Photo by Rogers Park Montessori School.
United States of America. That is the name of the country/place that Nooa drew from a hat to determine his subject for this winter's kindergarten cultural fair at school. So easy, right? I mean, really, what's there to say that you can't say on a little ol' presentation board?
We started the presentation a little before going to India over winter break, and finished most of it during the long Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. On his hand drawn map, Nooa drew some significant people/places/objects in certain states or regions of the country. Like how blue jeans were invented on the west coast, and how the Arch is in St. Louis and the Empire State Building is in New York; how buffalos roamed the plains and cars were invented in Michigan. Then he drew a figure of a man in the south. "Martin Luther King Jr.," he told me. This was the only figure he had on the map, but it was on his mind. We had listened to the "I have a dream" speech earlier that morning, and he had told me how both Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. are both represented in his classroom next to the peace sign. How fitting, I thought, that my American son who is half Indian gets these two amazing figures as representatives of his larger heritage.
In thinking of how to represent America, Nooa and I went through many of our books at home that we have in our collection or from the library. Books like a graphic novel edition of Tom Sawyer; the "Who Was" series of books that we have on Amelia Earhart, Neil Armstrong, and Johnny Appleseed; a book on the Cahokia Mounds outside St. Louis; a few titles on Abraham Lincoln; a couple books we had acquired about Lewis and Clark; a fantastic book about scat and Louis Armstrong. Just a drop in the bucket when thinking of all this young country has accomplished and endured. It's a lot to take in, even for a 43-year-old mom. It's also a fascinating moment in parenthood when you are faced with discussions with your five-year-old that you may have not been ready to have. Amidst all the amazing inventions, adventures, and triumphs in the American story, the intense sadnesses and failures loom over the map of history. When we were visiting the Smoky Mountains over the summer, we went to The Cherokee Museum in North Carolina and found ourselves in deep discussion about the trail of tears. Not an easy one to have or to explain. Ettu asked clearly during that visit, "Were we the bad guys or the good guys?" Hmmmm. When reading Tom Sawyer or books about Abraham Lincoln, the story of slavery is inevitable and utterly significant. When listening to "I have a dream," the reality of our racial struggles come and sit beside us where we leisurely eat our pancakes on a cold, sunny morning.
When Nooa was around three, he suddenly had a clear and unwavering sense of his place in the world and everyone else's for that matter. His mama was Danish (as he remembered her saying at one point that her father's family was from Denmark), and, therefore, all "white" people in his mind were Danish. His papa was Indian, and so were he and Ettu, because, "our skin is more like papa's." Everyone else who had darker skin, be it Latinos, Africans, Americans who were black, people from the Middle East, etc. were also considered Indian in his mind, and everyone who appeared east Asian were Japanese. His sense of race and identity is a little more nuanced now, but it has been fascinating to see, even early on, how race and identity makes its way into the imagination of our children.
Nooa's board. Photo by Nalin Bhutt.
Given that these cultural fair presentations have to be done largely by our children, we let Nooa lead the way on the pictures, topics, or objects he chose to represent the country. Half the presentation was about Native Americans and animals or wildlife, which I thought was quite appropriate, and he even wanted to use a diorama he had made earlier in the year of a Sioux Village. Skyscrapers and monuments such as the Statue of Liberty and the Arch were also big. And finally, he drew four main pictures: 1) a map, 2) a flag, 3) a picture of a teepee, and 4) a picture of a city loosely based on a print of the famous Edward Hopper painting "Nighthawks," which he had in one of his coloring books. Next to the words "America is..." he chose to put a picture of himself. And there you have it. Amidst all the glories and failures, here's what it's all really about. America is made up of people from everywhere, whether you are Danish, Indian, or Japanese or look like a mix of all three. I looked around the room that day with nearly fifty 5-to-6- year old kids beaming with pride over their knowledge of their little part of the world, and you can't help but feel that it's a start. To understanding, that is.