MLK Day and Beyond (and Kidogo is in the Banner!)

Hello Friends!

If you're in the Northeast, then you might have woken up to a quiet blanket of snow. Snowfalls make me nostalgic. Childhood memories of sledding and trudging come to mind. Hot chocolate anyone?

This is also a day to pay homage to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yesterday, my church held its annual service along side Temple Israel, a moment for solidarity, collaboration, and challenge. I choose the word "challenge" intentionally. These two congregations stand together to challenge each other to be better and to do better in honor of MLK.

MLK Day should not be a moment of nostalgia. MLK Day should not be like a peaceful blanket of white snow, which covers over the dirt of our nation. This day should not be spent watching seemingly long-time-ago black and white images and videos of yesteryear as if yesterday we didn't just see similar injustices take place in the U.S. or elsewhere in the world. The men, women, and children who fought for the civil rights of Black people and others did not do all that they did for us to sit back and do nothing now.

Perhaps there are those who believe that the civil rights movement was only back there and back then, rather than also here and now.

Perhaps they might not see the perpetual need to do the work to create the society all of us need.

Perhaps they might believe that a movement only has a fixed beginning and end.

To me, our society is constantly in motion.

To me, our society should be moving forward-- even given moments of regression-- to a more perfect union.

To me, our fight for civil rights is never complete or finished.

The question then becomes how do we fight? This is both a personal and collective question. Your personal work centers on figuring out your values, gifts, skills. What anchors your moral compass? What do you prioritize? What are your gifts and skills? The collective question involves coalescing and convening around our respective values, gifts, and skills. And not just around the ones we have in common, but celebrating the diversity of who we are and what we have.

This is a critical time in our world. We are at a crossroad, where we have to make some critical choices. We HAVE to ask ourselves those tough questions. We also need to recognize the political nature and side of our current events. Whether we like it or not, education is politicized, race is politicized, entertainment, media, books, has been all politicized.

I, as a Christian Black woman, wife, mother, entrepreneur, citizen, taxpayer, landowner, with a graduate education have a right to speak about politics, when and wherever I can and want. Even in a blog about Kidogo Productions :-) In a recent post, "What Do Our Children See?", I ventured into more politically-charged thoughts than I ever have before. For some, that was a bridge too far. Y'all the quiet exit of a handful of subscribers was startling to me! I must have hit a nerve, lol! I don't get many unsubscribers so when I do, I take note, lol! But seriously, I am not here to be partisan, but I am here to take a moral stand. I am not here to tell you who to vote for, but I do have the right to observe and speak on the consequences of such a vote. I have never been the one to stay in "my lane." Kidogo Productions has NEVER been about nostalgia or comfort.

Kidogo Productions is about a particular kind of joy and excellence. When we say, "Black Joy and Black Excellence," it evokes a certain message. It's the joy beyond what is expected, given the efforts to oppress us. It's the excellence way beyond what the media tells us we're capable of accomplishing. Our joy and excellence is in spite of, notwithstanding, and in opposition to, those who happen to believe our lives don't matter. Whether we (or you) like it or not, our joy and excellence is politicized. We might as well acknowledge that fact openly and expressly.

Lemme stop preaching and get on with a celebration! WE'RE IN THE BAY STATE BANNER!

I'm so proud of us! We are being recognized for our impact and work. People are beginning to see our vision and to understand our mission. We've barely begun. We're just getting started! Let's gooooo!

For the Kids, for the Culture,

Keeana