The Bridge Between

This week's episode explores how stories are passed down between parents and children. I share my experiences of learning and sharing stories on long car rides in West Texas.

When doing archival research, I kept asking: why do we give paper so much power? I believe the genesis of an answer begins with something very simple: because it is something tangible that’s been left behind, something we can touch and hold, as if we can confirm a moment or a memory with a physical object, an artifact. This piece of paper survived, others didn’t. I’m not saying that’s a good start. I’m saying that there must be a balance in the dialogue…that complicated intersection between the visible and intangible, between what is written and culture, belief, imagination, photos, stories, experience, and tradition. It’s hard but forgetting is too high of a price to pay.

This week I am sharing the story that started it all. Learning My Place in This World began as a submission to a writing competition at New Philosopher magazine. Eventually, the story was published in 2017 at Teachers College Record, a peer review journal at Columbia University. This story was hard for me to write because it wove the personal with the political, juxtaposed what the research said with how my life unfolded. Without further ado…this is Learning My Place in This World.

Welcome to The Bridge Between.