Note: For me and for my readers, it is good to pause every so often to take a more personal, less intellectual and philosophical approach to equality. I call these “inside-out” exercises because they draw from deep inside our own unique experiences. When we bring some of that material up and out into the light of awareness, new insights about the work of living as equals can occur.
The Hair Project
For this activity, you’ll need to put together a small group of friends. Ideally, you want to be talking to people of different generations, ethnicities, gender identifications – people whose experiences are likely to be different from your own. Do the best you can to achieve group diversity.
As a group, talk about the different looks your hair has had over the years, since you were a kid. Think about the importance you do or do not attach to your hair. What was the worst hair experience you ever had? How do you feel about your hair now? How much work do you put into your hair?
Talk about preferred styles and lengths, hair care practices, age and gender differences, memories of childhood hairdos, hair products, prejudices about hair, and so on. Let the conversation go where it will. This is just a warm-up.
Ask every person in the group to write a deeply personal and specific story about their hair. Be open and honest. Write about how hair became symbolic of something else: power, impotence, rage, acceptance, beauty, ugliness, fashion, rebellion, superiority, inferiority.
Have each person read their story aloud to the group. Let people talk about each one and ask one another questions. Some stories may be humorous. Some may be quite painful or moving.
Talk together about what you learned.
Children’s Books
This activity is best done in a small group of friends, but it can be done alone. You may want to do it in the children’s section of your local library.
Make a list of your favorite childhood books, or books you now read to your children and grandchildren. Note the author’s name. If you are doing this as a small group, talk about the books you (your children, your grandchildren) loved. What makes each work beloved?
Look up information about two or three individual authors: Where was the person born? What is the person’s cultural or ethnic background? What was their schooling like? Their economic situation? Their grandparents, family and extended family? What historical and political factors influenced them? Learn as much as you can about the person who has written each story.
Talk about (or write about, if you are working on this alone) what you might have gained from having the works of these authors available.
The Four Freedoms
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941) articulated four freedoms that people of all nations are entitled to: freedom of speech and expression, freedom to worship God in our own way, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
Discussion for a small group of friends: Have you experienced each of those four freedoms? If not, what have the obstacles and impediments been?
Norman Rockwell (1943) was so taken by this view of an equitable society that he did a series of paintings called “The Four Freedoms.” If you are not familiar with the paintings, look them up on line and see how Rockwell depicted each of the four freedoms.
Friends discussion: If you were a painter, how would you depict those four freedoms today?
