Looking for glimpses of light as 2016 ends.
by Kathleen Choe (actor/singer/writer)
Honestly I’m just waiting for 2016 to end, though I’ve got trepidations about what’s to come in 2017. I won’t talk about why; anyone watching the news or who hasn’t been living under a rock can guess. I’m exhausted talking about the state of the world and the country, and right now I can only see what’s in front of me…namely, heading out of town to visit family for the holidays.
I’m realizing more than ever about how important it is to hold onto hope. Finding it as 2016 comes to a close has been hard, but not impossible. A company I love, Rising Circle Theater Collective, had an event for women artists of color to come together and share their stories. In a burst of courage I readily said “yes” when my friend Nancy asked me to read one of my Crazytown blog posts out loud (and nearly chickened out when the hour of the event approached).
I showed up!
The proof is in the photo booth.
The night was full of laughter and determination...and hope. For the people who didn’t bring work to share, Nancy had put questions into a hat for them to pull out and answer. One of the questions was this:
photo credit: Chelsea Harrison
Actor, writer, and educator Chelsea Harrison pulled that thought-provoker out of the hat, then proceeded to give an amazing and eloquent explanation.
Women--in particular women of color--always show up when there’s something that needs to be done. Always. This election was the last gasp of the white patriarchy. “We know we have work to do, we know it will be hard, but we also know that The Future is Female.”
The future.
Hope. I cling to it. I have to. The alternative is to stay still and let the world become a place I don’t want it to be.
I will take it any way I can, and fight for it every way I can, and if what I fight for doesn’t come to pass, I’ll know I didn’t stay silent. And I’ll pick myself up and start again.
Hope. The future.
Here’s to that.
Merry Christmas, all.
KATHLEEN CHOE is a NYC based actor, singer, and writer. www.www.kathleen-choe.com
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