A few years ago, my son took me to a lecture by George Takei in Edmonton. For those who don’t know, he played Lieutenant Sulu in the original Star Trek television series. I can’t remember the title of his lecture, but much of it was about his experiences as an Asian person and actor in America. I remember thinking that although his talk was interesting, his title was rather dull, and he should have called it ‘Surviving Starship Earth.’
Takei was born in 1937 in Los Angeles, and when he was 5 years
old his family was uprooted, as were so many others of Japanese origin in the
U.S. and Canada, to be taken to internment camps. In Takai’s case these were in
Arkansas and northern California.
Later he studied architecture at Berkley, and while there
he answered an ad for voiceover work in the English version of a Japanese film
called ‘Rodan.’ He got the job and this led to other opportunities, and
eventually to Star Trek and work in other television programs and movies.
In his lecture, Takai talked about racism and bias in the
world he had to navigate from childhood. As he grew older, he became a leading
voice in fights for social justice, as well as for LGBTQ rights and marriage
equality.
Some of you may remember the band ‘Jefferson Airplane’ which
later changed its name to ‘Jefferson Starship.’ Songs like ‘Surrealistic Pillow’
and ‘White Rabbit’ defined a period of psychedelic rock, though the band changed
with different members and music through the years.
I became curious as to who might have originated the term ‘Starship
Earth.’ Turns out the architect, systems theorist, designer and inventor,
Buckminster Fuller ‘coined the
phrase "Spaceship Earth" to describe our planet. He felt that all
human beings were passengers on Spaceship Earth, and, like the crew of a large
ship, people had to work together in order to keep the planet functioning
properly.’ From the website What
is Spaceship Earth? | R. Buckminster Fuller Collection - Spotlight at Stanford
You may remember Fuller for his geodesic domes, which design
had a huge following for many years. According to the above website, ‘Throughout his career, Bucky traveled
around the world to lecture about the importance of using design science to
improve the quality of life for all people on planet Earth. Thus, he inspired
many people to think about humanity on a global scale, and to think about what
they might do as individuals to solve global problems.’
Where am I going with all this,
you may ask?
Well, it ties in with what I believe as a person and writer.
For humanity and the earth to survive we need diversity and tolerance of that
diversity. For the present, this is the only home we have. Most people would
not burn down or wreck the place they live in on purpose. However, if we look
at ourselves realistically, that’s exactly what we’ve been doing with this planet.
I’ve written before about the many
challenges we face and how some have come up with solutions. And even if we
someday manage to build a starship to take us to other planets, we’ll still
have to communicate with each other, and
work together.
Writers, whether they write fiction, nonfiction, poetry or
prose, can do a great deal to open people’s minds and hearts to the diverse
faces and lives of humanity. A lot has changed in how many of us see the world,
how much more hidden history has been coming to the fore. We don’t all know everything,
haven’t all had the same experiences. However, we can be sensitive in our writing
and our actions to the diversity of human beings. It may not always be easy,
but there are resources to help us if we are willing to listen, search, and
learn.
Quite a while ago I had an email from Amanda responding to
one of my posts and suggesting my posting a link to a website she found
helpful. Her comments are below. Thanks Amanda!
I saw that you talk about writing on your site here serimuse.blogspot.com/2020/. I
really liked what you shared. I found it really helpful.
Surfing the internet looking for more information on
writing, I found this article that talks about sensitive writing and its importance:
https://www.websiteplanet.com/blog/sensitive-writing-guide/
This guide really helped me understand how one can
enhance interaction by creating a safe and inclusive environment for
communication. When writers are mindful of the reader's emotions and
experiences, they can establish a sense of trust and empathy. This can
encourage readers to engage more deeply with the content and feel comfortable
sharing their own thoughts and feelings.
