The stories are starting to roll in. We’re sharing smiles, celebrating with digital high-fives and learning something about how those of us who take politics seriously got started. What comes to mind when you read…
The question above requires recovering something about yourself that you once knew and took seriously. We must be onto something here at Politicolor because the artifacts we’re recovering in these stories harmonize with the themes that will guide our work here:
AWE
Hana Leshner shares the antics of an imaginative fifth grade teacher who made it possible for her and her classmates to connect with the characters of the 1996 presidential campaign. With an assigned scrapbook she couldn’t give up when the lesson was over, Hana became aware of the power embedded in the images and photographs that often accompany our stories but say so much more.
A guest contributor, Mirah Curzer, shares her story, “Standing on the Shoulders of Hippies” where she marvels at the unwavering support of her parents after she volunteered to represent her school’s Gay-Straight Alliance in a lawsuit against the school district. Mira recognizes how her story resonates with her family’s long history of activism and how today’s calls to action build on the social movements of our past.
DISCOVERY
Keith Gall recalls reflects on the moment when he first saw the difficult duality that exists in our classrooms. The way we teach and learn can be a tool to extend the conversation about how we know what we know or it can be a heavy hammer to shut down inquiry.
Heidi Wilbrandt makes sense of American politics through a Sunday night football habit with her dad. She emphasizes the power of owning a belief as one’s own and in being able to question what one believes.
CONNECTEDNESS
Jacqueline Hunsicker works through a story about a couple of precious cats to show how a sense of ownership makes democratic politics possible. Connecting through First Family pets, she came to see politics as something her own. She couldn’t leave it up to her parents or the Beltway.
Shellee O’Brien sees a big message in a simple act that united her hometown and relayed strength to Americans held hostage thousands of miles away. She began to question how ideas can both bring people together and threaten others while stepping forward to be seen as someone willing to represent those ideas.
There was a time when the world we saw in front of us called to us to imagine anything was possible. The question we started with takes us back to those moments and helps us look beyond the apathy, gridlock and partisan talking points that now limit what we think can “realistically” happen.
It’s worth remembering what we thought before we were so wise to reality. If a great moment came to mind while thinking about our question, please consider joining us and share your story.