Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.
What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?
(Dear Mr. President written by Billy Mann, Alecia Moore)
I believe one of the most exciting, living artists and (co) writers in contemporary music is Alecia Moore (aka Pink)… she is raw, yet heartfelt; blatantly honest, yet poignant; ruthless, yet gentle.
She does what I believe all songwriters strive to do – she becomes the voice for those within society who are silenced by political, social, cultural and moral expectation and/or value. With songs like Dear Mr President; Please Don’t Leave Me; Family Portrait; Perfect; Conversations With My 13 Year Old Self; and Try —what I admire most in her songs is her extraordinary ability to somehow tap into the intimate side of the human experience, dealing with an array of ideas relating to the human urge to be loved unconditionally, whilst simultaneously highlighting the many obstacles we face during our search.
As a teacher of Communications I believe it is part of my spiritual obligation to coax young people to share their voice. Constantly encouraging them to recognise that their opinion is just as important as any other human being and no moment is more rewarding than witnessing their seed of belief sprout wings and start flying.
Within, what I believe is a world now severely harnessed by parameters of ‘political correctness’ Pink is all the more extraordinary as a role model, especially for young people, in teaching them to challenge and break through those boundaries by speaking their truth even if it means saying ‘this is how it is, or this is how things are, and right now from where I’m standing, it SUCKS!’
Those with the extraordinary ability to nudge the collective, global human spirit even just a little towards compassion, tolerance and peace, to me are awe inspiring—Pink uses her platform to do this time and time again, by sharing her own unique ‘voice’ wrapped in worthwhile intention behind nearly every song choice.
This week I will sign off asking you to consider –“have you ever seen a more perfect shade of Pink?”…