For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
Nelson Mandela
I’ve put on a couple of lunch & learns at work for Black History month where we watch a Ted Talk (from a Black speaker) and have a brief discussion. This week we watch Yoruba Richen’s talk on “What the gay rights movement learned from the civil rights movement.”
It was a great talk that I recommend watching. Once again I’m aghast at how little my history books taught me (like that the organizer of the March on Washington — where MLK gave his “I have a dream” speech — was Bayard Rustin, an openly gay man.
It also made me reflect again on how minority groups are so often pitted against each other instead of, to paraphrase The Hunger Games, remembering who the real enemy is. This talk was a beautiful narrative of how they learned from and supported each other.
With Love,
Natalie
P.S. TED has cultivated a whole list of talks to celebrate Black History month.