On July 13th, 2015 Broadway previewed greatness. That greatness came in the form of a musical, Hamilton, that would break numerous records, dominate the charts and take America by storm. The songs from it would become symphonies and the actors are now on their way to becoming household names. This is all happening while the creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, is teaching his audience a copious amount of life lessons.
Let's start with the first, and possibly most important, diversity. Lin has stated in numerous interviews that his masterpiece is, "America then told by America now". This statement is in reference to Hamilton's casting. Miranda's decision to have a diverse group of actors portray Caucasian political figures is exactly what our world needed. The show is amazing and the actors ethnicity only adds to that! In today's society we need diversity and acceptance more than ever before and if anything proves that, it's Miranda's masterpiece. I promise, it is impossible to argue this point while you are listening to Lin-Manuel Miranda (Alexander Hamilton) and Daveed Diggs (Thomas Jefferson) have a rap battle in the middle of a cabinet meeting.
It absolutely disturbs me that there are people in our society that still feel that it is okay to discriminate against someone. To those people I have a homework assignment for you: 1) go to iTunes. 2) Search, "Hamilton". 3) Click on the first album. 4) Scroll down to lucky number 13 titled, "Wait for It". 5) Play it and soak in the greatness but more importantly, listen. In these lyrics Miranda penned his most important message. In this song, Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr) sings the lines "love does't discriminate", "death doesn't discriminate" and "life doesn't discriminate". After you have absorbed the message remember it. Why should we spend our lives discriminating when the one thing that is going to inevitably get us all isn't discriminatory?
On a lighter note, one of Miranda's other messages is to "...look around at how lucky we are to be alive right now." This is first sung in the song, "The Schuyler Sisters" and it is a chilling reminder that everyone is lucky. Everyone has been blessed. Don't waste your time on Earth dwelling on something bad that happened to you. Greet every moment with bliss and tackle every challenge with poise. Fill your body with ambition and never let it leave you. Relish in how lucky you are to have been blessed with the gift of life and make it your own.
The last message is really just an expansion on the last one. In the musical, Alexander Hamilton is constantly being reminded by himself, and other characters, to not throw away his "shot". I feel that this is Lin urging his audience to seize the moment. If you feel that you have been given a golden opportunity take it and claim it. Don't walk away from it or throw it away due to fear or lack of ambition. Go out and look for that ambition and don't forget how lucky you are while you're at it.
If you are one of those people who have been fortunate enough to see this revolution in action please pass the messages along. Push others to listen to the cast album and let the lessons fill their ears. Let them open their eyes and see what America now truly is and give them the incentive they require to embrace it. As someone who dreams of being as successful of a writer as Lin is one day I can only hope that I make as much of an impact and teach as many lessons as he has. He truly is making history.
