Today I watched a really cool biopic called Talk to Me starring Academy award nominees Don Cheadle, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Taraji P. Henson. The film was about a fast-talking, expressive and comedic radio personality named Petey Greene who was the voice of Washington D.C. during the mid 1960s. His show was called P-Town and on it, Petey had no limits to what he discussed. Rather it was sharing his opinions on race and power in America, making jokes or giving his listeners hope, Petey was bold and unapologetic, he shared opinions many were afraid to discuss during that era and for that, his community loved him. What I admired about Petey was that he was a character with many layers, an ex-con whos big dream was to be on the radio but accomplished more success than he imagined. Petey grew into a role model to many, even if he didnt believe it himself. It just goes to show you that it doesnt matter where you come from, its where youre going. Everyone has the potential to be great! A moment that particularly stood out was when Petey had to announce the assassination of MLK to his listeners. You could feel the chills and deep sadness as if you were alive in that station, at that moment, with the characters. Flashes of riots filled the screen. People afraid, angry, confused and in utter disbelief. A major moment in our history and an era full of people needing change. It made think a lot of what happening NOW in our era. Yesterday I saw some of the most beautiful images of 2014, millions of people gathered together, on a historic date (12.13.14) speaking out and demanding change, equality, justice. As pictures of protests around the nation have filled up my social networks, it makes me feel proud, scared, angry and hopeful. But Im aware that its not the same for everyone. Images of house fires, store break-ins and altercations with the police tend to make many feel like these protests are pointless. And because of the media, gossip and the common trait to link all negative images to a group, we become judgmental, angry, uncomfortable and further away from uniting together. People have a reason to be angry but as history has taught us, destroying our own communities only effects the community.The bad people who live in our world everyday, never take a break which means many of those people can disarrange the greater message and societies empathy through their careless actions. We cant let those people DEFINE WHAT THE GREATER MESSAGE IS. As MLK quotes, The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Like Petey and many of his community leaders urged their neighbors to be peaceful during an era that shifted the American society in great lengths, I ECHO THE SAME. We must continue to demand change in a peaceful matter and let our only actions be only to inspire the masses to join us, listen and put in effect the changes we need! The greats have taught us that in the face of adversity, we must continue to rise and work towards making our society better for our future, together. A change is gonna come. #soulsundays
Posted on: Mon, 15 Dec 2014 04:43:03 +0000
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