As I was growing up, I was always enthralled by an attraction at Walt Disney World called "The American Adventure." The 32 minute show, which combines film, audio animatronic stage figures, original music and over 250 years of the American journey (the attraction traces all the way back to the pilgrims), jump-started my interest in history. Ever since, I've found myself digging through history books, watching documentaries and visiting museums and historical sites to learn everything I possibly can about those who came before us. There's always something special, I believe, about the moment you connect two important people or events together and suddenly the context clicks. Or the riveting experience of tracing the footsteps of an important historical figure, whether it be Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr. or even Alexander Hamilton.
But there's also always a disconnect somewhere along the line. We grow up learning about the important events and people that shaped our nation through books, stories, film and artifacts, but as much as we might want to, there's no way any of us will ever be able to truly know what it was like to experience the moon landing or the assassination of JFK or Pearl Harbor. History, they say, repeats itself, but in reality, we cannot perfectly replicate the past. We can learn about it, revel in it, and try to understand it, but we will never find the same experience as those before us.
However, as millions march across the world to stand for women's rights after the inauguration of Donald Trump, it is more apparent than ever that we don't need to replicate history because it's happening right before our very eyes. We may never know what it was really like to fight in the Revolutionary War, and we'll never again get to know the hardships the pilgrims faced, but we will know what it was like to live in 2016 and 2017.
The actions we take today are the very same actions that will be written in history books for generations to come. Where we ended our history classes with the Civil Rights movement and Vietnam, they'll end with the fight for marriage equality and the deep division that swept across the country in late 2016. They'll learn about 9/11 and terrorism and the Pulse shooting in Orlando. Somewhere, in a history book, someone will write about the women's march of January 21, 2017, and how the fight for the same rights for all continued far beyond the stirrings in America's infancy. The books will talk about climate change, the difficulties of continuing to protect our National Parks and Public Lands and an access pipeline that caused protests for months.
We might not realize it now, but we are making history. With every step we take, we're creating the lessons future generations will rely on to create their own change, and thus, we must remember that what we accomplish today will not only be our legacy tomorrow but also the foundation for our own children to built on. Today, we are fortunate to live in a nation that has grown based on change and perseverance, but we still have a lot of growing to do, and that's what makes being alive right now so spectacular. We all have the ability to make change happen if only we are willing to make history in the process.
