Rachel Bruce
Denver, CO
In the ’70s in Denver, Colorado I was bussed across town as part of court-ordered school integration. There wasn’t a lot of integrating going on. The school counselors tried to push a Brotherhood Week and asked the student council members to create posters. In my own little world all I cared about was Nadia Comaneci and her perfect 10s. I made a poster with six photos of her cut out of magazines: Brotherhood IS “Flexibility!” Brotherhood IS “Strength”! Brotherhood IS “Perfection”! Very abstract concepts, but in my mind it worked. The counselor brought me out in the hall and asked me to think about the difference between my poster and everyone else’s posters. It took a long time and quite a bit of prodding before I realized that six pictures of a female Romanian probably didn’t convey very much about racial integration. Thinking back on it, I’m pretty sure my inability to grasp the concept was more of an eye-opener for the staff.
