Yesterday was the Second Inauguration of President Obama. It was also MLK Day.
I’d love to focus on the optimism and hope from the ceremony; no, instead, even during the ceremony, my Twitter feed was blowing up with people criticizing the Inaugural Poet, Richard Blanco. “Why this guy? Why not Nikki Giovanni?”
And don’t forget to check out the sad reality of other tweeters complaining about the poem not rhyming (via mashable).
As much as I can become angry and spit fire over these kinds of remarks, I realize — I can’t fix ignorance. People will continue to think the way they think: they will continue to act like they are experts on subjects they know nothing about; use improper grammar in online arguments; and so forth.
We say, in this day and age, ignorance shouldn’t be around. Well, it still is. And some people will choose to stay in the dark rather than ‘waste time’ learning & becoming enlightened about topics foreign to them.
What we CAN do about ignorance is to enlighten OURSELVES. Choose to learn about poetry and why it is as it is (it ain’t all about rhyming, folks); choose to understand other religions, other countries and their politics; choose to just be empathic and walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.