REDEFINING ELDERSHIP: A Beacon of Light: Shared Knowledge Acquisition

By Destiny King

In my early years of elementary school, amongst memorizing the words on the bright, colorful banners that listed the values of our school, were words of wisdom from my southern grandmother softly reminding me to, “Be still in your heart, always be kind to all peoples, and don’t forget, honey, that this is all for your college education.” 

Although, I wasn’t sure why I should worry about college when all I was thinking about is if we would have [a large portion of] mashed potatoes at lunch. It was the beginning of my grandmother’s long-lasting impact of being a beacon of light in all my endeavors— when goal-setting, persevering, and holding love in my heart, when leading and being led.  

Merriam-Webster defines this beacon of light, or better known as a lighthouse, as: 

Lighthouse (noun): a structure (such as a tower) with a powerful light that gives a continuous or intermittent signal to navigators 

A poem that resonates with my own values and approaches in leadership and what I seek in a leader, is from poet & lyricist, Tiffany Aurora: 

“Let these eyes be a lighthouse.

Let these arms be a safe harbor. 

Let this heart be a long awaited shore.” 

“How do you know all of this?”

As an educator, creative, advocate, and arts administrator, I find myself in leadership within varying disciplines and diverse communities. Recently, a friend of mine came to me looking for advice as she is looking to change careers. As we exchanged resources at a coffee shop, and again over a three 3-hour FaceTime call, she asked me the question: “How do you know all of this?” 

At the moment, truthfully, I was bashful yet, initially, proud that I was able to share valuable information with someone and that they were able to gain great resources from what I shared. However, it wasn’t until I was talking with my partner about my frustrations of feeling constantly behind in knowledge and resources pertaining to my career, that I realized I was asking [unconsciously] my colleagues the same question, “How do you know all of this?” 

From this experience, I was reminded that we are lifelong learners. It’s impossible to know everything, but what we can do is change our mindset on knowledge acquisition being an individual journey. 

Giving Space for Sharing

At Creative Generation we value fostering intergenerational collaborations amongst our other values and commitments. However, alongside the importance of intergenerational collaborations are the undertones and understanding to inspiring joy, cultivating meaningful relationships, and not taking knowledge acquisition from our trusted elders for granted.

For me, elders look like mentors, sponsors, grandparents, and ultimately anyone that I consider a leader in whatever capacity that might be. This idea of knowledge acquisition being an individual journey can seem daunting, especially for career changers, young creatives, and anyone seeking knowledge, which is why I coined the term: shared knowledge acquisition. This isn’t a novel idea as I simply added “shared” as a way for us to think of sharing the ideas and knowledge gained. There are a few ways we can use shared knowledge acquisition, or in simple terms, using dialogue, to help facilitate and foster intergenerational collaboration. 

Below, I have curated three ways for youth to have dialogue and collaborate that circle back to Tiffany Aurora’s poem. This is not all inclusive, but in my experience, has helped me to foster intergenerational collaborations that honor, respect, and push for change that is pertinent to knowledge acquisition:

  1. Eyes of the Lighthouse: Create spaces in your current or potential connections for sharing experiences and illuminating knowledge. Make it known that you love the work your elder is doing and you would love to exchange ideas on topics you share interest in. This is a great way to acknowledge your elder’s great work, but also say, “Hey, I’d love to share what I have in mind, as well!”

  2. Safe Arms: Come prepared with questions that spark dialogue and are authentic. This is an opportunity for you to create meaningful relationships with your elders and not leave this new connection stagnant. 

  3. Your Heart: Find ways to share what you’ve learned in other spaces, particularly in your most related and frequented spaces. This is where your knowledge transcends the room and continues to develop as you seek new connections within your circle. As you can imagine, we want what’s learned to not stay with ourselves, but to continue to be shared with others. 

In both formal and informal conversations pertaining to learning, my most valuable experiences have stemmed from taking initiative in the actions above. However, I want to note this is not the sole responsibility of youth, but also elders alike. It takes time and making meaningful contributions, from both elders and youth, to create a dynamic that allows for such dialogue to take place. 

I also want to recognize and continue to hold (and prioritize) space for dialogue about the issues within knowledge acquisition. In a previous blog in our series of Redefining Eldership, André Solomon, mentioned our societies “idolize age as synonymous with wisdom,” which directly resonates with the notion that knowledge acquisition has historically been left to the individual. 

As someone who is curiosity-driven, asks a multitude of questions, and loves a good dialogue with anyone I come across, I sometimes have to remind myself that this does not come naturally to many of the generations that come before me. Now, I want to recognize this has not occurred with every elder that I’ve encountered. In fact, I am incredibly lucky to have mentors, sponsors, and family who help guide me through life’s tribulations and feel comfortable to hold space to simply talk without the restrictions of academic speech. I do want to recognize, though, the resilience and vigilance it takes to recognize trauma narratives and barriers from phrases such as, “Well, this is how it’s always been done,” or “You’re too young, but you’ll learn in time.” Negative non-verbal cues such as dismissing ideas, comments, or not giving space to young people because they haven’t “paid their dues” to the organization, only inhibits this idea of knowledge hierarchy as well. 

As youth and elders alike, I think we can all learn from exemplifying a lighthouse that illuminates stability and perseverance. 

As someone who enjoys giving mentorship when asked, just like with my friend above, all it takes is dialogue that feels safe, genuine, and meaningful. It’s not revolutionary, but it is essential. This does not mean losing part of yourself when in dialogue with elders, but taking time to foster the new age of shared knowledge acquisition. 

Now is the perfect time to hold dialogue, nurture your creative mind, and become a beacon of light in your destined, successful endeavors.