The gift of lessons from the past is that they can transform the present and the future. Such was the gift of Viola Davis’s Emmy win and the courage to use the minutes she had on stage to usher in a future that we all may want to be part of. Many have been moved by Ms. Davis’s speech, and many have created a re-enforced comfort by wagging fingers at the Emmy’s for not being more diverse and inclusive sooner. The truth is that many of us, whether in Hollywood or not, stand behind a line, some of us, with our arms stretched out. For me the line represents a point of privilege, a point of complacency, which many …
The gift of lessons from the past is that they can transform the present and the future.
Such was the gift of Viola Davis’s Emmy win and the courage to use the minutes she had on stage to usher in a future that we all may want to be part of. Many have been moved by Ms. Davis’s speech, and many have created a re-enforced comfort by wagging fingers at the Emmy’s for not being more diverse and inclusive sooner.
The truth is that many of us, whether in Hollywood or not, stand behind a line, some of us, with our arms stretched out. For me the line represents a point of privilege, a point of complacency, which many of us are unwilling to move beyond. The line numbs us in to inaction when we see wrong. The line allows us to be moved by Viola Davis’s speech, without taking action, and without asking more probing questions.
Questions like what behaviors keep the line in place? Or why does the line still exist? The line keeps us in a place that many call comfort, preventing a number of us from exploring or reaching what may be a greater reality. The reason so many of us were stirred by Viola Davis’s speech is a result of her stepping over the line and taking action. In a moment that was meant to celebrate the actress and her accomplishments, she used it to awaken people from their slumber.
Viola Davis stands in a league of her own. I was moved by Viola Davis’s speech. I was moved by her countenance. I was moved by her grace. I am moved by her journey. The move I now desire to make, is to move over the line so that my stretched arms may actually touch someone. By doing what is right instead of what is comfortable, by taking action beyond listening, perhaps this will touch someone, anyone, so more of us will muster the courage to move over the line rendering it obsolete.
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