Zoe Curran and Anita Sullivan
Recorded
December 14, 2023
Archived
December 14, 2023
01:06:12
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
osh000116
Description
Anita Sullivan (75), sits down to talk with her One Small Step conversation partner Zoe Curran (24). The conversation touches on the political and cultural transformations that Jackson, Wyoming has undergone over the 40 years that Anita has lived there. Zoe who was born and raised in Jackson shares their experience and compares to the time they spent on the East Coast for college.Subject Log / Time Code
Anita Sullivan (AS) asks Zoe Curran (ZC) why they wanted to have this conversation and vice versa.
ZC asks AS about her bio and what she mentions in it about her Catholic upbringing.
AS talks about her experience teaching the first inclusive classroom in Wyoming and she was instrumental in integrating Latino families in Head Start (federally funded preschool program).
ZC asks AS to talk about how she became a teacher.
AS asks ZC about growing up in WY and the cultural differences they experienced when they moved to NY for college.
ZC talks about the Black Lives Matter movement stretching them beyond what they were exposed to in WY.
AS mentions WY becoming more conservative and developing a culture of intolerance.
ZC says we’re all naive in different ways in response to AS’s question about division between young and old.
When Jackson first started considering affordable housing years ago the solution was to create trailer courts, according to AS.
ZC asks AS what Jackson was like when she moved here 40 years ago; it was more “wild."
ZC first became aware of politics when they were 9 years old and Obama was elected president.
ZC talks about their father becoming more conservative over time and identifying with what Trump says.
AS says she became aware of politics when she was young and growing up in Philadelphia. Corrupt Democratic party representatives would stand outside of polling locations and tell people how to vote. Her mother told her no one can do that.
AS talks about having high hopes for the future that we’ll be more tolerant.
ZC talks about learning the difference between “race” and “ethnicity” too late in life and that they have a lot to learn.
AS says she feels “shut down” by people who have different beliefs than her.
ZC reflects that when they hear people assert that “gay people aren’t real” they don’t want to engage.
AS appreciates ZC’s openness and good communication skills and says she’s walking away feeling more hopeful.
Participants
- Zoe Curran
- Anita Sullivan