Take-Aways

As is customary, we all tend to take stock at the end of one year and the beginning of the next.  This time around, it seems like there is even more at stake.  We are putting an awful lot of pressure on 2021. 

However, I would point out that the dumpster fire, shit show that was 2020, was not about the year - it never is.  It was a perfect storm, a culmination of nearly 250 years of bad decisions and horrendous policies developed by people (oligarchs) who have no concern for anyone but themselves (egos) and their wallets.  

It isn't up to 2021 to solve these problems - it can't.  January 20th, while a hugely positive step, will not, alone, usher in our saving graces.  The fundamental issues of an inequitable and unjust society will be festering just below the glossy patina of this new administration, in the same way, it has for our entire history.  

It is up to us, the people who have the most at stake, to get creative and disrupt the status quo.  Begin by supporting your neighbors.  Stop thinking of charity as handouts and start considering it an act of resistance.  The best way to make progress and to change the culture is to build it up from the bottom - the very roots.  Eventually, these acts of rebellion, hidden within gestures of caring and kindness, will forge community, which will, over time, go on to generate a new way of thinking about the essential construct of our entire culture and society.  

Absolutely, spend some time to reflect. Get a firm grasp on your personal takeaways - then use that knowledge to interrupt, disrupt, and make a difference. 2021 will not be any different than 2020 unless you and I commit to a cultural revolution fueled by compassion, consideration, understanding, and respect.  

• After watching this video from Beau of the Fifth, I was able to finally get all of the disconnected thoughts that have been churning around my head for the past few weeks to coalesce into something that makes sense. 

These are the final quotes posted last week on our social media to honor those voices we lost in 2020.

DRC News

In January 2014, DRC Canton opened our doors with one very cool ten-year-old, me, a couple of computers, no heat, no internet, a few pieces of furniture, and a whole lot of dreams. Now, seven years later, we have a total of thirty-eight amazing students, divided between two Centers and the Distance Learning Program.  We own one of those facilities, have an awesome staff and volunteers, there are heat and internet, as well as tons of resources and materials, and we still have some really big aspirations.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this amazing journey.  I am beyond grateful to all of you for the love, support, and hard work that has gone into making this vision come true.  Onward!

And, if you would like to join DRC, as we move full steam ahead into 2021 please get in touch.