Hello World of Bloggers!
This is my first blog! I’m very excited. I had to think for a while what I should write about. Then, it dawned on me while I was reading my “daily cup” of news this morning. In the Herald today, there was a story about the campaign to remove the r-word. The controversy is like the one over the n-word. The word itself has become taboo, and soon, I hope, the r-word will too.We recently had on Comcast Newsmakers 2 guests representing Best Buddies: Cynthia Gaye and Kristian Chima. Kristian is mentally disabled, but it has not stopped him from being an amazing student. He is a Buddy Ambassador and a Buddy Director at Mast Academy. When I met him at the studio, it seemed as if the room lit up. The day had been really long. I was a little tired because our taping days run from 7:30 in the morning to 6 in the evening. On those days, I get up at 5 in the morning to be at the studio by 7:00 am. I’m usually the first one to arrive and last one to leave. A typical day in a producer’s world. However, when I met Kristian, you can tell he was very excited about the show. It put the biggest smile on my face . It was refreshing to see someone so happy about a taping. Very often, we may get guests who are used to doing television interviews. They know the protocol, which, I won’t complain, is very helpful. But when I see a child like Kristian light up for his very first interview, it really does makes me feel that I am doing good in this world. Kristian did remarkably well. A little nervous, but none-the-less, very well. You can check out his interview with Cynthia Gaye of Best Buddies on Comcast Channel 29 on CNN Headline News throughout this month. If you watch it, let me know what you think of it.
It’s children like Kristian that made me rethink how I use the r-word. Kristian and others like him are everything but the r-word. They are smart, loving, cheerful and full of life.
I admit I’m guilty of using the word the wrong way, but since that interview I vowed to never use the word again. I hope you can make the same promise to SPREAD THE WORD TO END THE WORD!
That is awesome Michelle. I am on that same mission to have people stop using that word. You know how I feel about my students who are all mentally disabled and they are anything but what people mean for this word to mean. So bravo!
A truly awesome blog. Every time we get the word out, it will make people more aware of what they say and how it can affect other people. So glad you are in the right place at the right time to get this message across! Mucho exito!
Wonderful article to get the message across. glad that you are in the right place at the right time to make people more aware.
Thank you so much for your blog and for inviting Kristian and I to Comcast for the interview. We loved sharing R-Word Campaign with all of your viewers. It is also very exciting to see your post on you personally taking the pledge to not use the R-Word. That is inspiring to us! Thanks again, Michelle!