There was a moment in my recent conversation with "Brief But Spectacular" creator Steve Goldbloom and viral celebrities Flossie Lewis and Mahogany L. Browne when the room went silent.
It was after Lewis, a retired English teacher, looked with naked wonder and admiration at Browne, whose star has been shining since her poem “Black Girl Magic” went viral.
“My world is passing. Her world is coming. And I think most of us realize that and we will accept it gratefully and graciously,” the 94-year-old white woman said.
That moment was pure Flossie, leaving us wordless with her astounding sense of authenticity and truth and humility.
Flossie Lewis has been provoking generations of students into thoughtful silence since she began teaching in 1945.
One of her former students, writer Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket), commented that “she has the ability to startle. She has no time for your bullshit.”
Her desire to cut through niceties to get to what matters has left a profound impact in the lives of the people she’s taught and befriended over the years.
Which is why it isn’t surprising that her frank "Brief But Spectacular" segment about growing old has been viewed 7 million times since it originally aired on PBS NewsHour.
In the two minute, 45-second take, Flossie discusses how she keeps herself feeling young, despite her body reminding her of her eventual mortality.
“There is indigestion and your teeth fall out and suddenly you need hearing aids and you feel increasingly unattractive, and then somebody says, ‘How nice you look today, Mrs. Lewis! Or, ‘You're a real kick, Flossie!’” she said. “And you feel good about yourself. You pick yourself up and you say, ‘I'm going to get through it. I'm going to get through it because I have a reason to get through it.’”
On the other end of the generational spectrum stands Mahogany L. Browne, whose poetry has been featured on HBO’s Brave New Voices and whose "Brief But Spectacular" segment, "Black Girl Magic," is now a best-selling book.
Mahogany’s segment also made a big impression.
“Since it aired, I've received about five . . . videos from five young girls, all ages fourth grade and lower," she said. "They use the poem in oratorical contests now.”
“And I literally am bawling on the side of a freakin' mountain,” she added.
Of the current climate of division in our nation, Mahogany sees hope in the upcoming generation.
“They are on it and they're super empathetic. They're super compassionate and they're ready to fight for what's right,” she said. “I think the power is already in their hands. It requires younger teachers to really show them the way — you open the door, make sure the door’s open.”
There’s something, dare I say, magic when two women from two different races and generations separated by over 60 years of history connect over their common passion for education, poetry and language.
Hear more of my conversation with Steve Goldbloom, director and creator of "Brief But Spectacular" on PBS NewsHour, and his most popular subjects, writers Flossie Lewis and Mahogany L. Browne, recorded live at the Commonwealth Club of California:
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