Last night, this blogger and author had the privilege to attend the documentary–“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”–about the life and career of Fred Rogers, known as Mr. Rogers on PBS for over thirty years, on his show “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood”.
Fred Rogers was a beautiful human being, who promoted good self image among children, emphasizing how each of us is unique and special.
He promoted love, compassion, empathy, and tolerance on issues of race, religion, sexuality, gender, and disabilities.
He made the lives of innumerable children, now adults, far better than they might have been without his show on PBS.
He helped children through the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968; the Challenger Astronaut Disaster of 1986; and the evil of September 11.
He promoted people accepting each other as they are, and looking for the good in people.
His show, through puppets and supporting cast, made children and their parents happier and more secure than they would have been otherwise.
In a time as now, in 2018, we so desperately need a Mr. Rogers to overcome the horrible sins of hatred, greed, selfishness, racism, nativism, misogyny, Islamophobia, antisemitism, prejudice against the disabled, and the poor of all backgrounds, represented by the total evil of Donald Trump and his supporting cast and base.
We need a political leader who will come to the forefront and overcome the cancer and absolute evil of Donald Trump, and take us in a different direction.
It was hard to watch this documentary and not have tears and despair, but there are other Fred Rogers out there, maybe not yet showing up in government, but playing their smaller roles as teachers, nurses, doctors, social workers, and others dedicated to making life better for all of us, not just the elite wealthy who could not give a damn about anyone but themselves!
Tom Hanks will portray Fred Rogers in a film to come out in 2019, entitled “You Are My Friend”.