Do words mean anything anymore?

I am a huge fan of stand-up comedy.  I think that comedians hold a very special place in society, in much the same way that musicians do.  Good comedians have the ability to capture current events, distill them down to the core of their meaning, and then shoot them back to us in ways that make us both simultaneously  laugh uproariously and wince in pain.   I recently saw a special by funny man Michael Che that had just that effect on me.   If you haven't seen it, you should check it out on Netflix.  http://tinyurl.com/kqkzfza  At one point in the show he made reference to the movement  Black Lives Matter.  He didn't focus on the "black" or the "lives", he focused on the "matter."   He talked about what it meant to matter.  He said (I am paraphrasing)  Black people aren't asking to be special, or receive some privilege, we are simply asking that our lives "matter."    It was a very poignant moment, for me, and for the audience attending his show.   You could see it on their faces.   He examined on the word "matter"  and what it meant for almost a full two minutes.  "They just want to matter, that's all." he said.   "Who can argue with that?"

Well, it seems, a lot of people argue with that.  Or at least they argue with the movement.  I suspect because they have never really thought about what was being asked.  Could you, would you, really look someone in the face and tell them that their life doesn't matter?  I suspect not.  At the same time, our society turns a sometimes deaf and sometimes hateful ear to the marginalized members of our community who are just asking to "matter."   If you focus on the word, and not the implied meaning behind the word, it is very difficult to dismiss the notion.   I am glad Michael Che took the time to give the word the reverence it deserved.   If we take the time to actually listen to what people are saying, instead of having a knee jerk reaction to what we thought they meant when they said the words they said, we might actually move the needle on meaningful communication in our society.

Inclusion365 mission #14
I will listen to the words people use to communicate and consider their meaning before dismissing them.