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| Radical Founder, Tausha, with her crew of Mammas. |
The beauty of words is their ability to evolve. Taking on lives of their own, we morph and wield multiple definitions of the words we use creating near social sport of sorts. Thus, we have words we’re comfortable using as all encompassing.
Such is the case with the F-word.
Challenge: Count how many different instances and contexts you find it used in a given day. Seriously, the number is likely to be larger than at first thought.
We toss around the F-word because it’s comfortable; its familiarity brings not only a sense of security but has also become a touch-point of simple identification. As soon as the F-word is dropped we know in an instant what is being said.
In its purest sense, the F-word connects people to other people. The F-word is about as common as breathing. Labeling with the F-tag is a socially-acceptable descriptor of far more than it used to. We speak as though the F-word still carries great weight. Identifying things by the F-word has become a cornerstone of our communication because the word has the power to be a symbol of everything right, and good, and true within our society.
That said, it seems our F-word fascination has not only found a steroid-like burst of usage, it’s evolved to a point of owning droves of definitions.
Here’s my question:
Is it possible we’ve devalued the profundity of a word by stretching it’s applicability?
I feel it’s safe to say, we’ve become a people that have gone F-word crazy. Our desperate yearning for authenticity has triggered us to create a crutch with the F-word and we’ve now--ironically--arrived to a destination ambiguity.
The idiocentric possibilities alone have neutralized the potency the word once carried.
Of course the word in question here is FAMILY.
So maybe now it’s easier to see a bit of the struggle we have at Haiti Mama.
Families restoring families...That’s what we’re about. Though due to the word’s evolution, we’ve discovered the term FAMILY doesn’t quite resonate as much as it should in our privileged culture.
You see in Haiti, the word still represents the ideal of everything we strive to be and very well could be. It still strikes a chord unlocking a hope that makes others better. For Haitians facing the daily battles of mental and physical poverty, Family not only represents the foundation of which they’re standing it’s the embodiment of survival. Simply put, you fight harder when you have a reason. And for Haitians, it’s family.
And so, we’re here to say we needn’t not let the pillars of Family be forgotten. When we say Families restoring families, we speak of the profound--and yes--even life-changing potential the F-word really carries.
Family, at its root, is meant to be more than a mere place you feel comfortable with familiar people; more than the inside-jokes.
Family helps shoulder the load of your baggage. Family understands the imperfection of humanity and loves you anyway. Family asks what you need then moves heaven and earth to give it to you. Family sits with you in the rain and shares their umbrella. Family will not let you go. Family dares to push for better. Family means sharing food, money, jobs, home, everything for the sake of survival. Family breathes live into your soul with its simple profundity and consistent presence.
If we truly wish to see a revival radically transform culture on a level we’ve only dreamt of, it starts by recognizing the simple basic truth: Family. Is. All.
Let us dare to live as though our bloodied knuckles, unyielding perseverance, and hours sweating in the un-glamorous moments of monotony providing the basic love and needs we tend to take for granted as though they matter most. After all, Family makes surviving worth it.
Here is Haiti Mama. We proudly wave the F-word flag. At the core of everything is love--tho fractured--has been there all along. May we live in the muck, meet each others needs--no matter how basic. May we laugh, mourn, and search for sustenance.
Let us discover the light together by strengthening what we’ve already been given.
Families restoring families. Let’s start there.
~ Mitchell Roush, Stateside C.O.O.
