Earlier this week I wrote a post about this podcast. Highly recommend. I’ve been sitting with several things that stood out for me.

I watched this beautiful film about a “transgender star at sundown”. The cinematography is gorgeous. Her words are powerful, and I get chills every time I watch it. I started following Nowness on Instagram and their IGTV is full of beautiful films and pieces. I spent a couple hours last night going through several of them.

As with several films in my queue for months, I’ve had Between The World And Me on my Kindle for almost a year now, but am only just now diving into it. There are so many things I want to highlight, but then I feel like I would just end up highlighting the whole book.

I’ve been doing some reflecting on why this is, why I’ve had movies about Black people, or with predominantly Black casts, or books by Black authors, and yet I let them sit in my queue or library for months…

Last summer I saw a documentary, called This Changes Everything, about the lack of representation of women in Hollywood. Something shifted in me when the actors, producers, directors and other professional women they interviewed for the documentary talked about girls of color really not seeing themselves in mass media. When you do not see someone who looks like you in a role or position in life you are striving for, it is harder to imagine you could actually do that job, or have that career, or make that difference. This is something I never thought much about, because even though women are underrepresented in just about everything, or given archetypal roles of “good girl” or “bad girl,” I still saw myself in those roles because I am White. I have always seen myself reflected in media, no matter the format.

I’m embarrassed to say that one of the reasons the books and movies about POC have remained unwatched or unread is because I thought I wouldn’t be able to relate to the characters. What I’m realizing in now diving into this kind of content is that I have kept my head in the sand for too long. I am going to graduate school to become a therapist. I want to be able to serve all people, not just ones who look like me or have a similar background to mine. I am learning about different cultures that are rich with color, vibrancy, community, traditions, and faith. And I hope this education and expansion of knowledge continues for the rest of my life.

xxo