity. We’re not just about a better deal. We can’t let the hyperbole and antiquated politics of some dictate the plot of our miraculous show under the big top. We know what is right and we shouldn’t shy away from it. We’ve seen it work. We wrote this story! This is our story. And it’s hopeful, and beautiful, and everyone is invited.
Let’s Be The Hope the next generation needs. Let’s sluff off the nonsense of the day and get to work making hope the topic of conversation. Let’s be hope our kids need. Let’s be the hope our co-workers need. Let’s be the hope our friends and family need. Let the other guys tweet about the past they wish they lived in, let’s build a hopeful future.
Here’s the #BeTheHope Challenge and Pledge:
I will Be The Hope for next generation.
I will share my hopeful vision of the future.
I will change my social media habits and share hope, action, and positive messages of change in the face of negativity.
I will stand for something.
I will hold media, film, music, and all entertainment responsible to be the Hope we consume.
I will fight with Hope.
I will Be The Hope.
#BeTheHope
Will you take the pledge?
Show your pledge on Facebook and add your #bethehope frame to your profile picture! It’s about making a difference one smile at a time!
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