Black Out Tuesday

So back in the day, I had the privilege of presenting the science award to the inventor of the rechargeable battery 🔋.

I had to follow the keynote speaker, Maya Angelou. The great Poet Laureate, mentor to Oprah, Author…

An hour of song, poetry, and declamation, moved the audience. What a performance. What pressure to follow that act.

Rosa Parks was also a keynote speaker.

One could surmise many lessons from hearing those 2.

What struck me the most is “I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings” was more than an autobiographical book 📖, but a lesson in history, humanity, endurance, mindset, and survival. So much more than meets the eye.

What also moved me was that Rosa Parks was so kind, gentle, and reminded me of my own grandmother. How could anyone discriminate? Years later I’d experience both direct and indirect discrimination in the workplace, ostensibly that’s illegal, but they got away with it, and so I understand the dark and lowlife ignorance that would bring someone to mistreat another based on perceived characteristics and assumptions. Rosa Parks was tired, sat down… and changed the world.

This post isn’t going to end on a positive note. That’s because in the decades since my encounter with those 2 civil rights legends, I feel that they both would be so disappointed that injustice remains so prevalent, with real justice out of reach and unavailable to most.

#blackouttuesday