If you want to get deep into the discussion around race in America and approach it from a number of different perspectives, I can’t recommend the latest issue of Smithsonian Magazine enough. I’m completely engrossed in every story. It’s an incredible example of journalism that combines a long lens historical perspective, evocative personal stories of struggle and triumph (in equal amounts), and a future vision of hope that we can fully accept and explore our past and not be solely defined by it. Just amazing.
Tag: history
Wonder: Project Rubeus and the beauty of small solutions
“The problem with history is that it usually doesn’t go back far enough.” ~Reverend James Forbes
We have a lot of great big problems in this world. Sometimes I think they’re getting bigger, more numerous, and more complex because we think that all big problems need big solutions. Lately, I’ve been challenging myself to find the smallest solutions possible, solutions that are simple, easy, elegant, and inexpensive.
Project Rubeus is a perfect example of this. I’m trying to solve the problem students face having to sift so much history to make sense of the world around them. And because time waits for no one and history is being made every day, this problem will only get more complex with each passing day.
I could develop an enormous, expensive solution that boils the ocean in search of the most distal shreds that build a cohesive story with multiple perspectives. I want to focus on finding the smallest slice of a solution that works, and then go from there. Step by step, piece by piece, word by word. That’s how all great travels start, how all great works of art get made, and how all great books get written.
Just focus on the next and smallest step, see what you find there, and proceed with love. That is enough.
Wonder: You can build the door to your own future
Sometimes, you happen upon a door that leads you down a path you never knew existed. And sometimes you have to build a door for yourself and then pave the path you intend to walk. Yesterday, the latter happened to me. I built a door to my future and then walked through it. On the other side of the door was Notion Theory.
I’ve been kicking around my idea for Project Rubeus, a history-based ed tech product, for about two weeks and I met with Notion Theory, a development team who could actually build a small working prototype for me. The guys at Notion Theory are kind, whip-smart, and passionate about their work. They get the purpose of the project and its many applications. In under an hour, we all walked away over-the-moon excited about its potential. It involves heavy lifting in algorithm development, computational math, and machine learning, and it can be done in about 3 months for approximately $50,000. Those are very rough estimates, and now I’m working to find a way to piece together that money.
Sometimes we’re lucky enough to have our future find us. And if that’s not happening, then we have to go out there and build our future the way we want it to be. I’m rolling up my sleeves. This is going to get interesting.
Wonder: Black History Photo Archive Discovered at The New York Times
In honor of Black History Month, The New York Times is publishing never-before-seen photographs that depict powerful moments in black history. It’s unclear why the negatives of these photographs were buried for so long in yellowed aging envelopes in its archives. I hope that story eventually comes to light. In the meantime, the Times will add new photos to this website as it curates a deep, provocative exploration of race, an exploration that is long overdue.
Wonder: New York Public Library Digital Collection expansion takes us back in time
One thing that I really miss about New York City is the New York Public Library. Luckily, this week we saw a massive digital expansion of its collections and you can access the now 672,182 digitized items by clicking here. A few short clicks and search terms give you a passport to history like never before. And it’s all free.
Whether you want to see photos of a changing New York City (or almost any of other city for that matter!), construct 20th century floor plans of mansions through archival blueprints, or learn new paper collage techniques, it’s all here for you to use and reuse in limitless ways.
Enjoy and never stop exploring!
Wonder: The Ghost Ships of Mallows Bay
Less than an hour’s drive from Washington D.C., there are ghosts that have found a new and unexpected life. There are 185 archeologically-documented shipwrecks in Mallows Bay, part of Charles County, Maryland. The area is about to be declared an official marine sanctuary and is literally overflowing with wildlife in the water, on the shores, and inside the ruins of the boats. Once the weather gets a bit warmer, I’m looking forward to seeing it for myself and photographing it. I love a good story of redemption and life restored to something considered long gone.
This just in: Gil Batle renders his past in exquisitely carved ostrich eggs
“Art saves lives. I used to think that was corny, but it’s true. It saved mine.” ~Gil Batle, former prisoner and artist
If you ever wanted to see an elegant story, beautifully told and deeply felt, about how art saves people then this post is for you. Jane Pauley interviewed Gil Batle on CBS Sunday Morning and it’s one of the most incredible interviews I’ve ever seen. Gil Batle has struggled with drug addiction for most of his adult life, and he committed a series of crimes to support that habit. At age 53, he’s clean, free, and creating art that channels his painful past. He carves intricate scenes into ostrich eggs using a high speed dental drill that etches the scenes no deeper than 1/16 of an inch into the shell. If you’re in New York, his work is on display at the Ricco Maresca Gallery. If you’re not in New York, take a look at his work through the video below. You can also see his art at http://www.gilbatle.com/ and on Instagram at @gilbatle.
This just in: Be who you needed when you were younger
My friend, Pam, posted this photo yesterday and it really resonated with me. Our experience as children is somewhere being replicated in another child’s life. Maybe somewhere along the way we didn’t get everything we needed, and things were more difficult than we would have liked them to be. The great gift of being an adult is that we can make our history, good and bad, meaningful by showing up in the world and providing what we didn’t get to someone else.
This just in: Reading Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates while traveling
Reading while traveling has always been special to me. While I’m learning about other cultures, books help me see how much I have to learn about my own home. While I was in Sarajevo and Budapest, I read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. It is a tough and necessary read, especially for Americans who aren’t black. While I will never truly understand what it means to be black in America, I do want to understand as much and as best I can. This book forced me to wake up.
I live just north of Howard University, where Coates went to school and where his father worked for many years. After reading this book, I see Howard in a new light. That is sacred ground for its students because for many, their time there is the beginning of them feeling fully accepted and respected by those around them.
Coates talks about the constant pursuit by black Americans to work twice as hard to get half as far as whites in America. He talks about The Dream and The Dreamers, and how neither are fully accessible, much less possible, for many black people in America. He talks about the constant message we send to black youth—when dealing with storied institutions here, keep your head down, your mouth shut, and your eyes and ears open for danger. This book, and its truths, broke my heart
I will fully admit that I cried through much of the book, out of sadness, embarrassment, and anger. 250 years on from the end of the Civil War and still, it rages on in the streets all over this country. I had hoped the book would wrap up with ideas of how to solve the struggle. It didn’t. And maybe that’s the point. We can’t erase history. We can only learn from it and use it as context to frame the situation currently at-hand. Coates wrote this book as a guide to taking the first step on the journey, not a guide to get to some pre-determined destination.
With this book, I have more awareness and understanding of the anger and fear felt by the black community, especially in light of the year we’ve had. And that’s a start.
This just in: What the Broadway show Hamilton teaches me about dreams
“This show has put my dreams to shame.” ~Lin-Manuel Miranda, writer of and lead actor in the Broadway show Hamilton, when interviewed by Charlie Rose
More than anything, we should take the success of Hamilton as a personal inspiration for our own dreams. Make them bigger, wilder, and even more outrageous. Imagine yourself without limits and blockers. What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail. How far would you go? How high would you reach? Who would you aspire to be and what would you aspire to do? Do it. Be that person. You never know what might happen until you take the biggest shot you can take. So take it.
