Thursday, April 3, 2014

Just Decide Something Else

I was watching Chicagoland on CNN earlier this evening, a show that I've seen bits and pieces of, and while I haven't been following the series regularly, what I've seen so far is very interesting.  It's a non-scripted documentary style show covering the current state of social, education, and political issues in Chicago.  Tonight's episode pulled me in, and overall it was so many things: fascinating, frustrating, inspiring, depressing, and thought-provoking, all at the same time.  Robert Redford, one of my favorites, is one of the executive producers, and at the center of the social and political issues is Rahm Emanuel, who served as a senior advisor to President Clinton, was the Chief of Staff for President Obama's first term, and is now the Mayor of Chicago.  He's a no non-sense type of guy, and while he rubs many people the wrong way, I like the guy.  He is the personification of strong work ethic, and doesn't take b.s. from anybody.  I can respect that.

In this episode, it was the first day of school, and it seems that city officials have partnered with school officials and the police and fire departments to establish "safe passage" routes to school, since many kids have to cross competing gang territories in order to get to school.  It was inspiring to see a large community rally like that, but at the same time very frustrating that this is even a need.  The issue of gang violence is so multi-faceted, and it's all too easy to over-simplify the causes and solutions, across a broad spectrum of socio-economic issues.  So I'm not going to try to cover all of them.  What I am left wondering is this: What if gang members, or any group that is violent toward another group, just decides something else instead?  Just decided to stop and to focus their energy on uniting instead of dividing, on working together instead of tearing apart, on a shared humanity instead of ways to divide.

I've often thought this about a whole host of issues, like deciding to be positive/happy versus negative/unhappy, or deciding to be proactive about your life path versus reactive, and it is my current thought about gang violence.  What if all of those currently impacted by gang activity, whether active members, or family members, or neighbors, schools, businesses, etc. all just decided to stop.  Not just individual cases of people leaving the gang life, but 100% end to it.  You may say that gang members are a product of their environment, and cite all of the reasons that lead to such a lifestyle, and how the entertainment industry and media continue to glorify it, but to me, it's still a choice.  And a choice means that there is more than one option.  Rather than cite all the reasons that have lead to this place, why not imagine the possibility that it could all just end if everyone decided.

My favorite version of education, news, art, or entertainment of any kind, is the kind that makes you think, opens the mind, challenges the status quo or what I think of as the "blind norms" that we just accept as part of our world.  And that is how I wrapped up my day: Wondering "what if" and "why not".  When I consider what that could look like, it gives me hope that the power of the human spirit will win out in the end and that such a thing is possible.  I think this is what Lennon meant when he wrote "Imagine".  Wouldn't it be nice if that came true?  Just decide.