Writing Chronicles- Week Eighteen

Fear

Photo Description: The album cover of Public Enemy’s 3rd Album, “Fear of a Black Planet,” released in 1990.

Week Eighteen

I wanted to freedom dream this week, and I tried to. The last chapter of my book is about reimagining the education system’s relationship with politics. The exercise I’m including is around “freedom dreaming.” The plan was to write the exercise and then to find solace in forward thinking, and believing what is possible, but I got stuck. The exercise is written but that’s it.

So I went back and started writing about fear. How do we define it and how it is an emotion that starts at such a young age and how the triggers may change over time, but the emotion is one that stays with so many of us through our lifetime.

How much fear shows up in decision-making or more often, decision-paralysis. I wrote about who gets to choose fear and who always has to overcome fear. Is to live fear-less the greatest level of privilege?

Then I relistened to Public Enemy’s Fear of A Black Planet. Chuck-D taught me about fear over 3 decades ago, I just needed to remember and listen. The music helped me name the layers of fear that we have built since the inception of the United States. How fear leads to laws, policies, and governments’ ways of working.

It’s going to take a lot of unpeeling to get to a place of freedom. Welcome to the Terrordome.

Fighting the power through week eighteen.