The Power of Acceptance and Where It could Go...

When I was having my Board Review to become an Eagle Scout (The final step to becoming one), I was asked the question: If you were to give one word to scouts, leaders, and people in general to live by, what would it be? I thought long and hard, and as many "correct answers" passed my mind such as Bravery, Love, Patience, Strength, Unity, etc. this one stood out the most, mainly because it is something I have lived by all my life. ACCEPTANCE! Now, I could go on about the reasoning for that answer forever. All you need to know is, it was very well received and I backed it up very well. Why is that important for you to know? Well, because it's one of the few things I am very passionate about that also happens to be an issue today. As much as I'd like to believe that America and the World is headed in some direction of equality, we have a long way to go. I am a firm believer in equal rights basically on every capacity. As we all know, racism is a huge issue that we sometimes forget or just choose to ignore, because  we're supposed to be past that. Yet, get on any social media, and the first thing you'll see is some racial issue, or just people in an argument that escalated to something racial because they were of different backgrounds, when the original discrepancy had nothing to do with race at all. (personally, I don't believe in race, because we are all homo sapiens, which means "wise man." Ironic, I know!) Also, people have a certain freedom behind a keyboard, particularly the wonderful comments you'll find on youtube. (yes, i know. I went there.) And many more examples that could be used. Another issue is the right for same sex marriage. I for one, support it. Two, it is something that is still not allowed in most of the country, and yet we're supposed to be "America" home of the brave. Free and Equal. United we stand. One Nation. Yet we limit people that live a different life style just because it may make people uncomfortable, angry, blasphemous, etc.

So, where am I going with all this? Well, I was taught a very successful technique on getting large crowd's attention by the Magnificent Nicholas Erickson. This technique is known by many as flocking. Before I get into how I would utilize it, I will first give you my objectives.

1. Bring awareness to both the issues mentioned above
2. By the end of experiment, have all or most bystanders want to make a change, or at least spread the word on what they saw.
3. Stress that no matter how you may disagree with either issue, to ACCEPT people for who they are. As cliche as that sounds, it can be a huge step forward once someone makes that decision.
4. Engage the people well enough to watch and listen the whole time. (this would be the most difficult)

This is what I would do.

I would have a large group flock together to grab the attention of the people in a public area. If we're talking LSU campus: the quad, parade grounds, student union, front yard of MDA, major parking lots, The 5 and 459, and any other decently sized area on campus, such as the courtyard of the education complex. When I said large group, I meant it, as I would have all this happen in each area simultaneously. Once the attention is grabbed by a substantial amount the flocking would end and transition to scenarios of these different options of themes. Both positive and negative.

Acceptance
Awareness
Bullying
Discrimination
Equality
Harassment
Ignorance
Unity

Many others can be added or taken from the list, but you get the idea.

I feel this would be effective as it is a new way to bring up the issues, and engage the people.
Because it is live and somewhat performative, they can't just click the "x" or keep scrolling.
Also, because it would be done on such a large scale, it would be talked about all around campus for a long time and most probably make news, become a viral video on social media, and at least have the issues rethought and possibly cause the ultimate goal of moving forward, even if it were a baby step.

Post a Photo, Create a Play

I usually don't like answering a question with another question, however, I would like to ask: Can a twitter play consist of just photographs? No words at all, just picture after picture. Could it even be said that a twitter play can be just one photo with hashtags? If so, I would 100% agree that  time and place definitely reinforce the reality of these plays.

For example: Saturday October 25, 2014 was a night LSU fans won't forget. After LSU upset Ole Miss, LSU fans rushed the field in tiger stadium. This hasn't been done since 2001. So in other words, it was kind of a big deal. That being said, I posted a picture of myself and a friend (Laine Korn) on the field. It immediately became the most popular post I had ever posted on any social media. It made me think of the saying a picture is a thousand words. Granted, it probably would have gotten a good amount of recognition on its own, but because of time, place, and circumstance it got a far more likes, retweets, and grams than ever perceived.

1. LSU fans were liking everything LSU related. PERIOD.
2. The picture is pretty good, especially the poses.
3. Knowing that everyone would be on their news feed after the game, the timing was perfect.
4. Using the hashtags #LSU #geauxtigers #paintedposse allowed it to get instant viewing.

All this is important to consider, as a story can be told from the expression on Laine and me's face, to the band playing in the background, to the people running amuck on the field out of pure excitement, and to the group of girls behind us taking a photo. (possibly another twitter play? the sequel?)

I realize this is a stretch from what we read, but I do think it possible to formulate said desired play from a photo or series of photos.