Create a Better Tomorrow (by Learning About Yesterday)

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been nostalgic for times I could never live through, and I grew up proudly being given the title of ‘old soul’ by family and friends. Naturally, I have always loved history class, and I’ve always agreed with teachers who reminded us to see our world today in the context of history. The best takeaway from class was being able to create a throughline or spot the domino effects as time goes on. 

However, the subjects we study in textbooks make what was once mundane sound so novel, which is why I was dying to know what day-to-day life was like for my grandma, Alice. Born in 1948 in Jackson, Mississippi, she spent her childhood and adolescence in the Deep South during the Jim Crow era.

A few hours after one of our daily ‘good morning’ texts and after finally finishing up my classes, lunch, and obligations, I called my grandma to have my lingering curiosities answered.

From getting a television for Christmas and waking up to catch Popeye the Sailor Man to student sit-ins, we talked about many things and fit daily anecdotes into a puzzle of an era. 

One example she shared was a trip to the department store with her own grandmother, where they were required to sit in the back of the bus, and once they entered Sears, through the colored door, of course, trying on clothes was not an option. She is the eldest of seven children and graduated from a segregated high school in 1966. Though having to have grown up in an unfortunate and unfair system, she chuckled from time to time and talked sweetly about stories from high school and college, such as when her sister was her prom date or when she and her freshman year roommate (dressed in miniskirts in true late-60s fashion) would often jump out of the second story window to attend dances at Alcorn State. 

Later, I asked if she sees any similarities or regressions from then to now, to which I got a quick yes in return. She expressed disappointment with the way things seem to be going, to see her grandchildren and great-grandchildren experience an American society that her generation tirelessly fought against. Nowadays, it is so easy to meme something, shake your fist, or completely move on and let the banality of evil sink its claws into our culture and society. Over the phone, we pondered what Watergate would be like today. 

While common rhetoric around society and politics is centered around the future and your children, take a moment to feel frustrated—offended, even, for your grandparents who have to witness such backsliding. 

• cultural memory and identity
• generational reflection
• remembering the past