April 24, 2020
A few months ago, I was visiting my Aunt Dianne in Anderson, SC who was fighting cancer for the fourth time in her life. As I walked into my Aunt’s house with my granny, Janie Brown, she started one of her brags about me. My granny loved bragging on all of her grandchildren. I let her know as I always did, I am a reflection of what she had raised us to be and how she led our family to be good decent people. The words that she said next really stuck with me. In that moment of reflection, she said, “Moe, I have just tried to live a life in the good.” Live a life in the good is exactly what my granny did.
My granny and I shared a very tight bond. She was my lady! From the time that I was old enough to know who she was consciously to the very age that I am today, I always found my way on her shoulders and giving her kisses. She spoke with candor yet was the sweetest and most caring lady. Life was given through her smile and hugs. Her wisdom and leadership shined through the most by leading our family to defy the odds. She instilled respect and the importance of being a person of your word in all of us. Leadership is the word that I find myself coming back to when thinking of my Granny.
The LACK of leadership that we are seeing plays a huge part in why she’s no longer with us. She contracted COVID-19, and upon arriving to the hospital the doctor said she had 24-48 hours to live. Seventeen days later, she passed. True to her fighting spirit, she received a negative result and beat COVID-19 earlier this week. Unfortunately, the complications from the virus had already sealed her fate. The inept leadership that purported this virus to be a “hoax” or “just the flu” led our country to be unprepared to defend Americans from a deadly virus. As the wealthiest country in the world there’s no excuse to be unprepared; especially with two months warning to take this existential threat seriously.
The White House has shown its devotion to power, greed, and an acute paranoia for voices of constructive criticism. Also, a majority of GOP members have rejected their sacred trust for accountability and oversight. The sum of these two positions has led us on a path of denigration and death. Let me be clear, I am not being political. This is a matter of fact. As I write, our country is approaching a million cases of the COVID-19 and over 50,000 deaths – more than double any other country. So, I ask, when did it become acceptable for American leadership to run away from duty and responsibility? When did it become acceptable for American leadership to point fingers instead of offering steady hands during a crisis? This is not the America I know and love.
My granny died alone, away from the ones who loved her the most. An ending that was not deserved for a life so well lived. All the lives she so profoundly impacted will also be stripped of the opportunity to show their respects – only 20 people will be allowed to attend her funeral. She can’t come back now, but there are many more Grannies, Grandpas, Brothers, Sisters, Mothers, and Fathers that we can still save from similar fates. It’s not about Republican, Democrat, Black, White, Gay, Straight, Christian or Muslim. It’s about America, and we must focus our collective efforts on defeating COVID-19 to protect one another. The virus is real. Please follow all recommendations by the CDC. Real people and real lives are at stake.
The greatness of our country is not that we put our trust in one man, it is that we put our trust in a simple idea – that of WE. WE the PEOPLE. By choosing to blindly follow a man, we will choose to lose the soul on which our country was founded. Thus, we have a decision to make. Who will America be in 2021? Who will America be right now? WE cannot take our individual responsibility for granted in a time where our country needs us the most. We must speak truth to power to ensure the safety and health of all; even when our most senior leadership has chosen the dereliction of this most important oath.
Granny, you showed your thoughtfulness even in passing by joining your daughter, my auntie, in the Heavens on her birthday (4/23/2020). Rest in Power, my Lady! I love you and I promise to continue living a life in the good.
