Welcome. During some recent soul-searching (i.e. the three minutes of alone time I have in the shower), I was thinking about
how I came to know and love Barack Obama. It was the summer of 2008, and
we were settling into our new-ish home in Colorado. I had just
completed my Ph.D., and I was working as an adjunct writing teacher at
Metro State College of Denver. I was a huge Hillary supporter in the
primaries-- I even caucused for her. To my dismay at the time, that would not be the
year that the first woman would be running on a major ticket for
president. But who, then, was this Barack guy? He sure sounded good,
but, I mean, who is he? So I did what any total nerd and book-a-holic
would do: I bought and read his books.
I have vivid
memories of sitting with my then-two-year old son while he was in the bath
and reading voraciously. Barack's stories drew me in, held me close,
taught me who he was and why he would make a great leader. Eliot had
some long baths that summer. Through reading Barak's story, I came to love
and support him and Michelle. It was a transformational experience.
Fast
forward to today. I have two more children, both daughters. I work full-time as an instructional designer, so life is full, busy, chaotic, and a ton of fun. My husband owns a small but extremely busy software company here in Denver. In the political world, a lot of scandalous stories have come out about
Hillary, our Democratic presidential nominee,not to mention general statements that have caused a lot of us pause when deciding who to vote for. A lot of us wonder if we
can trust her. I feel mostly like I just don't really KNOW her, like I
can't really access who she is and what she stands for. Where does she
come from? What does her voice sound like when she's speaking about
things she finds important enough to write about in her own book? What
messages exist there, in the core of her canon? These are the questions
I'm hoping to explore in this blog.
The plan so far is to read at last two of her books: It takes a Village and Living History. I hope to read and respond several times a week, inviting others to guest blog and respond as well.
The
goal is to open a dialogue with Hillary, really. I mean, it probably
won't be the "real" Hillary, but it will be with the voice in her books,
the persona she created there. I hope other people will join the
dialogue thoughtfully and tactfully. We can critically question, but
I'm sick of the Hillary bashing that's going on in the world. That's not
what this blog is about.
Mostly, we'll see how it
goes. I'd love collaborators, partners, people who'd like to join the
dialogue. Feel free to reach out to me if you're interested in guest
blogging (mackenzielynn1017@gmail.com).
I hope to know
Hillary by the end of this journey. I hope to understand her and be able
to truly speak from a place that admires and supports her. That's why
I'm reading Hillary.
