“History Has Its Eyes on You”
By now you’ve watched Hamilton AT LEAST once a day since it was released and you still cry every time. The soundtrack has taken over your Spotify “On Repeat” playlist and you’re not even mad about it. You’ve researched the cast members and bought the Hamilton book by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hell, you are even seriously contemplating purchasing the biography that inspired it all.
Then, after taking a break from Anthony Ramos’ YouTube Channel (spoiler alert: SWOON!) you stumble across a YouTube video where they are interviewing the cast. Daveed Diggs is asked what lyric he would display on a sign to reflect how he’s feeling about our current state of affairs. He chooses “History Has Its Eyes on You” and talks about his personal role in this moment (#BlackLivesMatter movement).
Specifically, he mentions what kind of accountability he is able to insist upon and what his choices say about him. I won’t give everything away but the part that stuck out to me was when he was talking about holding people/brands accountable for change and he said “history has its eyes on me just like it has its eyes on them.”
Read that last sentence again.
It got me thinking…what am I doing to hold myself accountable for being part of the change? Am I sharing my stories? Am I being more conscious of where I spend my money? What am I no longer doing/accepting? Am I representing? Am I truly being the change I wish to see in the world?
I also loved how earlier in the YouTube video, Lin-Manuel mentioned how certain lines hit differently today than they did a few years ago due to our current political climate/state of affairs. We find ourselves here in 2020, having that same conversation as the founding fathers did when they were deciding what kind of nation they wanted to be.
So, what kind of country do you want to live in? How will you make your voice heard/stance known? How will you be the change you wish to see in the world? There are so many ways to be the change. Even when you think that you, as an individual, aren’t making much of a difference, I promise you that you are. “This is not a moment, it’s the movement.”
