Op-Docs

So my friend Kris does a much better job than I do of being aware of what's going on in the rest of the world. When I was talking to him last night, he showed me one video where the international business class (I think I'm remembering that correctly) at his school asks President Obama to drop by for a visit. I love the idea that people do that, send video invitations. It reminds me of a story where a service member sent Justin Timberlake an invitation to her Marine Corp Ball, and he went. It's nice when big name people actually reach out, and sort of become a real part of the world around them. It reminds me that they are actually people who are not always after the big paycheck.
Moving on, the other video that Kris showed me is called an "Op-Doc." In case you guys don't know what that is (I didn't), I'll explain. These are on the New York Times website and they are awareness videos about stuff like stop-and-frisk, fracking (a water treatment plan that doesn't work), and texting while walking. They draw attention to certain aspects of life that I, for one, never considered before. Well, I know that texting while walking is dangerous...I tend to run into things when I do it. Actually, come to think of it, I tend to run into things regardless. But, anyways, the stop-and-frisk video was shocking to me. I mean, I know that we stereotype (sometimes on accident) but the guy in the video says that he was stopped-and-frisked 60 to 70 times between 15 and 18 years old. On average, that's at least twice per month. And not because he was doing anything, just because he's of color and he was with other people of color. That's not even just stereotyping, that's targeting. "You're black," isn't a reason to stop someone. It's just a statement of the observable fact: you are African American. (I'm trying to maintain political correctness here.) It's kind of analogous to a girl saying that all football players are jerks and idiots just because she met one footballer that was like that, though that example is less damaging. Reasonable suspicion of a crime is required to stop someone. Someone being of color isn't reasonable suspicious of crime any more than me being white is reasonable suspicious of wealth or status. Yes, I'm using a slightly archaic analogy because I think society needs to get over the assumption that being of color automatically means you're doing something wrong.

Really, what I'm saying is that you guys should check out some of these videos. Here's one of my favorites: "Transition" Op-Doc. It's about a lot African American women reverting to their natural hair instead of using weaves, wigs, or extensions. It makes a statement about "self acceptance" that I really like, "But in post racial America this quiet, internal shift towards self-acceptance is, to my mind, the most potent and political act of all." These women aren't trying to tell the rest of the world to stick it; they're just saying, "This is who I am; if there's a problem, it's yours. Have a nice day." That sounds like a lot of empowerment to me.

People speaking up like this makes me feel better about life. The world is changing, and there are people helping it in the right direction. I guess the trick is to get the people in power to listen...