I don’t know who thought the Super Bowl kicked off on Sunday at 5:30pm Central Time. It has been a long time coming but I know A Change Is Gonna Come. Sam Cook put it out there. His VOICE carries the reflection of emotions and memories that will trigger the Revolution. If We The People will not Progress and Accept Evolution our Nation will be doom without Progressive Solutions.   What did you see through your lens? I guess it all depends. Were you watching the game?  I saw more than just a Game. I did roll those 50 years back. America came together and push FORWARD.  A brilliant teaching tool was released by the flip of a coin. You got CHANGE.  DIVERSITY led the KICKOFF. Everyone did their fair share.  Time to Roll Back!

I remember sitting on the floor with my son rambling through all of his football and baseball major league cards. He could see the great despair on my face. He would always say, “Don’t worry MaMa one day we will have black quarterbacks.”  When the GAME was the GAME and money wasn’t thrown around like water all the big time quarterbacks were white.  All I could see at that time was Terry Bradshaw, Len Dawson, Roger Staubach, Fran Tarkenton, Bob Griese, Joe Namath, Dan Marino, Joe Montana and Johnny Unitas. If you got a card with Bart Starr’s picture it was a Great Kodak Moment. Another doorway was open by a young man name Doug Williams who played with the Washington Redskin.  He was the only black quarterback at the times paving the way for Randall Cunningham, Warren Moon, Cam Newton, Donovan McNabb, James Winston, Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III (RG3).   Teddy Riley crossed over to mix it up with the Gospel Group, The Winans. Yes, it is Time To Make That Change. Rolling my mental processing forward A Change did come. Flipping the coin backward here is what I recall.

My son was so hopeful. He would say, “Time to put a smile on your face.” He would call out Christian Okoye (The Nigerian Nightmare), Marcus Allen, Ickey Woods (fullback), Tony Dorsett, Jamal Anderson, Roger Craig, Walter Payton all of his favorite Running Backs. He carried in his back pocket the cards of Deron Cherry and Ronnie Lott (Defensive Safety favorites).   Underneath his pillow, the cards of Deon Sanders (Corner), Charles Woodson (Corner/Safety) Albert Lewis (Corner) protected him from the Shadow Creeper.  In his shoebox, his ultimate warrior Wide Receivers were placed in those little cellophane pouches.  Jerry Rice, Tim Brown, Mark Ingram Sr., John Taylor and Mark Clayton would last forever. Offensive Lineman and Linebackers were off-limits. My son said he had to keep some secrets. I was cool with that. Roll It FORWARD.

As I watch the game there was an ease of my breathing and no tension on my shoulders.  In Super Bowl 2016  your white quarterback was Payton Manning. On the opposite end of the spectrum, your black quarterback was Cam Newton. There was a Hispanic coach, Ron Rivera.  There was a white Coach Gary Kubiak. Half-time demonstrated a balance.  DIVERSITY was the star.  No headliner could be found to give DIVERSITY the proper introduction. DIVERSITY stood on its own. What a send-off!  As I watch the game I could say,  “ALRIGHTY THEN”  instead of “ALL WHITEY THEN.”  TouchDown for DIVERSITY.  From Remembering The Titans to the movie 42 everyone came together and did what they do. Bruno Mars, Lady GaGa, Beyonce, and Cold Play pointed it out on  Super Bowl 2016 day.  Are you ready to move the needle?

It took years and years of steps and gradual CHANGE.  The INCLUSION of all these UNIQUE people to come together at Levi’s Stadium was remarkable. Fifty years have passed. UnBelievable! Yet Super Bowl 2016 looked so different to me.   Through my lens, I was caught up in the moment of viewing people of different races, ethnicities, and ages. Regardless of their incomes, physical abilities, religious beliefs, sexual orientations and different ideologies these people were all under one roof. The United States of America is under one roof.  If the people in our nation could surround themselves with ACCEPTANCE, RESPECT, UNDERSTANDING, and get over their petty biases we could move the needle FORWARD once again. Our level of tolerance would allow us to embark upon embracing and celebrating the DIFFERENCES of each INDIVIDUAL.   A foundation built with strong SUPPORTS, a SAFE POSITIVE ENVIRONMENT, nurturing with the seeds of EDUCATIONS for GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT moves the needle of DIVERSITY toward monumental CHANGES and PROGRESS.  TouchDown!  We must all do our FAIR SHARE and not complicate things.  One Nation, under GOD, Indivisible, and Justice__ Evolutionary Swing.