Yup, we're halfway through 2020. And what a year it's been.
Hamilton comes out on Disney+ at the end of this week! There's a line in the penultimate number of the show "The World Was Wide Enough" that's always stuck with me, and resonates with more intensity now. "Legacy. What is a legacy? It's planting seeds in a garden you never get to see."
Maybe this theatrical version of Alexander Hamilton didn't get to reap all the benefits and rewards of his hard and fervent work that helped build this country, but why shouldn't we be able to? Why can't we make the world we dream about the one we live in now, or at least soon? Ruby Bridges deserves to enjoy an America that is truly desegregated. Families deserve to find refuge in America together, regardless of where they come from or what they look like. I like to think I deserve to be judged on the street, on an interpersonal level, and in the audition room based off of who I am and what I offer as a person, and not off of my race.
From coronavirus to the Black Lives Matter movement, the United States and the world are going through immense turmoil right now, all while under varying degrees of lockdown. At the moment, things are slowly opening back up with health & safety measures in mind (but may have to close down again as the virus continues to spread), and the governmental powers that be are gradually taking action against the police officers who have murdered black people, as well as voting to rectify other civil inequities. We are far from equality. This is an old fight, but it is one that must be carried on and is being continued with great passion.
Taken in New York City while I was walking beside one of my dearest friends
during the 2017 Women's March
I wish I had more to add to the conversation, however I am still educating myself and figuring out how I can best serve the movement as a young woman of color. In the past weeks, I've worried about the health and safety of myself, my friends, and my family–especially those in the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities. Despite the dangers of this world and this moment of loud resistance and vocal protest, I hold onto the hope that the widespread, intense conversations and actions occurring around the world will continue and lead to a better tomorrow. Who can say when that figurative tomorrow will come exactly, but it can. And now more than ever, I believe that it will.
As Broadway is officially shut down through the remainder of 2020, justice is still being sought after for those whose lives have been taken, and COVID-19 carries on in first and second waves, I seek to remain persistent and hopeful and kind. 2020 is the most difficult year many of us have seen, and it's made more daunting by the fact there are still 6 months of it left. But, we have also made it through 6 months of it. I am grateful to see the end of this, and grateful to be in it. Remember, there are always bright spots on gloomy days. Look for them, and keep fighting.