Sunday, March 11, 2018

An Open Letter to Oprah Winfrey - Will She, Won't She?

“I think it pisses God off when you walk by the color purple in a field and don't notice it.”
(SA)

Hell, you can’t even turn on a device these days, without the will she, won’t she snigger that is already wafting from our nation’s great halls of privilege and power. Why, because you gave an impassioned articulate speech? One moment you’re expressing your personal views and the next people are calling your name and trying to belittle and demean you.  
Even if we presume that most politicians are natural purveyors of misdirection, isn’t it a little curious that people are openly defensive at the mere idea of you? Why the strong objections? Perhaps the real objection is the possibility of you.
All the party bluster makes you wonder if they’re trying to convince you or themselves that you won’t run for president of these United States? “She’s so insecure”.  “She hasn’t seen clear enough signs that change is needed”.  I love the irony that you lacked clarity of vision for the year 2020.
Although, if you do need signs; we have serial mass shootings of school children, national healthcare that harms the most in need, ignored racial and gender inequities.  We have laws and lawmakers that protect and nurture base greed over brotherly compassion. We have elected officials that bully, abuse, and threaten both citizens and world leaders alike. Heck, we even have good old global warming.
Truth be told, “the world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.” (AE)  Is it really such a mystery that completely preventable horrors happen again and again?  It has been said that “those who claim to be on the side of good yet do nothing to fight evil are on the side of evil.” (JR)
Now imagine for a moment, a world where politicians actually care about their constituents and genuinely strive for the betterment of everyone and not just the $pecial few.  Oxford Dictionaries defines politics as “the activities associated with the governance of a country or area, especially the debate between parties having power. One need only look at the fruit of our current parties to realize this definition should have also addressed morality and corruption. “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.” (AB)
For the first time in generations, the children of our nation are standing up against the status quo.  Faced with lethal attack, they have the motivation and youthful energy to bring meaningful change. Surely this generation will demand a leader that hears their cries, without cue cards, threats, or dismissiveness. Were you they, would you prefer someone that personifies the MeFirst movement or someone that has earned the highest accolades for a lifetime dedicated to communications between people? 
I have always believed that the best leaders are called upon to serve and don’t seek service for their own ends.  Low and behold, I see before us someone that won’t get rich, does not crave a position of power, and really does not want to do it.  Beautiful! “Change does not surface when you are not ready to be the catalyst. Your reaction matters, not your inaction.” (MBJ)
You are everything that politicians fear: publically accessible, relatable, respected, and self made. A poster child of American determination, you will already be remembered among the great successes of our country. But the choice is still yours and whether by action or inaction, “history will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” (MLK)

Do you really need a sign? The world all around us is the sign.

#Oprah2020

DR Martin


(AB)  Abraham Lincoln, (AE) ― Albert Einstein,  (JR) ― Joyce Rachelle, (MBJ) ― Michael Bassey Johnson, (MLK) ― Martin Luther King Jr., (SA) ― Shug Avery, The Color Purple

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 Merriam-Webster tells us that an objection is “a reason or argument presented in opposition.”
“In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” Theodore Roosevelt,
“One of mankind’s greatest sins is inaction in the face of injustice.” John Kramer,
“Not to punish evil is equivalent to authorizing it.” Leonardo da Vinci,
“Do the right thing, do the best you can, and always show people you care.” Lou Holz,
“A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case he is justly accountable to them for the injury.” John Stuart Mill, On Liberty,
‘Does God give you courage, or does he give you opportunities to be courageous? Morgan Freeman, Evan Almighty

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