“We can’t create what we can’t imagine.”
On Instagram, Forest Hanson said, “We’re profoundly influenced, in ways we don’t always realize, by the circumstances and environments that surround us. By the assumptions given to us in the course of everyday life, assumptions often shaped by those who do not have our best interests at heart.
One of the most effective ways to oppress people is by constraining their sense of the possible. Their sense of who they are, who they could become, and how they could be with other people.”
I received a text this morning while walking my dog and her lengthy analogy stayed with me all day – she is a great writer and speaker. She said that this was something she’d been thinking about while lying in bed before rising to meet the day. She called it Snowplow and she personified the mighty machine, what it does in clearing “the way so everything behind can safely drive”, how it is not often seen breaking down, and if it does need repair, we don’t see it.
She continued,
When a person is the first or only one we talk about how they have ‘paved the way for others’ and we rarely examine the cost or toll on that person who takes the brunt of everything thrown at them, no thing in front to block the weight of the storm. The raw and violent licks of low expectations, isolation and marginalization are on them to ride alone.
This female Black educator “paved the way” in leadership at a local school and beyond the classroom. But, rather than wax on about her remarkable accomplishments (which are actually quite staggering) I want to linger in the discomfort of that metaphor and how this relates to imagination. And, I should establish some context. Because she does not have the required paperwork (insert ‘meritocracy’ here) to continue as a department head of Social Sciences (despite her lived experience being more than what is needed) she has been replaced. Appointed by her principal who tried to push the system forward along the path to equity (AND this is what was best for students) she has been replaced. Their push lasted 5 years.
I thought about those five years. They had to imagine change was possible. She had to imagine that she could show other colleagues her many gifts and talents as a leader and, despite all evidence to the contrary, she had to imagine the system could change.
She wrote,
A declaration of being the one to pave the way happens after the way has been cleared. While a snowplow is doing the job, it’s focused on the task at hand – move the snow. When a person reflects on the road they’ve travelled conscious to see what has come behind them and knowing best what they did or needed to do, what do they see?
…the glare of the morning’s sunshine of the cleared road…what a privilege to have lessened the roll and cost.
I was floored by her ability to be optimistic, to imagine what her efforts have accomplished over the years.
By afternoon, once a latte and espresso had been shared over conversation with a former Black student now wanting to go to Teacher’s College, I could see this imagination at work in the world. The snow has been cleared and the sun is shining.
is_reflecting 
Melanie, this is a deep and meaningful post about all who lead the way into new territories. The toll on all who step outside the existing mediocracy of their realm face discrimination, challenges, and loneliness.
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Thank you, Anita.
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It sounds as though the disappointment was only a minor setback in the grad scheme of life.
It’s frustrating that we can only see how things are going to turn out after they have actually turned out.
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Melanie,
These are such complicated ideas. Most of the time in education I e observed those who lack merit or lived experience get positions they’re unqualified for. It’s rare to see what you describe around here. Certainly, being first is filled w/ obstacles. Often the first encounters all kinds of rejection. The first part of your slice reminds me of my stepmother who put lots of roadblocks in my way when I was young.
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Melanie, your opening quote from Hanson gripped me at the outset… I recall a mentor telling me “The more you succeed, the more people will want to see you fail.” We have to learn – and it’s a hard lesson – that other people don’t define us. We may be able to control what happens to us, but we can control our responses. Yes – we must imagine what is possible – push its boundaries, even suspend certainty of it, and discover more than we can even imagine! Your former student’s analogy of “Snowplow” is brilliant. We seldom see the toll taken to achieve such accomplishments ..but that’s the greatest part of story, the overcomings. Your ending image is so beautiful – I can feel the warmth of the sun and its beckoning promise.
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Wow, Melanie, this is an insightful post. The quotes you share offer so much perspective. I’m really thinking about this notion of paving the way.
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