Don't mean to mess with Shakespeare, but it is true. What we see and how we perceive it is our choice.
I am reading a book, Mighty Be Our Powers: How Sisterhood, Prayer, and Sex Changed a Nation at War by Leymah Gbowee. Gbowee is the winner of the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, political peacemaker and women's activist. In the preface to her book, she states that the perception of African women is ragged depressed-looking women with sagging breasts, when in fact they are not.
In the minute I read that statement, I realized sadly that it was true. How stereotypical my view of folks can be by the visuals or even the written words that I take in daily. As a child, I loved reading National Geographic magazine, of places far and away. That visual was imprinted in my mind and is to this day. I cringe to think of the perception the world has of American women, seeing them through the media by-products my country circulates. Celebrity escapades, frivolous wealth, waste, and pollution to mention a few. I am not any of those things, but I am lumped into that boiling view vat of disgusting humanity.
No! I will not allow it! But who am I saying that to. A person who has already discounted me and does not want to acknowledge me much less listen to what I might have to say in my defense?
No! That word is for me. I must not be numbly led into that herd of the non-thinking, non-caring media audience of prejudiced and pre-judged indifference. Thank you, Leymah Gbowee. For your life and work as a peacemaker and for that one reflection that awakened the sleeping apathetic giant in me. I can't wait to read more!
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