Giving America Its Flowers while I’m Alive

Reflections on progress, family, and authentic change

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I wanted to give an opportunity to give a shout out to America.

This isn’t about “make America great again.” This is about understanding what we are and what we’re shifting towards right now.

I know it’s easy to see the ugly and focus on the negative things going on.

That’s what sells, right?

If you talk about what’s wonderful, it’s not gonna sell. The great things, they don’t get the same attention.

Learning From Our Family

When I think about the United States, within my lifetime, which is important because approaching 50, I was linked to my grandfather and having his knowledge from his parents. That puts things into context along with my grandmother and her parent. Their knowledge goes back a few hundred years.

For Black Americans, some of that knowledge is cut off. There’s not always an origin story or a point of where we’re at. I have mixed ancestry, but primarily, who I know is from Black America, because that’s where I grew up with my mother.

We’ve come a long way. I always see that it’s like “there’s progress, but there’s no progress.” There’s so much work to…