So beautiful. Thanks for the reminder. I loved that my son has also reminded me of Fred’s message in bad times, “look for the helpers.” He just turned 53😊
This line needs to be on bumper stickers, t-shirts, and more: "...kindness, when practiced with intention and clarity and courage, is one of the most dangerous things you can teach a child — because it makes them ungovernable by cruelty."
"What do you do with the mad that you feel?" Recognized, acknowledged, validated, thanks to PBS.
So I will take my mad and donate to local PBS stations. I will raise my voice to keep their doors open. I will help make PBS in OUR image, because as the owners, WE will have the power to keep the kindness and understanding and knowledge and community thriving and growing, and the good will outlive the bad. Because we who love PBS know what to do with our mad.
Yes, thanks for the reminder of calm and quiet determination. We have to remember and show what it means to be humane and kind and smart and not give up.
It was a punch in the gut to hear that Public Broadcasting was ceasing after funding is gone. Yes, the reaction was righteous anger—that Trump and his minions, FOX, Newsmax , the White House Press Room, etc. all spew lies and propaganda hourly, seemingly without any brakes or accountability. PBS is considered too ‘woke’ because of all the things you so beautifully articulate in this post. It is ‘left’ because the fascist Right has slid so far to the right of this ‘flat earth’ that it is tipping with the weight of their clinging to the edge and the centrists and Progressives are by necessity having to create a human chain to keep from sliding south. If kindness and ‘wokeness’ binds us and keeps us from the abyss, the heroes, the histories, the stories and interviews, the science, music and art of such programs as PBS had no small part in this tenuous persistence of decency. We need each other more than ever.
Amen to your entire post. I have been feeling my own rage since hearing CPB is dissolving. I waited to address this travesty in a post, until I could do so calmly.
I’m thinking now that rage may just be the perfect tone this subject deserves.
As a PoC, I don't feel mad. That would be a waste of everyday energy. I am numb from 48yr of living in the America that produced this and his prior Administration. I have the reality of America under evey other apologist president before him. I have the genocide and brutal history of my people, Anishinaabe and Black slaves, to further numb me to to the predictable present atrocities of this country. I have the memory of so many "liberal" friends telling me "you probably imagined it" or "why you gotta bring race into it". I have the knowledge that actually integrating skin colours in this land and willfully repairing the centuries of damage we happily did for The Economy was never done. This is the big Find Out for many wyt Americans. Yea. Get mad. Then join the rest of us on page 3827, book 12. End Gerrymandering. Give a shit about the entirity of this coutry and her people and everyone's perspective. That's why he has hit DEI so hard. That's why they gerrymander so ardently... bc it works and it keeps them, these mf, in power... these guys PoC have been warning ya'll about for centuries. And -> voting against. Check yo'selves.
As well meaning as quiet resistance is, and I hope it is the thing that gets us over this horrible moment in our history, volcanic anger is 100% justified.
Volcanic anger -- I like that; I feel that. It's good to have a phrase that says it completely. I'll be co-opting it from you in subsequent posts on social media (hope you don't mind!).
My soul has been shaken to its very core by the inhumane , callous action and shortsightedness of this decision ( along with SO many others ) by our so called “ leaders “ .
As we witness the rapid de-evolution of our US democracy society will soon mimic the downward spiral if we do not preserve the brilliant guiding lights NPR and PBS lit to guide us along our way seeking knowledge , truth and yes ~ beauty in this world .
We must not allow our gaze to look away ~ we must fight to preserve whatever shards remain and work in whatever way we are capable to rejuvenate what we are losing.
That was authentically gorgeous. We will, in fact and in deed, keep the neighborhood alive. We'll just have to find new ways to do it. So if we can't go back, we go forward.
Mr. Rogers was the narrator of my childhood. I was incredibly privileged to have a wonderful childhood, and just have him as a happy memory. Children today need the calm voice, the unconditional love, and the unbiased teaching that comes from PBS. Just like cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, the cuts to public television and radio end up affecting the most marginalized people in our society the most. Fred Rogers would be so disappointed in our country.
So beautiful. Thanks for the reminder. I loved that my son has also reminded me of Fred’s message in bad times, “look for the helpers.” He just turned 53😊
That phrase could possibly be what saves us. And, dare I suggest we all find our own ways to be one of those helpers?
Indeed👍🏻❤️🇺🇸
Perfect description (unfortunately) and thank you.
Pace ourselves, stay alert, stay focused - it's exhausting but...
Keep writing, [screaming] sharing - hitting back hard
This line needs to be on bumper stickers, t-shirts, and more: "...kindness, when practiced with intention and clarity and courage, is one of the most dangerous things you can teach a child — because it makes them ungovernable by cruelty."
"What do you do with the mad that you feel?" Recognized, acknowledged, validated, thanks to PBS.
So I will take my mad and donate to local PBS stations. I will raise my voice to keep their doors open. I will help make PBS in OUR image, because as the owners, WE will have the power to keep the kindness and understanding and knowledge and community thriving and growing, and the good will outlive the bad. Because we who love PBS know what to do with our mad.
Yes, thanks for the reminder of calm and quiet determination. We have to remember and show what it means to be humane and kind and smart and not give up.
It was a punch in the gut to hear that Public Broadcasting was ceasing after funding is gone. Yes, the reaction was righteous anger—that Trump and his minions, FOX, Newsmax , the White House Press Room, etc. all spew lies and propaganda hourly, seemingly without any brakes or accountability. PBS is considered too ‘woke’ because of all the things you so beautifully articulate in this post. It is ‘left’ because the fascist Right has slid so far to the right of this ‘flat earth’ that it is tipping with the weight of their clinging to the edge and the centrists and Progressives are by necessity having to create a human chain to keep from sliding south. If kindness and ‘wokeness’ binds us and keeps us from the abyss, the heroes, the histories, the stories and interviews, the science, music and art of such programs as PBS had no small part in this tenuous persistence of decency. We need each other more than ever.
Amen to your entire post. I have been feeling my own rage since hearing CPB is dissolving. I waited to address this travesty in a post, until I could do so calmly.
I’m thinking now that rage may just be the perfect tone this subject deserves.
As a PoC, I don't feel mad. That would be a waste of everyday energy. I am numb from 48yr of living in the America that produced this and his prior Administration. I have the reality of America under evey other apologist president before him. I have the genocide and brutal history of my people, Anishinaabe and Black slaves, to further numb me to to the predictable present atrocities of this country. I have the memory of so many "liberal" friends telling me "you probably imagined it" or "why you gotta bring race into it". I have the knowledge that actually integrating skin colours in this land and willfully repairing the centuries of damage we happily did for The Economy was never done. This is the big Find Out for many wyt Americans. Yea. Get mad. Then join the rest of us on page 3827, book 12. End Gerrymandering. Give a shit about the entirity of this coutry and her people and everyone's perspective. That's why he has hit DEI so hard. That's why they gerrymander so ardently... bc it works and it keeps them, these mf, in power... these guys PoC have been warning ya'll about for centuries. And -> voting against. Check yo'selves.
As well meaning as quiet resistance is, and I hope it is the thing that gets us over this horrible moment in our history, volcanic anger is 100% justified.
Volcanic anger -- I like that; I feel that. It's good to have a phrase that says it completely. I'll be co-opting it from you in subsequent posts on social media (hope you don't mind!).
Thank you!
I am in tears reading this. Thank you for honoring the MAD that we feel, and remind us that
the knife through the heart " feeling is real and to REMEMBER to validate "who we are SIMPLY because WE ARE." Peace to one and all.
My soul has been shaken to its very core by the inhumane , callous action and shortsightedness of this decision ( along with SO many others ) by our so called “ leaders “ .
As we witness the rapid de-evolution of our US democracy society will soon mimic the downward spiral if we do not preserve the brilliant guiding lights NPR and PBS lit to guide us along our way seeking knowledge , truth and yes ~ beauty in this world .
We must not allow our gaze to look away ~ we must fight to preserve whatever shards remain and work in whatever way we are capable to rejuvenate what we are losing.
Just what I needed to read today. As Gloria Wentzel's son said to he "look for the helpers".
Compassion is an endangered species.
That was authentically gorgeous. We will, in fact and in deed, keep the neighborhood alive. We'll just have to find new ways to do it. So if we can't go back, we go forward.
This is so spot on. Thank you.
this is a wonderful reminder of our shared past and the need for compassion and kindness.
Gentle decency is the essence of PRINCIPLE.
Remember that Murica?
Mr. Rogers was the narrator of my childhood. I was incredibly privileged to have a wonderful childhood, and just have him as a happy memory. Children today need the calm voice, the unconditional love, and the unbiased teaching that comes from PBS. Just like cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, the cuts to public television and radio end up affecting the most marginalized people in our society the most. Fred Rogers would be so disappointed in our country.