McKenna Kynett, Blog Post #2
One thing that stood out to me was a specific line from the Russo reading that stated, “Through active listening and learning, and striving to shed a teacher and know-it-all feminist persona, I am reminded of how much I do not know and how much I do not understand” (38). This sentence really stuck out to me because I think this is something that many people, including myself, have a hard time with. We are constantly stuck in our own heads with our own thoughts, never accepting anyone else’s point of view’s. This ultimately closes us off to the outside world and other things that need our attention.
The point I’m trying to make from this particular passage from the reading is that everyone has a tough time accepting other people’s point of view, especially if it’s different than their own. This is a natural thing and it’s very hard to do. But through active listening and opening your mind up to new possibilities and ideas, we can create more diversity and problem solving with so many issues we have in this world. One example that I’ve seen of this has to do with Colin Kaepernick and his decision to sit during the national anthem. Many people took his actions as a disgrace towards this country and thought that he wasn’t giving enough respect to the people who have fought for our freedom. They had made their mind up the second they saw him do that and did not budge to listen to why or any of his reasons behind it. Because of this, he got a ton of back lash from it and it was quite controversial. Now I am not saying that I agree with what he did, but after doing more research and learning more about why he did this, I am reminded that everyone has a specific reason for their actions. Like me, so many other people didn’t listen at first to why Colin Kaepernick was doing this, but I read about several people stepping back and looking at the bigger picture of things and actually understanding where this athlete was coming from. A great example of such an influential leader in our country would be from President Obama in an article from Vox.com. He starts by mentioning that there are a lot of ways that Colin Kaepernick could’ve have gone about this because when it comes to the flag and the meaning that it holds for many people, it’s a tough thing to get past when they see someone sitting down for the anthem. Obama then follows up and says “But I don’t doubt his sincerity, based on what I’ve heard. I think he cares about some real, legitimate issues that have to be talked about” (vox.com). I think that this is just one example of how people used active listening to understand something extremely hard to get over. Because of this, more people understand each other’s point of view’s and this is just the start of important movements.
Overall, even though active listening can be an extremely hard thing to grasp and apply throughout your life, it’s important for people to try it in order to understand others and their points of views. Examples such as Colin Kaepernick and his movement is a bit extreme but through active listening, so many people have changed their mindset and started supporting what he stood for.
Work Cited:
Massie, V. M. (2016, September 06). 8 people who have defended Colin Kaepernick's right to protest, from President Obama to 49ers fans. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/2016/9/6/12813572/colin-kaepernick-protest-support
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