Signposts and America's Story
Isaiah Bradley and The Falcon
Isaiah Bradley and The Falcon
“Bad books always lie. They lie most of all about the human condition, so that one never recognizes oneself, the deepest part of oneself, in a bad book.” --- Walker Percy, Signposts in a Strange Land
True stories matter. I’ve been reading recently about China’s efforts to rewrite its history to conform to its current national narrative. In contrast, some countries in the Middle East appear to be working to correct anti-semetic themes and inaccurate historical perspectives that have infused their school curriculum for decades. Stories have consequences.
“The purpose of storytelling is to connect us together … it is one of the primary building blocks of civilization … everything that is important to us as a species has been contained in stories,” says Levar Burton of Reading Rainbow (and Star Trek) in the introduction to his Masterclass on storytelling. “Story is a gateway to our imagination, we can’t have a just and equitable society unless we can imagine one.”
We’ve been having a national conversation about our own story as it relates to a just and equitable society over the past several years (and actually the past several centuries). Whether your perspective is that of the New York Times’ 1619 Project or the Woodson Center’s 1776Unites project, we know that we are writing our history now by the decisions and actions we take to address social and systemic injustice.
A dear friend of Clapham’s, Sho Baraka has recently published his book He Saw That It Was Good: Reimagining Your Creative Life to Repair a Broken Word. In his introduction, Sho observes:
Sho Baraka ‘s book cover
Sho Baraka ‘s book cover
“To be a good storyteller, you must first be an honest observer. No matter what you’re cooking, honesty is the best ingredient. History is about telling narratives. And the honest communication of those narratives has the power to shape our future. But there’s more than one way to get a story wrong. Popular historian Howard Zinn critiqued the way many historians mismanage the past: “One can lie outright about the past. Or one can omit facts which might lead to unacceptable conclusions.” Both can result in misshapen stories … Stories have the ability to cultivate societies. Or to kill them.”
Sho was one of the first people I turned to last May after the murder of George Floyd because he is a truthteller, and he challenged us all with his album The Narrative in which he addresses issues such as systemic racism, fatherhood and the harm of hypocrisy.
By now you have likely read about Gwen Berry turning away from the American flag and raising a T-shirt saying “Activist Athlete” over her face as the national anthem played at the Olympic team at the U.S. track and field trials. This weekend, we will be celebrating our nation’s birthday. Will we raise the flag or turn our back?
I’ve been watching The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and was struck when Isaiah Walker, a Black soldier who had been unjustly incarcerated, said to the Black Falcon: “They will never let a Black man be Captain America, and no self respecting Black man would ever want to be.”
One of the thought leaders behind 1776Unites is a new friend and a long-standing storyteller, Ian Rowe, who is currently a scholar at AEI, author of the upcoming book Agency and founder of Vertex Partnership Academies, a new network of character-based, International Baccalaureate high schools opening in the Bronx in 2022. Ian and I have been like ships passing in the night. He was Deputy Director of Postsecondary Success at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and before that the Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Public Affairs at MTV (where he won two Public Service Emmy Awards). Ian also served as the Director of Strategy & Performance Measurement at USA Freedom Corps in the White House, overseeing domestic volunteering efforts in the aftermath of 9/11.
Ian Rowe from American Enterprise Institute (AEI)
In an interview with Rick Hess, Ian said that:
“Before clandestinely attempting to erase many of its false historical claims, The New York Times’ 1619 Project declared that our country’s “founding ideals were false when they were written” and erroneously posited that America’s true founding was 1619, not 1776. The founders of 1776 Unites were deeply troubled by the 1619 Project’s effort to cherry-pick parts of American history and paint the United States as an irredeemably racist nation. We felt this perverse ideology would divide our people and, worst of all, instill a learned helplessness in a people who should find strength and resolve in a history of resilience and Black excellence, even in the face of unimaginable adversity. We, as Black leaders, formed 1776 Unites to dissent from this contemporary groupthink and reject The New York Times’ victimhood narrative that infantilizes our people and insults our proud heritage.”
I’ve enjoyed getting to know Ian now that our ships are docked at the same pier. Ian understands the culture-shaping influence of story, and was at MTV when they aired 16 and Pregnant which ran for 7 seasons as a way to elevate the national conversation around teen pregnancy, and actually be a tool to deter out-of-wedlock teen births. We’ve been collaborating on some work related to opportunity and the success sequence, when he shared with me his recent USAToday op-ed on fatherhood that challenges a growing view from some elites that two parent families aren’t the ideal for raising children.
From my perspective, this is not something new, but the role of fathers has been denigrated in popular culture for years, including on networks that conservatives love (remember Al Bundy on Married with Children?). A negative portrayal of “the father” has been seeping into our cultural subconsciousness through story, and has conditioned us to accept the false narrative that Ian is challenging.
Humans are storytelling creatures, and few narratives form us as powerfully as stories. "They are the making of us, whether we are aware of them or not," Katherine Sorrell writes. "These stories structure our lives, shape the ways we bend and grow, relate to one another, and regard our neighbours."
What is a father? What do we aspire to be? What is America? What do we aspire to be?
“A good novel (story) is like a table,” Wendell Berry wrote. “The parts have to fit … and it has to please. Its truth lies in the way it looks, feels, hefts … its morality comes from within, follows naturally from its making and is not imposed from without. It does not preach.”
“What would be the point of all the pain and sacrifice if I wasn’t willing to stand up and keep fighting,” says Sam Wilson, the Black Falcon, in Episode 5 after his sister encourages him to get Isaiah out of his head.
Black Falcon as the new Captain America
Black Falcon as the new Captain America
In the final episode of The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson becomes the first Black Captain America. “The only power I have,” he says, “is that I believe we can do better.”
Bad books always lie and the best stories tell the truth --- most importantly about the human condition. Stories matter, they shape us from within … personally and as a people.
As we celebrate the 4th, let us strive to be truth tellers, knowing that by doing so we can do better together.