At the college orientation, family was emphasized. And as I listened to college administrators praise family members for their hard work and both spoke to and observed numerous families from all over the world, I once again recognized the importance of family. Later though as I watched people of all ages scurry along city sidewalks during busy work day, I wondered if we value family enough as a country. Do we as citizens demand the kinds of supports and respect that family deserves in our country or do we provide greater supports and respect for business and the economy while underserving families?
I am curious why we don't advocate for all that supports good, strong families more? Using a broad definition of family as the multi-age group of people we love most, take care of, and rely on, I'm thinking that we can do more to support strong caring families across the country, and by supporting families more, we will, in turn, create stronger, more loving and peaceful communities.
I've mentioned this fact often, and will mention once again that at a round table at Google years ago with many leaders from across a number of organizations, the overwhelming priority of each member of the group was their family. Yet when we look at the news, listen to political debate, and view world issues, we rarely hear people talking about and prioritizing what we can do as a people and country to better support families.
I think there is a lot of potential when it comes to better serving families at home in the United States and throughout the world. This potential begs a number of questions including the following:
I am curious why we don't advocate for all that supports good, strong families more? Using a broad definition of family as the multi-age group of people we love most, take care of, and rely on, I'm thinking that we can do more to support strong caring families across the country, and by supporting families more, we will, in turn, create stronger, more loving and peaceful communities.
I've mentioned this fact often, and will mention once again that at a round table at Google years ago with many leaders from across a number of organizations, the overwhelming priority of each member of the group was their family. Yet when we look at the news, listen to political debate, and view world issues, we rarely hear people talking about and prioritizing what we can do as a people and country to better support families.
I think there is a lot of potential when it comes to better serving families at home in the United States and throughout the world. This potential begs a number of questions including the following:
- How can we develop knowledge and respect for the diversity of families that exist?
- Why do some families suffer and how can we support those areas of family life?
- What evidence and experience of strong families do we want to promote in order to strengthen our communities and create more peaceful, healthy, and happy places to live?
- How might each institution, organization, business, and government support family more?
When visiting the National African American Museum this weekend, I was moved by the strength of the museum and the invaluable story the museum relays--a multi-faceted, emotional story that every American needs to understand. I was also struck by the number of loving families I saw at the museum, which made me think that perhaps the Smithsonian's next museum should be the National Museum of Families--a museum that highlights the strength, diversity, and value that family plays in our culture and society.