Buckle Up! Let's Look At the Intent

Why does the ‘why’ behind historical events matter in shaping our present and future? How are we, as parents and citizens, responding to the responsibilities of raising the next generation with strong values and cultural identity, especially amidst the explosion of the information age? 

I want to delve into the significance of context in portraying history and the risks of misrepresentation. Listen in as I advocate for being protectors of truth, fostering empathy and character in our children, and facilitating their growth into responsible global citizens. 

So buckle up! Find out why I stand up and speak out- so that MORE of us can feel LESS alone in this journey. #viewswithsuze 

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Engaging in thoughtful conversation with people who are dynamic affords me the opportunity to learn from others. As global citizens, we want to be open to varying viewpoints and respectfully relate to one another in all areas. But when it's just the board of me myself and I, you know those conversations you have in your head that you don't want to admit to, even to yourself. Hi, I'm Sue's, and my superpower is saying stuff out loud so that more of us feel less alone. So buckle up. I want to talk about history and context. I know that I am responsible for the education of my children to a large extent. That means culture, values, identity. All of that has to come from within. That has to come from the environment that my children are raised in, and I am the model of that behavior. So if I feel very strongly a certain way, I have to gauge whether my children are old enough, mature enough, can understand enough to hear everything that I have to say. Right, speech is very important, but even more important than speech is silence, knowing that the prefrontal cortex of a human isn't developed until the age of 25. Right, it's not fully connected. Remember when they're newborn and they say don't squish that soft baby brain. Well, it doesn't fully get developed until 25. And that's when they develop the reason making ability. So until that point, I am noticing that a lot of what is distributed on social media is probably designed specifically targeting that demographic. Why is it frightening? Well, in 15 to 30 second clips, because that's the ideal amount of time that's recommended so that it's viewed and distributed and it becomes viral, all the information that you want to shove in can be done and you can avoid context. So I raise my children, then I send them out into the real world and they see, hear, experience, other things.

Speaker 1: 2:42

Who is the next level of educating my children? The education system. I have a choice. I can pick one that is extremely closely aligned to my culture, values and identity in an effort to keep my children sort of in a bubble. This way they're never in a position to be challenged or to feel uncomfortable, because when they feel uncomfortable, then they may question Not every family is a questioning family or public education. When it comes to public education, it's not all or nothing. I don't have to love everything and I don't have to hate everything, but the expectation is that somewhere in the middle we share an alignment of values.

Speaker 1: 3:45

So context. Why is context important? Because I need to know the why. Growth mindset teaches us that the best way to get others to understand us is to explain the why. So if we want people to agree with us, we have to understand where they're coming from.

Speaker 1: 4:13

So when we look at history, it's not enough for it to be a picture book with scenes out of periods of time. I need to know the why. I'll give you an example, because what's an envelope if not for pushing, say fuck back New way of proposing to frame history so that slavery was some type of training program? And viscerally, when I read it because I try not to hear the 22nd clips that are filled with nuance and interpretation and passion, but never any context I viscerally got scared. Why did that bother me? Because we've heard the expression Holocaust denier and maybe we became so comfortable with the idea that the Holocaust deniers have been framed as bad guys in some ways, or we thought that. So they've moved on to another subject matter.

Speaker 1: 5:40

Why did that bother me? Well, does anyone think that the Nazis should have gotten a piece of the action from the clothing my grandmother sewed, from the skills that they learned having been seamstresses? I didn't think so. So context is important, because the Nazis spent a great deal of time documenting and detailing the why Not just the how, but the why. The same is true of slavery. If someone has the records of the earliest training program curriculum, please step up. Otherwise, please stand up and speak out against every attempt to erase authentic history and its context. We have to be the protectors of truth, because my children are learning culture, values and identity from me and I'm sending them out into the world, and if they live in one state, they learn one thing. If they live in another state, they learn they learn another thing. Bottom line is, they should be learning empathy and character development and values that uplift us as a community, as a society and as global citizens. That's my rant.