American Dreaming - The People

It was our last day in New Orleans, the weather had been fine sunny & hot which compared to England in December was a pleasurable experience, the Southern climate only a week or two before Christmas was like that of summer back home.

Then the weather turned, clouds blew in and a thunderstorm broke overnight. The next day we woke early and headed down Canal Street to the Banks of the Mississippi for one last look around, not as appealing as when the sunlight is beating down, but still we were happy to be there.

We walked back to Canal Street to get the Tram back to the hotel, the heavens opened and it began to pour rain, the wind picked up and it was cold, we stood at the tram stop waiting in the rain. An older middle aged man walked up to the tram stop toward us carrying a huge umbrella, he stops and look at us both dripping wet in the cold rain and he smiles with a friendly face and says gently in his southern accent “come on” inviting an arm out to stand under his umbrella with him. So we do, we the three of us stand there at the Tram stop waiting under the shelter of his umbrella, three strangers, an English man & woman thousands of miles from home and this kind older middle age American Man and his act of kind generosity, as always the small actions in life make the most difference.

I see the Man and us as the same, just people waiting for a tram, but we did have superficial differences which matter not to me or him, but differences which hold historical context and a deeper meaning. My wife and I are working class white British Citizens, I have a Red beard and light hair, and at this point in time we both have pasty white skin which is now red from our holiday and the rare contact with the winter sun. The kind generous Umbrella Man is a working class black American Citizen, with black skin & receding black hair and there we 3 stand on Canal Street in the heart of New Orleans and state of Louisiana in the 21st Century American South, standing together under a large umbrella blessed by a strangers kindness as the cold rain falls.

A scene in the American south which only 60 years ago would be unheard of, as the world of Modern Man evolves at a rapid rate, brave individual actions & social movements of the past unifying humanity across the world for the better and removing the prejudice of the old industrial age, with many changes for the better to follow still. Prejudice that only the darkest of hearts and the fearful cling to or those stuck in a bygone age clinging to the hatred & mistakes of the past, as we all know deep down we are all human, although far from the same. Our most differing factor not our skin tone or faces, but our hearts & minds and the choices we make which determine the people we are and the societies we live in. Choices on whether we follow goodness, love and acceptance or the opposite force of hatred, anger and prejudice, no one begins at either end of the spectrum its the small day to day actions, the things we accept, the actions of those close to us that we challenge and refuse or accept and adopt. Choices we make which extend far beyond race, that extend to gender, equality & opportunity, crime & violence and any action we take or ignore, which hurts the quality of life of others, the darkness which manifests itself in many forms, all of which result in the degradation and suffering imposed from one individual to another, from one group of people to another, imposed by choices of the mind instead of the heart.

Black lives matter

Our Human Rights matter

All life matters