La importancia de Rose Colored Glasses

por dominique DiPrima

Almost every day on my radio show on 102.3 KJLH-FM de Los Angeles nos ocupamos de la tensión entre mirar los problemas que enfrenta América del Negro y se centra en las soluciones. Nos vacilamos entre centrarse en la discriminación y las muchas formas complicadas que toma, or maintaining an unwavering focus on what we want and where we are going. I have been accused of wearing “rose-colored glasses” or failing to recognize the scope of our challenges because, on most days I choose to emphasize what we are doing right, what we are accomplishing and where we wish to go. And while I don’t want to be ahistorical, I do embrace my “rose-colored glasses.” And if you like, I have a pair for you!

This may sound like a bunch of pollyanna crap but there is a logic and a strategy to it. Ante todo, if you look at the 24-hour news cycle, or even the long, long arc of history, there are endless facts we could focus on. In a single day there are literally hundreds of thousands of news stories. Now multiply that by a century and you will realize that you have to consciously choose what to focus on or your head will explode. The same is true of history. We could choose, por ejemplo, to focus on the one million or more of our ancestors who perished during the middle passage forming a highway of bones on the floor of the Atlantic Ocean (surely they must not be forgotten!) or we could meditate every day on the first known rebellion of enslaved Africans in America. It was at the Pedee River in South Carolina in 1526. This revolt, at the very first U.S. settlement resulted in the Africans joining up and remaining with the Indians, and the slave holders eventually fleeing to Haiti. With the help of my rose-colored glasses, I choose to honor my ancestors who died during the genocide of our enslavement, and maintain my focus on the many who fought back, often successfully. I can do this while keeping the lions share of my attention looking forward to where we are going: our complete financial, espiritual, and mental emancipation, followed by incredible advancement.

I work every day to do this on a personal level, with events in my own life, as well as in my view of both news and historical events. Of course we have to know the context of where we are and why we are here. Of course we need to be aware of the obstacles in our path. The question is what do we choose to focus on with the majority of our time and energy. It may sound trite, but it is absolutely true that you cannot drive forward if you are always looking back. There are dozens of studies showing how stress is destroying our physical and mental health. Countless new age authors will tell you that what you focus on the most is what will manifest. It is the main idea in the popular Law of Attraction. But I’m not even asking you to believe any of that. just consider this. What we know for sure is we have this life, this moment. Everything else is just a promise or a theory. Just notice how you feel in this moment, en esta vida cuando te enfocas en lo que quieres en lugar de su “problemas.” ¿No se siente con más energía? Más esperanzador? Más listo para la acción? Hago! Y por eso cuando la gente me pregunta “¿Qué es lo malo?” Yo suelo responder con “Lo que es correcto?” Y me encanta la forma de las cabezas del hip hop se saludarán con “Lo que es bueno?” ¿Cuándo fue la última vez que tomó un inventario de todas las cosas que fueron positivas o moviéndose en la dirección correcta en su día o su vida?

En un nivel físico de las gafas de color rosa podría literalmente salvar su vida. En cuanto a su activismo o retos personales, se le puede dar la energía para superar la discriminación u otros obstáculos en su camino. And that’s why I’ll be keeping my salmon shades and I hope you’ll join me looking pretty in pink (o varonil en malva!) Y la próxima vez que alguien le pregunta “¿Qué hay de malo?”…Simplemente respuesta “Lo que es correcto!”