The Power of Unearthing History

Hamilton and archaeology? If unearthing stories that have been buried in history is archaeology than yes, but it's not. It's history. It's what I strive to do every day.
I had the exquisite pleasure of finally seeing Hamilton this week in Milwaukee and I saw the power of telling history as a human story, and in particular a diverse story.
I'll admit when I first encountered the Hamilton story I was transfixed by the music, the story, the novelty but the casting seemed, although progressive, unrealistic. 

Needless to say, my attitude has changed.

In my work re-centering our curriculum I have come to what now seems to be such an obvious conclusion -if we look at the people who make up our communities today, they WERE IN HISTORY. I mean, of course, right?

There were LGBTQ people in history. Absolutely. There were Muslim Americans during the Revolutionary War. Yes. There were women who were leaders? Yep. Latino, Asian, African-American? Yes. Of course. 
It should go without saying that, of course, the obstacles in front of all of the "categories" of people mentioned meant that they were not widely represented and that many hid their identities in one way or another in order to succeed, or even, just live their life with dignity.

As I've worked on equity teams for the last few years I thought about my childhood and the leadership of Chicago - the center of the universe for my suburban life.  The mayor was Harold Washington, a black man. Before him, Jane Byrne, a woman, was mayor. Seeing people other than a white man as a leader influenced my perception of who could be a leader.

This week I saw an Asian man play George Washington. A Latino man play Alexander Hamilton. African American men and women playing some of the founding fathers and mothers of our country.

I know every child deserves to see themselves in America's story and my mission is to help make that happen.
Below - The original cast of Hamilton on Broadway.