Things We Forget

I’d choose Yuri Gagarin to ask what it’s like to be the first human to look back at Earth from above.

I’d meet Tupac’s mother, Afeni Shakur, to understand the origins of his fire.

I’d meet George Washington Carver to understand how he saw possibility in even the smallest seeds.

I’d choose Josephine Baker to ask how she danced through danger and defied expectations.

I’d talk to Murasaki Shikibu about storytelling and what it felt like to write the first great novel.

I’d meet Ida Tarbell to understand the cost of exposing corruption so big it nearly swallowed the world.

I’d choose Hedy Lamarr to ask how she balanced glamour with genius in a world that wanted only one or the other from her.

I’d sit with Sacagawea to ask what it felt like to guide people who didn’t see her as equal.

I’d meet Grace O’Malley, the Irish pirate queen, to ask how she found freedom on the waves.

I’d choose Sylvia Rivera to ask what it felt like to push for justice even when your own life was a storm.