In January 2011 I attended a luncheon of Landmark Graduates – www.landmarkeducation.com. An idea was postulated that had us imagine a world in the year 2020. Then we each were asked a question. What had we created by the year 2020 that helped make a world that worked? We were told to visualize what existed in the year 2020. From that imagined result we were told to think about what had to take place over the intervening years to cause that result. This idea was completely foreign to me. Normally I did goal setting a year at a time and I viewed it as something I had to make happen. Now I was being asked to see from the perspective of the future, and look back to see what actually occurred. There was no feeling of pressure to make something happen. Instead I could look back to see the things and people who were integral to its coming to pass.
To be honest, at the end of the meeting I didn’t really have a clear idea of what I wanted to see in 2020. I did, however, think about it over the next week or so. Then something happened. A young man by the name of Thomas Jamar “TJ” Mills was murdered at a convenience store in Newtown. Since I didn’t know him personally this usually would not mean much to me. A good friend, however, Eric Dunn had been a mentor/friend to TJ for several years in the Big Brother program. He was to speak at the funeral about TJ’s life.
The funeral was at a church on the outskirts of Newtown. It was what I considered to be a “black” church. I being a “white” man, didn’t quite feel comfortable there. Sitting in the pew with my wife and step daughter, I had the distinct feeling I didn’t belong. It wasn’t how I was treated. I was just aware of the fact this was not what I considered to be my community. They didn’t look like me. They didn’t talk like me. They didn’t think like me. Newtown as far as I was concerned bordered on Sarasota, and it’s problem were not my problems.
In the next hour and a half I had done a 180 degree turn. Eric talked about moments he shared in TJ’s life. He talked about the possibilities that were ahead for TJ. What a gifted and talented person he was, and what a waste for us all that he was taken. I really got a sense of loss that was personal to me. When Eric finished, Kelvin Lumpkin, Pastor of Light of the World International Church spoke. He was eloquent and his message was heartfelt. He spoke of the “to many other youths funerals” he had presided over because of similar circumstances. He talked of the lives and the contributions to the world that would never be realized because of senseless violence. As he spoke I looked around at the many people who were moved by his words. I came to see this was not a “black” thing or a “white” thing. It wasn’t a Newtown thing or a Sarasota thing. It was a human thing and we all shared it together. It was in that instant I realized that Newtown is my community. The problems in Newtown are my problems. We really are one community. The problems faced in one area are problems for us all.
I was so moved by this revelation I committed to abolishing this mental separation of Newtown versus Sarasota. In 2020 we are one city, where all citizens thrive. Sarasota is one community, where we each stand for and support each other in accomplishing those things that are important to us all, e.g. love, respect, food, shelter, health, prosperity and safety. I am not advocating new government programs or political initiatives. I believe this transformation will occur at the grassroots level in the conversations we have in our homes, our neighborhoods and all communities in which we partake. I have created this website to facilitate that conversation. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely, Gary Larson