March 18th, 2021
Today started in a minor key, when the results of yesterday’s elections here in the Netherlands, started coming in and sinking in.
It saddens me deeply, that we have a political direction that keeps moving further to the right, driven by a language of dominance, oversimplification and othering.
As I listened to the wisdom of the three people in this post, I thought about how aware we have to be of the power of words and wanted to share them with you.
Because as Ocean Vuong shares in the same interview from the above excerpt:
“We often say ‘the future is in your hands.’
But I think the future is actually in your mouth.
You have to articulate the world you want to live in, first. “
1. OCEAN VUONG
Ocean Vuong’s words from the stellar podcast On Being with Krista Tippet, recorded in March 2020. Paired with footage of Ocean Vuong by the MacArthur Foundation.
2. MAYA ANGELOU
Dr. Maya Angelou, poet, actress, author, civil rights activist and professor in a snippet from her January 2011 appearance on Oprah's Master Class/OWN
3. ELI WIESEL
”Never let anyone be humiliated in your presence”- footage from the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech of Eli Wiesel- author, professor, political activist and Holocaust survivor
May we listen and consider.
xez