Episode 5: Kwabi Amoah-Forson re-issue

I had a new episode all set to drop tomorrow, but then it just didn’t feel right to put it out right after the election.  It feels to me like we all need a pause on information and intensity for a minute.  My new episode features a conversation with Rob Turner, host of his own podcast called Fat, Drunk and Stupid.  He’s a former cop turned coder living in Missouri.  He’s very different than me but we had a great conversation about police training - it can wait another week. 

The right thing to do felt like re-issuing an episode that centers on peace.  Last March, I reached out to Kwabi Amoah-Forson to see if he could shed some light on the work he’s doing in Tacoma, WA and his outreach to his community serving food to kids who didn’t have access to breakfast once schools shut down.  Kwabi runs his own non-profit called The Peace Bus.  He talked to me about his definition of peace, how he intends to educate kids, and what one person can do to foster peace in their community.  The conversation is as relevant today as it was in March, and what better time to talk about peace than the day after a big election.  Enjoy,  

I’m wrapping up with no idea what the world is going to look like when I wake up in the morning.  My hope is that whatever the outcome, we can move forward with the sole intention of lifting each other up.  I’ve experienced so much anger - it’s everywhere, even in myself.  People have been rude in parking lots - beyond what has ever been acceptable before.  Impatient in lines, mean to employees - there’s this simmering anger and fear not far under the surface and I feel it too.  I suppose my hope is that I can turn the burner off, focus on my world and how I can impact whatever small percentage of folks that is.  I’d like to recommit to listening to people that are different than me, and I’d like the conversations on my podcast to reflect that.  I’m hoping that we commit to learning from each other, and realizing that we have more similarities than differences.

This Halloween, I stuck my neck out to my neighborhood and started the conversation about how we could possibly still do Halloween safely.  What resulted was our neighborhood coming together in a way I haven’t experienced in my 15 years of living on my street.  My point in bringing it up is that despite who the President ends up being, we all have the potential to be leaders in our own community.  Perhaps you can decide to recommit to stepping up for your neighbors and small community in the way that you’d like our national leadership to step up.  For lack of a less cliche way to put it, be the change you want to see in the world.  At the end of it all, all we can control is our response to the world around us.  Maybe this week, consider your response and try your hardest to be the example.