Our Foot and the Foot of Our Ancestors
When I read “ A Hundred Small Rebellions ” by Eishar Kaur, I couldn’t get it out of my head. She shares what her mother told her about her grandmother’s words. Her mother relays how her mother explained: “It’s the evolution, isn’t it, of having those roots. So for your grandparents’ generation, having those roots meant being a certain way. For me and your dad, having those roots means having a foot in your grandparents’ camp, and being our own selves, and having a foot in your camp. For you, you have a foot in our camp, and in your own, and then you’ll have a foot in your next generation’s camp. With each iteration, you get a bit further away from the thing that anchored it in the first place. We’re already a step removed from how your grandparents view the world; you’re a step removed from how we view the world.” This was visual…I can hold it in my hands and really see it by slowly turning it around like an incredible piece of pottery. It’s impossible to yank out our foot, shake it o