What We Can Learn from Hamilton.
It’s July 4th and the majority of us are probably celebrating America’s birthday today. I want to start this week’s writing with a seemingly contradictory statement: I love America, deeply. And I am also deeply concerned about where our country is at right now. I have been lucky enough to travel to other countries that are not governed by a democracy and while we (obviously, based on recent events in Congress) do not have a perfect system of government, I still love our country. On both sides of my family I have had men and women step up and serve with bravery, dignity, and honor. So yes, I love America…and I am deeply, deeply troubled with the state of our country. I believe that we can do so much better for everyone who calls America their land of the free and home of the brave. I can love America AND will work to make her a better place for my children to grow up.
Some of you may be wondering, JoEllen, this seems out of the blue for you! This is a blog about the chaos of parenting and the joy of coffee and coming back from burnout…and yes, it is. And also, to not include the part of me that is strongly political (and have been since campaigning to run the 6th grade newsletter, TYSM) would not be giving you the full picture of who I am. For my high school speech class I memorized Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death” speech and somehow made it to compete at a national level in the declamation category. My parents gave me a trip to Washington D.C. as a graduation gift from college and I made sure we were present for some of the Senate hearings on 9/11 and profiling. For a season in my life, I was a regular at the state capital building in Austin while advocating for better access to education for all students and loved every moment of it. When I met my husband and fell so in love with him, I knew a life in politics would not be mine and I am truly at peace with that. He is a deeply private person and he absolutely would HATE the spotlight that me working in politics would put on our family. When we decided to pursue having children, I knew I had absolutely made the right decision to step aside from campaigns and advocating at a higher level. However, I still follow state and national politics, I regularly call and email my representatives and will continue to do so because to me, that is the absolute beauty and privilege of being an American. While it feels so upside down right now (because trust me, Ted Cruz sure does NOT vote or advocate for what I feel is important), voting and using your voice to make your thoughts and beliefs known to those who represent you in government is a privilege that not every person on this planet has. So yes, we’re going to get into politics this week and we’re going to use the Hamilton musical to help us look for a better path forward. Because I don’t think any rational, logical, empathetic, compassionate person can look at what we currently have going on in our country and think, “Yup. This is really, really great.”
Hamilton is a wildly popular Broadway musical that debuted in 2015. It was written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, an incredibly talented songwriter, composer, and so much more. It tells the story of Alexander Hamilton’s life as one of America’s founding fathers. It’s unique in so many ways (minimal cast, minimal stage props, the casting, I COULD GO ON AND ON, but I won’t) and if you ever, ever have the chance to see it, please go. Just buy the tickets. Listen to the soundtrack at least 4 times before you go because it really does help you catch the nuances of the story along the way. I waited way too long to go but looking back, it was the perfect timing as I got to go with a dear friend and her daughter. We saw the Broadway Across America version in Austin this spring and the cast was incredible. I cried multiple times, which I’ll explain in a bit. There are parts of Alexander’s life that are not pretty and that I completely disapprove of from a moral and ethical standpoint. And there is also so much we can learn. So here we go!
What We Can Learn From Hamilton
“Cause I’m young, scrappy, and hungry, just like my country” - Alexander sings this as he is first meeting Aaron Burr, the Marquis de Lafayette, and several other of the main characters. He’s singing about not throwing away his shot at life and at making a difference. As an immigrant and young man with practically nothing to his name, he knew he had to be young, scrappy, and hungry to make it. And he did. As of today, America is 249 years old. Compared to other countries, we are a toddler or at best, a moody teenager right now. I think in order to see change that benefits all people, we’ve got to get a little more scrappy and hungry.
George Washington is one of my absolute favorite characters in the whole musical. In the original Broadway version, Christopher Jackson plays him and is just brilliant. He has a powerhouse voice and the presence he carries is just incredible. Watch the original version on Disney+ and try not to cry. There are 3 quotes from George Washington that I think are branded into my brain at this point (along with Taylor Swift’s Reputation album, Psalm 23, and the Dallas Cowboys cheerleader “Thunderstruck” song…my brain is a unique realm):
“Dying is easy, living is harder.” Washington says this to Hamilton when Hamilton is begging him to give him troops to command and be out in the field. Hamilton hasn’t realized yet that living with intention and purpose is so much harder than it looks. It’s a reminder to me that I get to do the hard work of living authentically and purposefully, not just letting the days slip by.
“Winning was easy, governing is harder.” After the war was won and Hamilton is frustrated because it’s so hard to get things done as a new government, Washington reminds him that the governing IS the hard part. Winning our independence wasn’t easy, but compared to governing, I can see why Washington’s character says this. I think it’s still true, too. Governing IS hard. It’s complex and volatile and while it doesn’t have to be, until we can learn to have actual discourse with each other about hot button issues, governing will continue to be hard.
“Teach them how to say goodbye.” Washington calls on Hamilton to help him write one last letter to the American people where he is announcing that he is not running for President again. He asks Hamilton to teach them how to say goodbye and every single dang time that I watch or listen to that part, I weep. As a society, we aren’t great at teaching people how to say goodbye. We are not a nation who embraces and normalizes grief. The average bereavement leave is 3 days. You get three days to bury your loved one, have your moment, and then return to work. That’s how long I had from my job at the time when my grandfather, who was an incredible man, died in September of 2018. I cannot remember a single thing (no exaggeration) for about 3 months after that. I went through the motions of life. It was in December of 2018 that we found out I was pregnant with our daughter and I began to come out of the haze of grief I was in because I had to. Three months. Not three days. Teach them how to say goodbye…grief can be a beautiful and healing process when you can allow yourself to fully experience it. But again, that will take system wide change to give people the freedom to do that.
“Immigrants. We get the job done.” - Every single one of our Founding Fathers was an immigrant. Every single one. We are a nation made up of immigrants. Immigration is a subject that is dear to my heart because of my time in education. I can tell you first hand how broken this system is. It is ridiculous how hard it is for people to navigate and when they follow all the right channels and enter the country legally, the path to citizenship is expensive, long, and hard. I have sat with families and heard their stories about why they sought asylum. I have helped students plan out what they will do if they get home and their parents or adults in charge are not there because ICE has picked them up. Do I want people to enter our country the legal way? Of course I do. Do I think our borders need securing? Yes. I’ve lived in border states my entire life and I’m well aware that actual criminals can get through all too easily. Do I want all of this done in a humane way that honors the dignity of people simply because they are people? Also yes. Can all of this be true at the same time? Yes, but not without significant systemic change.
There are about 10 other lines from Hamilton that I could write about and maybe I’ll do a part two sometime. But I want to close with this line from Thomas Jefferson:
“Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we fought for these ideals and we shouldn’t settle for less.”
I love America. I want her to thrive, to be a beacon of hope, of liberty, and of justice for all. And this caffeine fueled, Hamilton lyric singing, proud Momma, and frustrated American will not settle for less. Regardless of what political affiliation you hold, there’s work to be done. So let’s go.
“History has its eyes on you.”
Love you, mean it (especially this week).