“The most heroic word in all languages is revolution.”
-Eugene V. Debs
You say you want a revolution? Those words and its song were made famous by the iconic band, The Beatles in the late 1960’s. But before we look a little closer and what some of the lyrics within this great song tried to portray I think American socialist and activist Eugene V. Debs’ quote is one that our world is in desperate need now and one that needs to stay present until true equity is reached once and for all.
Heroism is a word that means great bravery and is something we all, no matter the color of skin need to exhibit not only today but always, together and united as one. Often times when we think of the word revolution our thoughts go to war and violence. And yes that can be part of it; notice I said can be and not that it has to be. It really is where a movement is started in order to make a grand change. For what we are experiencing as a nation now, too many lives have been unnecessarily lost due to racism and pure ignorance in my opinion. When recently asked on Twitter what SEL area did I feel was the one area we needed to focus on more as a nation and Social Awareness was my choice hands down. This is not to be the focus for one day, one week or one month but every day for as long as it is necessary because enough is enough. If you are capable of doing such horrific acts to your fellow man then I believe you never had a moral compass to begin with.
Now going back to The Beatles’ Revolution song this was written at a time where the band wanted to focus on themes that promoted non-violence and more of a peaceful revolution especially as the Vietnam War was beginning. Here are some of the lyrics from this song:
Well, you know
We all want to change the world
You tell me that it’s evolution
We all want to change the world
Don’t you know that you can count me out
Don’t you know it’s gonna be
All right, all right, all right
Well, you know
We’d all love to see the plan….
What does this quote mean to you and how can you apply today’s message towards becoming more socially aware?