WWW.BROOKLYN-USA.ORG MESSAGE FROM BOROUGH PRESIDENT ADAMS 3
A message from
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams
I recall one day sitting in a restaurant, watching a family enjoy lunch. The
woman at the table poured water into the glass of her child. A few tables
over were a husband and wife also enjoying a meal with their children. I
observed the man pouring soda into his child’s glass.
Years of consuming high-sugar items can lead to obesity, cancer and
other serious ailments. The effects are not instant, but over time the
repeated consumption of these liquids can negatively impact one’s physical
body.
Watching the two families spurred a period of reflection within me. From
birth, our human spirits are just like empty glasses. No one is born with a
full spiritual glass; the contents are poured into us throughout our lives. As I
watched these two families, I asked myself, “what are we pouring into each
other during our daily interactions?” Are we pouring metaphorically clean,
healthy substances like water or are we filling each other’s glass with things
as potentially unhealthy and corrosive as a sugary soda? Negative emotions
can lead to a cancerous spiritual body. A metaphysical glass can run over
after years of being filled with unhealthy interactions, with negative actions
spilling out.
Nothing personifies this more than what happened in Charleston, South
Carolina where a 21-year-old man walked into a church and killed nine
innocent people. This gunman’s glass was not born with a flood of hate and
prejudice already inside. It was filled over the years with toxic comments
and painful interactions. On June 17, 2015, his glass ran over with violence.
It is unfortunate that his actions are not the only display of a glass
running over with hate and pain. We only have to look at the many accounts
of violent behavior exhibited by far too many of our young people, from fights
between young girls inside fast-food restaurants gone viral to cyberbullying
run amok. Additionally, New York has recently felt the rising tide of hate
crimes such as the hanging of nooses and painting of swastikas, both
symbols of hates.
Warning signs are all around us. What’s more, we are adding, knowingly
or accidentally, to the emotionally unhealthy substances poured into our
young people. When a dad gives his child a gun as a 21st birthday present or
a mom buys her child a gangster rap CD that degrades women as a holiday
gift, these acts lead to the corrosion of their character.
Photo: Kathryn Kirk/Brooklyn BP’s Office
Borough President Adams enjoyed a moment standing in the rotunda of
Brooklyn Borough Hall.
As parents and adults, we have the greatest level of control over what is poured into our children. It has always been my desire to use my role
as a police officer and an elected official to create safe environments where we can raise healthy children and families. One of the most important
components of this goal is tolerance.
Tolerance is the water in our spiritual glass. When we pour tolerance into our children, we teach them how to co-exist with the various groups
that make up our borough, city and country. Forty-seven percent of Brooklynites speaks a language other than English at home; that is my favorite
statistic and one that guides my work. Immersing our children into these various cultures will allow the water of tolerance to flow into their spiritual
glasses. Taking them to visit various houses of worship and cultural institutions that promote diversity, in addition to events like our heritage
celebrations throughout the year and our International Day of Friendship in August, is all part of developing their full personhood.
Now is the time to flush out the glass and re-examine what we are pouring into our young people. I encourage you to visit my new website,
brooklyn-usa.org, to see opportunities where we can grow One Brooklyn in a positive way together, be it joining 10,000 Concerned Brooklynites,
engaging in our borough’s civic life or discovering something else enriching and exciting in which to get involved.
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