There is history, and then there is HISTORY.  It seems to be the theme of this trip.  This gang (above) is all connected by a shared history with the organization Youth Speaks.  It’s why Dion and I started touring together.  It’s what propelled Adriel and I to start touring as iLL-Literacy.  It’s how I’ve met Brittany, how I’ve seen Chinaka grow, how I’ve bonded with Shannon.  We bumped into Chinaka and Shannon that day after Adriel, with his wife, Lovely, got us into the National Museum of African American History and Culture through his job at the Smithsonian.  We came to reflect on history and that’s exactly what we got.  There’s a philosophy out there that urges you to let go of the past, to move forward and either be present or focus on the future.  But then there are those of us who believe opposite, some out of sentimentality, but some who are just careful, that suspect that history might show us the way forward.  Of course, I am the latter.  I just keep thinking about what got me here, and as I meditate deeply on where to go next, I use history as a guidepost on what not to do, what I’ve always cared about, and what keeps coming back.  Every time I look back I see something new because I keep becoming something new.  So even in the present, as I look at this photo, in a place of history, with people I have history with, I know how I see all of it will continue to change as I change and as the world changes.  Right now, I look at it with a smile, with gratitude, with the knowledge that we all have great work to do.  I’m marking the moment.  I’m making space for it.