We Can Do It

The word cooperative became a part of my repertoire when I was enrolled in pre-school at the All Austin Cooperative Nursery School.

The All Austin Cooperative Nursery School logo.  Maybe the 3 stands for "We": 1. I, 2. You, 3. WE!

At first I simply thought “the co-op” was the name of my school—not some progressive space for community-building grounded in cooperation.  It was at this Co-op, that I learned the meaning and the importance of the word, “we.”  I suppose it was unlike other pre-schools in that the idea of interdependency was extended not only to the young students, but also to parents (moms and dads alike), teachers, and community members.  The mission was to bring together the talents of every individual in the cooperative to “create something greater together.” (49)  It was really quite the revolutionary vision of a pre-school.  We learned to resolve conflicts using the basic terminology and theory that Steven R. Covey believes is critical for progressive dialogue and introspection: “You,” “I,” and “We.”  It was interesting for me to trace when the transition took place for me between each word (and idea) respectively.  Particularly memorable was our philosophy of clean-up.  Everybody helped to make the mess (and oh, what a mess we made)—so much was clear.  Not surprisingly, nobody ever wanted to help clean up.  “You played with the ponies…YOU clean it up.”  This was what I said.  But what was so amazing about the clean-up philosophy was that we were taught to take pride and joy in the clean-up process itself.  We sang this captivating song that I will never forget:  “Clean-up, clean-up, everybody everywhere.  Clean-up, clean-up, everybody do your share.”  I say captivating, because we really never questioned the obvious power of everybody helping to achieve a common goal—no more rubber ponies and paint on the floor within minutes.  Clearly, we very quickly learned the “paradigm of we—we can do it, we can cooperate…” (49)

We can do it! Yes we can! ¡Sí se puede!

But I must sharply change gears, as pondering my inner child has led to a crevice of my psyche upon which I have not reflected in recent years.  Thinking about my pre-K years feels like I'm "look[ing] at [my]self almost as though [I] [was] someone else." (66) Perhaps this is how I can reflect on myself as a kid and also right now, sitting here before my computer.  What comes to mind--in "mind's eye"--is what I do outside of academia.  (66) For almost two years, I have been working with an organization that confronts the economic, racial, and political disenfranchisement of immigrants here in Austin.  It has surely transformed my weltanschauung and my intellect, but I never really considered that this line of work could profoundly affect my view of myself--and my emotions.  While reading an intellectual “self-help” book is not what I consider a spiritual awakening, it was learning this “powerful lesson[] in personal change” that I realized…I could decide within [myself] how all of this was going to affect [me].”  I could decide how everything was going to affect me.  This may seem like a pretty basic epiphany, but I have a feeling it will revolutionize much of my approach to working for social justice.  Maybe now I can add "self-awareness" to my repertoire (92)?