So. It may not come as a great surprise that I am an avid reader. As a kid and young adult, I consumed books at an alarming rate – so much so that my mom refused to give me new books purchased for travel time before we were actually on the plane or in the car because I would finish them before we ever went anywhere.

I read because I loved stories, adventures, and mysteries.

Now, as a librarian, I still read for those reasons, but also because I want to understand and gain perspective. I had my favorite authors – still do, in fact, though some of them have changed over the year – but through resources like Booktube, some of my fellow bookworms, and fellow librarians, I’ve realized just how limited my pool of books that I have been reading from is. I’ve noticed I have a particular lack of books by black authors that I’ve read and I’ve tried to discern why that is the case.

So here’s a fairly lengthy example, but hopefully the rambling will make sense eventually.

I love Korean/Chinese/Japanese shows. Since I don’t speak any of those languages (I’m working on learning Korean right now, but my understanding of it while watching a Korean show amounts to excitedly pointing out, “She said ‘thank you!’ He said “APPLE” – I HEARD and RECOGNIZED it!” – but as you can see, that’s not particularly helpful to understanding full sentences in a show), I watch them with subtitles.

I’ve gotten a lot of weird looks over the years like, “How can you enjoy those shows if you don’t understand them?” “Isn’t it exhausting to try to watch and read subtitles at the same time?”  “But the acting is so weird!”

And I’ve always wanted to say, “Don’t you know the amazing stories you are missing out on?! They have such powerful characters and incredible insight into difficult topics.”

But it’s uncomfortable and foreign. And yes, it takes work. You have to engage more – can’t be scrolling through your phone or having a conversation to the side as you half tune-in.

And yes, there are definitely aspects of these shows where I’m like, “That was weird” or “I’m sure there was a joke in there somewhere, but it flew over my head because I’m not part of that culture.”

Then there’s life outside of shows and entertainment – my charming Korean library assistants who help me with pronunciation and make me feel absolutely hilarious because they’re laughing with me the whole time as my American tongue fumbles through the words.

The Malaysian workers whose faces light up when I say “Terima kasih” or “Selamat Pagi” – even though I can’t speak much more Malay than that, they get so happy when I try, even when I’m mispronouncing words.

The guard at our school who is teaching me how to greet him in Nepali, complete with hand gestures.

But I get uncomfortable because it’s hard to practice languages and gestures and I can offend people if I do something wrong…which can also reflect poorly on my country, which the rest of the world kind of already thinks poorly of.

But I’m learning to lean into that discomfort because that’s where growth happens. Mistakes are made, yes, but how will I know how to do better unless I try?

So where am I going with this?

It’s time for the United States to lean into discomfort. And it starts by learning about the culture they have right beneath their noses – Black Culture.

It’s time to read, listen to, and watch the artistry put out by black people.

We have been missing out on some incredible stories. Some terrible stories. Some beautiful stories.

And we’re missing them because we go to what is most comfortable and popular to us for our entertainment – which is sadly bereft of diversity.

It’s time to change that.

It’s time to push the boundaries and get messy.

We’re going to be uncomfortable. We’re going to realize what we have been blind to. We’re going to get some unflattering pictures of ourselves.

But we need to stop being so fearful of making mistakes. We are human, we are sinful, we are going to fumble and fall – sometimes badly. We’ve got to be willing to look a little stupid and ignorant – because we are!

But that’s where change happens. That’s where understanding is obtained. That’s where growth occurs. We have to learn to ask for forgiveness, to listen more intentionally, and to make deliberate choices to understand better.

So watch shows like 13th, Dear White People, and Luke Cage on Netflix.

Read books like The Hate U Give, The Fire Next Time, and I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.

Listen to music by people like Leslie Odom Jr., Lecrae, and James Brown.

Get uncomfortable.

It takes work; it takes humility.

But the fruit is deeper understanding, empathy, and love.

And, Lord willing, it will bring change.