PSA: Are you tired of the labels? What if we're more than the labels we've been given?
๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐
๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐.
But before you judge this post, or even try to figure out why I'm sharing it, ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ผ ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ.
Yes, I'm in this video.
And no, I'm not going to tell you exactly where.
You might recognize me.
You might not.
You might even watch it once and completely miss it.
But there's another reason I wanted to share this particular piece.
Prince Ea, the author, begins with something that sounds almost absurd:
โI am not Black.โ
And your first reaction might be:
โWhat do you mean? Of course you are.โ
But keep watching.
Because the point isn't that the label doesn't exist.
The point is that the label isn't the entirety of the person.
We spend so much of our lives putting people into boxes. Black, White, rich, poor, Democrat, Republican, successful, unsuccessful, educated, uneducated, this neighborhood, that neighborhood.
And eventually, we can start confusing the box with the person.
That's what made this piece resonate with me.
Especially now.
Because when you put yourself in the public arena, people will inevitably try to define you by a label.
But I'm more interested in the person behind the label.
And I'm interested in whether we can learn to see one another the same way.
And even in this video, you'll find these words:
โWhere there is division, there will be conflict, and conflict starts wars. Therefore, the answer to war, racism, sexism, and every other โismโ is so simple that every politician has missed itโฆโ
Read that again.
Because if division is at the root of conflict, and we continue dividing ourselves by every label imaginable, perhaps the bigger question isn't simply how we solve each individual problem.
Perhaps it's whether we've been looking at the problem from the wrong level altogether.
And maybe that's why these words belong in this video.
So don't just watch the beginning.
Watch the entire piece.
And somewhere along the way, you may realize why I wanted to be part of it.
Then, after you've watched it...
๐๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐.
But tell me what you think. Are you tired of the labels?
What if we're more than the labels we've been given?
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