While we are away at the circus, decisions are being made that affect our lives and that of our children and grandchildren.

With everything going on in the world today, we tend to fall for distractions that are taking our eyes off the real issues of the day. Some of us are addicted to gossip, soap operas and other forms of entertainment in a manner that is detrimental to personal and collective progress and upward mobility.
Now that the U.S. presidential election campaign has morphed into a big circus, we have failed to look beyond the two performers and see the bigger problem, which may be Congress. Meanwhile, right in our own country and province, how many of us even bother to pay attention to what is currently being argued on the floor of the National Assembly or discussed at local borough council meetings? Do we even know what’s going on with the School Board that affects our children and their future?
Yes, while we are away at the circus, decisions are being made that affect our lives and that of our children and grandchildren. Incidentally, in a recent meeting with a borough mayor, he confided that since his appointment over three years ago, he is yet to see a Black person at any of the monthly borough meetings. It’s no knock, but too many of us are concerned about television shows like Scandal, Dancing with the Stars, or who Stevie J knocked up, as chaos reigns supreme around us. No, everyday is not supposed to be without its entertaining moments, but the issues of our day deserve more than a like and comment on Facebook, or at worst, totally disregarded.
There is so much going on around us but we don’t really pay attention if it is not sensationalized. Some of us don’t even bother, or remember, they are a part of the Black community until one of us lies dead in the street, or following news of a blatant racist incident, such as being shot by Montréal’s finest.
While many of us are keeping up with celebrity gossip and the carryings on of the rich and (in)famous, our children are being miseducated, misunderstood and consequently misdiagnosed in classrooms right before our very eyes.
When was the last time any inquiry was made regarding your child’s progress way in advance of the scheduled Parent-Teachers night? Have you put faciliatory measures in place for the teacher to communicate in a timely manner all significant aspects of your child’s academic performance?
We must question our priorities for the sake of the next generation. We must wake up, shake up, take up, even rake up and embrace reality so that we can become a part of the solution.
It’s time to pull back the real distractions so that we can clearly see the enemy of our freedom, and move away from the distraction haze in which we have currently placed ourselves.
We can enjoy life to the fullest but not allow the reality of what is really going on in the world to become a distraction.
We must strive towards making our world better and not wait until reality darkens our doorstep to wake up. While we have been distracted and failed to pay attention, we have mistakenly been ingesting society’s hemlock instead of water.

Aleuta—The struggle continues.