Dave-ologies: We are proud, we are strong, we are united

America. Our country. Our people. Our future. As many of you know by now, I love quotes. The quote that has me riffing today is the following from Ronald Reagan, “You can go live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.” This is what really makes America great. We are the melting pot. This country was built on the backs of immigrants. We are built on innovation and ideas. We are the United States of America.

I have written about diversity, inclusion, acceptance, etc. For some reason, this quote resonated with me last night as I was reading a few articles (somewhat mindlessly to be honest). As I watch the news, as I watch people interact at work, as I hear stories from our school systems, as I listen to my buddies debate – I wonder what is happening to us. We seem to be focused on finding difference. We are focused on judging. We are hesitant to slow down to understand. We need to be “right”.

How do we “make America great again”? Well, I think it starts with acceptance and understanding. My wife wears a semi-colon. Project Semicolon was born from a social media movement in 2013. They describe themselves as a "movement dedicated to presenting hope and love to those who are struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury. Project Semicolon exists to encourage, love, and inspire." But why a semicolon? "A semicolon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to. The author is you and the sentence is your life."

I think our country needs a semi-colon right now. We need to encourage, love, and inspire each other. We do NOT need hate, vitriol, and disparagement. Originally created as a day where people were encouraged to draw a semicolon on their bodies and photograph it, it quickly grew into something greater and more permanent. Today, people all over the world are tattooing the mark as a reminder of their struggle, victory, and survival.

As with any nation, we will struggle, we will have victories and we will survive. Sitting in the middle of a wonderful next-generation media company, I see, feel and live our nation’s stories every day. I see the struggles, I hear the rhetoric, I watch the battles, I savor the special moments, I hate the tragedies – but this is life…our life. So back full circle to Reagan, “…anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American”. We are proud, we are strong, we are united – we are American. As much as many of us lament the world we live in today, I would not give back anything. We will prosper and we CAN prosper if we can find a way to unite.

Dave Harmon

People Division

“Kindness is Currency”

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/davidharmonhr