Let's re-envision, not just remake

Also: You're fine, new 'Little Mermaid' [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  June 4, 2023 Dear Cog reader, I’m the newest editor at Cog and every week I’m interacting with new writers and new parts of the job. This week, I spent a lot of time thinking about how we tell — and retell — stories about ourselves. Theresa Okokon was six years old when she fell in love with Disney’s “The Little Mermaid,” which inspired a main character moment for her. "I would go to the pool in the summer, a swim cap protecting my Jheri curl or braids protecting my natural hair," Okokon writes. "I would dive in, squeezing my legs together like a fin, find my way towards the edge, and muster my childhood biceps to surge my body from the water — flicking my head back and doing my damndest to recreate the iconic rock scene at the end of “Part of Your World.” " As kids and teens, we’re the star of our stories, just like little Theresa was. But as we mature, we begin to see our stories in a larger context — the context of community, of family, of history. When our stories are placed in a broader context, they can become more universal. Okokon came to realize something about herself in the process of watching the new “Little Mermaid” ([and writing about it](. Seeing Halle Bailey, a Black actress, play Ariel was great, but it wasn’t transformative. She wanted a full scale reenvisioning. That’s what Margaret Woo got when she dug into her family’s history. When Woo first sent us [her story]( she said it was about the rise of Asian American political power. But as we worked on it together, she realized it wasn’t quite so simple. That even as her family celebrated the accomplishments of Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, anti-Asian sentiment simmered. “A ‘model minority’ myth complicates matters with seemingly positive stereotypes that oversimplify the history of Asian people in America and obscures the bamboo ceiling that has limited so many of us,” she writes, "including my grandfather.” What she found while writing was a new, more nuanced understanding of the progress between when her grandfather emigrated from China in 1923 and when Wu was elected 98 years later. At Cog, we do our best to empower writers like Okokon and Woo to re-envision, not just remake. I’m happy to be here. P.S.— At Cog, it’s our role to spark thoughtful conversations about what's happening in today's world. We can do that thanks to the generous and voluntary support of our Members. [Please join them!]( To keep our voice strong, we need 700 new monthly contributors by Thursday. Your gift of $10 or $12 a month will make a meaningful difference to you and everyone who values can't-miss commentaries and essays. Please [give monthly today](. Kate Neale Cooper Editor, Cognoscenti [Follow]( Support the news   Must Reads [My first love was a Bug]( Though the Beetle was technically my father’s, over the next few years it became the centerpiece of my teenage world, writes Nancy Crochiere. At 15, I fell completely, desperately, in love with that Bug. [Read more.]( [My first love was a Bug]( Though the Beetle was technically my father’s, over the next few years it became the centerpiece of my teenage world, writes Nancy Crochiere. At 15, I fell completely, desperately, in love with that Bug. [Read more.]( [100 years ago my grandfather emigrated from China. He never could have imagined a Mayor Wu]( Even as we celebrate the rise of Asian American political power, writes Margaret Woo, anti-Asian sentiment smolders. 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[Read more.]( [George Floyd’s murder ushered in big talk of equity and justice. 3 years later, this work is still a matter of life and death]( For a moment after George Floyd's murder, it felt like people could finally see the way racism pervades every system in America, writes Makeeba McCreary. Three years on, it feels like many are starting to look away. [Read more.]( [George Floyd’s murder ushered in big talk of equity and justice. 3 years later, this work is still a matter of life and death]( For a moment after George Floyd's murder, it felt like people could finally see the way racism pervades every system in America, writes Makeeba McCreary. Three years on, it feels like many are starting to look away. [Read more.]( What We're Reading "What it must be like to hang suspended on the wind, how radically different to conceive of movement not in two dimensions, not just as backward and forward, left and right, but in three — always infinite possibilities of direction, the body rising and falling at will. We lift our gaze skyward to the birds and see what it means to be free." "[Three Years After a Fateful Day in Central Park, Birding Continues to Change My Life]( The New York Times "The Christian conservatives advocating for more religion in the schools are doing so in the name of religious freedom. The way they define that freedom could lead to prayer becoming commonplace at public schools all over the country." "[Inside the Christian legal campaign to return prayer to public schools]( The Hechinger Report "Look at the world honestly, even if doing so involves unearthing complex and disturbing dynamics. Avoid narratives with overly simplified villains and victims while still trying to illuminate how oppression actually works in daily life." "[Seven Tips From Susan Sontag for Independent Thinking]( The Atlantic "Three years later, it feels like America is starting to look away ..." — Makeeba McCreary, "[George Floyd’s murder ushered in big talk of equity and justice. 3 years later, this work is still a matter of life and death]( ICYMI [This one goes out to all the Taylor Swift parents]( For the parents of Taylor Swift fans, this concert was more than an event, writes Joanna Weiss. We heard the soundtrack of our kids’ childhoods, a discography that spans nearly two decades, so long and broad and varied that it serves as a marker of time. [Read more.]( [This one goes out to all the Taylor Swift parents]( For the parents of Taylor Swift fans, this concert was more than an event, writes Joanna Weiss. We heard the soundtrack of our kids’ childhoods, a discography that spans nearly two decades, so long and broad and varied that it serves as a marker of time. [Read more.]( If you’d like to write for Cognoscenti, send your submission, pasted into your email and not as an attachment, to opinion@wbur.org. Please tell us in one line what the piece is about, and please tell us in one line who you are. 😎 Forward to a friend. They can sign up [here](. 📣 Give us your feedback: newsletters@wbur.org 📧 Get more WBUR stories sent to your inbox. [Check out all of our newsletter offerings.]( Support the news     Want to change how you receive these emails? Stop getting this newsletter by [updating your preferences.](  I don't want to hear from WBUR anymore. Unsubscribe from all WBUR editorial newsletters [here.](  Interested in learning more about corporate sponsorship? [Click here.]( Copyright © 2023 WBUR-FM, All rights reserved.