Return Trip
Take a ride back to December 1st, 1955.
Route 24 is your civic education stop for stories driving public trust.
SCENIC ROUTE parks in your inbox on Sundays to merge the lanes of realistic fiction and politics and help you find a better view.
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Route 24’s Navigators Circle attempts to solve for persistent cognitive biases by jumpstarting deeper conversations. When policies alone may fail to change course, let stories be your guide.
In this issue: On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat, defying transportation segregation in Montgomery, Alabama. To honor her courage, this week I’m highlighting another form of narrative storytelling. Narrative quilting is an intergenerational storytelling medium stitching together elements of blanket weaving and patchwork to make a quilt. For women who were unable to participate in the politics of the time, narrative quilting (also known as story quilts) became a vehicle to deliver messages and record history. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, multidisciplinary artist Faith Ringgold revolutionized the fine art world by blending craft traditions with painting techniques that explored race, gender, and social justice issues.
“Anyone can fly. All you need is somewhere to go that you can’t get to any other way. The next thing you know, you’re flying among the stars.”
-Faith Ringgold
If A Bus Could Talk
Faith Ringgold crafted many stories that honored Rosa Parks during her lifetime. Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles (shown below), an acrylic painting on canvas with a quilted border, features generations of civil rights activists including Willa Marie Simone, Madam Walker, Sojourner Truth, Ida B. Wells, Fannie Lou Hammer, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Ella Baker. The story quilt’s caption emphasizes sisterhood and collective action: “The Sunflower Quilters Society of America…An International Symbol of Our Dedication to Change the World.” Ringgold also wrote a children’s book, If A Bus Could Talk, which envisions a magical bus ride from the perspective of a young girl named Marcie as she travels through time to meet Rosa Parks and learn the history of the Civil Rights Movement.
I hope this issue inspires you to reflect on Rosa Parks’ resilience, to better understand the messages driving Faith Ringgold’s work, and to acknowledge how narrative quilting as a story form has powered generations of nonviolent protest.
In case you missed them on the first pass, stop by some of Route 24’s recent posts:
As always, thank you for coming along for the ride!
Stay the course,
Sam
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P.S. It’s officially the start of holiday market season. When considering your gifting options, please remember to support local vendors.
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