The path of greatness is one of constant assault; people in your life and society more broadly will attempt to flatter and harass, comfortand undermine, seduce and break you into mediocrity. An inclination towards greatness, such as I see in you Qadir, is an existential threat to mediocrity; faced with the realization of the former, the latter becomes frenzied, defensive, attempting to justify its own existence. Your aspiration will elicit opposition from the expected corners, but also from some unexpected places - friends, lovers, possibly even family; but also it will tempt a seemingly indifferent universe to conspire with you in achieving good and momentous things. You are permitted a long path to greatness, marked by the varying outcomes of experiments and adventures, but ultimately I expect nothing less from you Brother, nothing less.
"kind (adj.)
“friendly,” from O.E. gecynde “natural, native, innate,” originally “with the feeling of relatives for each other,” from P.Gmc. *gakundiz, from *kunjan (see kin), with collective prefix *ga- and abstract suffix *-iz. Sense development from “with natural feelings,” to “well-disposed” (c.1300), “benign, compassionate” (c.1300)."
I’ve always been fascinated with the word - both in terms of how it comes off the tongue and what it means to practice it. It crystallized for me today that the word has to do with kinship. To extend the compassion we are wired to demonstrate to our blood-ties, is to expand our circles of empathy and self-interest, extending kinship to others.
Reflections @ the intersection of Family and Web 2.0
“…[because my father doesn’t have a computer] there is so much of my life that he misses out on that the rest of my family gets to see…it’s very hard for him to visualize what it is I even do in my day-to-day world.”
I went to Christian McBride’s tribute to Herbie Hancock last night and it reminded me of you, Malik. I miss the sound of your trumpet.
I know there were some good times before we became strangers and I wish I could remember them better, like when we used to serenade mom in the kitchen while she cooked.
After the concert tonight, I went to the CoHo and ordered the Satin Doll. It is the only food I ever eat there, mostly because of the name; Satin Doll the song was a favorite of yours. Today would have been your 26th birthday.
It’s confusing when you send completely unrelated responses to a topical thread. It’s probably a better idea to just create a new email with a subject line, and direct it to a specific recipient if it isn’t of general relevance to the family list. Also, typing in all caps is considered rude.
These are some meditations on culture, art, politics, tech and the beautiful struggle. I am a digital grio, curator of big ideas, non-stop social commentator, design-curious techie, aspiring entrepreneur and philanthropist, DC native.
“There are limits on rights that society has generally agreed to, and while defining and redefining those limits is a robust and important part of our...”
