The Breathing Room Podcast Kevin Holland

At some point, we all arrive at the proverbial fork in the road. Which route will we choose? Will we play it safe or take a risk? Will we dig our heels in or embrace a new way of thinking and acting? As season one of this podcast comes to a close with this episode, we’ll consider how one decision to reject neutrality and live demonstrably can affect positive change. 

We’ve all been in those situations when we couldn't believe that someone actually did what we saw them do or say what we heard them say. There is a movement afoot in our country that revels in saying the quiet part out loud, deliberately making it harder for people of color to vote, boasting about their bigotry, and daring anyone to do anything about it. Who knew we'd have to fight for the franchise of voting 56 years after the Voting Rights Act was passed in 1965. Everything old is new again. Old habits die hard and racial injustice is a stubborn disease. In this episode, we address it head on and hear from experts who are telling us that democracy is on the line in this country. Believe it or not.

Sometimes we learn the most about others or ourselves from how we respond to events we didn’t see coming. What’s beneath the surface can seep or burst through our filters. We can leak. In many instances, we’re not even aware of our own pre-conditioning and shaping. Our patterns of thinking and reacting have developed over many years and are not easily changed. 
Though it can be really difficult and painful, becoming more self-aware is actually a good thing ultimately. In this episode, we look at how the hidden beliefs and values people become more apparent in their reactions and the emotional energy behind them. 

We as a society are progressing in some areas and regressing in others. This odd push and pull, this mixture of emotions, the simultaneous holding of desperate thoughts seems to be heightened now as much as ever. In this episode, we begin to process the historic milestone of Juneteenth becoming a national holiday, the painful history that it reminds us of, and the repeating of ugly 20th century history emerging in this 21st year of the 21st-century.

From the founding of our nation until now, there’s been an open question of who we are as a country.  Whose country is it? To whom does it belong? Which people make up the “real America?” Who is wanted and welcomed and who is “othered” and shunned? What is our true national identity? Are we more of a split personality entity? Are there two Americas? Is racism  actually a prominent part of our national DNA?
 We all know that there is no way to solve a problem or repair what is broken if those involved don’t agree that there is a problem or that something is broken. Here’s to hoping that we can engage this issue, make actual progress, and let data and lived experience trump opinion and ideology.

A recent Washington Post article was entitled “Tulsa isn’t the only race massacre you were never taught in school. Here are others.” The number of race massacres and hate crimes that occurred in the late 19th century and early 20th century boggle the mind. To add insult to injury, these sinister acts were covered up, hidden, and denied for decades. When you understand what really happened, the dysfunction that vexes us today makes more sense. A through line emerges. In this episode we take a look at some of this painful history in order to learn from it and hopefully forge a better future because of it.