Inspiration

Curiosity, opportunity and appreciation summed up my feelings as I completed my eighth grade world history course. I had learned cursory facts, mentally visualized faraway war zones, palaces and dinner tables.  All the while wondering about the missing specifics . . . the conversations that may have happened over the dinner tables, the smell of food as it was being served, and the feelings of fear or bravery that soliders may have experienced while they charged the battle fields.  

As I embarked on coloring in the missing details . . . I spoke to many people that lived through recent events . . . my uncle who served in the gulf war, and the mother who was displaced from her home in Sudan due to civil war. I saw a common thread, a shared humanity . . . but this seemed to be missing from the history courses and books I had encountered.  

This shared humanity reminded me of President Thomas Jefferson's inaugrual address from 1801, in which he eloquently stated ". . . every difference of opinion, is not a difference in principle."  In contemplating this, I realized that . . . while historical stories taught us about waged wars, triumphs and failures . . . the actions of the historical actors often stemmed from a base principle of equity and humanity when viewed from the perspective of the perpetrator.  Each actor in history was working from perspective or lens that may not be shared in the traditional sense of written history. 

Fast forward to 2010, in President Barack H. Obama's election speech, he stated " . . . we are not a group of red states and blue states, we are the United States." For me, this was reaffirming the century old rhetoric of President Thomas Jefferson. Both men shared a belief that we should not be separated by opinions, but united in principal and shared beliefs.  A unification, I believe can start with listening and understanding. 

Many questions came to my mind, as I realized there was much to learn from history . . . the ways our history books can shape our perspective today, the things history can teach us to help guide us towards gaining understanding and crossing bridges. 

Among the things our history books do provide, they often don't provide opinions, diverse perspectives, or first person experiences. These books serve to sufficiently educate us, but what more could I learn?

This ignited my curiosity, and upon reflection I then realized how history is unfolding around me. What historical events did I want to learn from? The Ancient Greek Sicilian Expedition came to mind. "What did the Greeks on this expedition ponder?"  "What were their motivations?" "Did they doubt their success, or only come to self-doubt when they began to lose?" This event constantly made me ponder, what things could I learn that weren't in the history books?

This ignited in me a yearning for a complimentary perspective on history. To pacify this, I engaged in dialogue with refugees who fled various wars, presecution or civil unrest.  As I was in the depths of soliciting personal perspectives of those who made history I realized two things: first, the need and responsibility to be a part of something that builds, grows and supports the personal storytelling of history; and second, how much narrated spoken history had to say.

At the heart of this preservation effort, is my mission to educate on the cultural and personal gaps in written history. I would like to use my work to build bridges . . . bridges that help foster understanding across divergent opinions, build friendship across opposite sides of the story and compassion during adversity.  

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