(bright upbeat music)
♪ You are the best you the world will see ♪
♪ Come along now and share you with me ♪
♪ Let's learn something new and share feelings too ♪
♪ 'Cause these are the things to do to be the best you ♪
(bright music continues)
- Hello, friends. Hello, Possum.
- Hello, Auntie Lena.
- So what's something new you learned at school this week?
- Oh, well, human animals like you
and animal-animals like me are tied to the earth.
- Ooh, when you say tied to the earth,
do you mean we're all connected?
- Uh-huh.
- Okay.
Well, understanding that we're connected
to each other is an important lesson to learn.
- How come, Auntie Lena?
- We take better care of ourselves, the earth and others
when we understand that we're all connected
to the things all around us.
- Oh, yeah. Well, that's what we talked about in school,
but I don't know if I get it.
- All right. Well, see if this example helps.
We are all connected to Mother Earth
and if Mother Earth isn't getting enough rain
and there is a drought, then the plants may wither and die.
If that happens, then gardens won't be able to grow food,
then we won't be able to eat.
We're also connected in our feelings.
When you feel happy or sad,
I will often share those feelings too.
- Oh, yeah. Well, like when I felt sad
because you felt sad when your flowers died.
- Mm-hmm, and I was sad.
But when you sang your solo in choir,
I was so happy right along with you and Mama Possum.
- Oh, well, my solo was awesome.
- Yes it was.
But why were you talking about connections in school?
- Oh, well, our teacher asked us to make a timeline.
It's kinda like writing the story of your life,
but not everything that's happened to you.
That's too much.
- Oh, right.
It can show you when you were born
and some events in your life, but not all of them.
Just the highlights that tell the story of you.
- Oh, the story of me. I like that.
Oh, but can you help me with my timeline, Auntie Lena?
I think I'll need help remembering things.
- Yes, Possum.
I'm happy to help and we'll definitely need Mama
and your Grand Possum's help too.
- Oh, yeah, good idea.
- Thanks, Possum.
This project reminds me that not everyone thinks
of their life as a line with a beginning, middle, and end.
Some believe that life is a circle
because some things happen over and over again in cycles.
- A cycle. Well, like a wheel, right?
It keeps going around and around.
- Mm-hmm, like our lives, our traditions,
and the seasons that happen every year.
- But what should we do? A wheel or a line?
- I'm not sure, Possum.
I'll look for a book we can read to learn more.
Will you read it with me when you find one?
Of course I will. But don't worry, Possum.
I have another idea to get us started on your homework.
Mr. Idris told me about an art
and history project featuring each student's culture
and family history.
Have you heard of a culture jar?
Oh, I haven't.
Is it kind of like a butterfly jar?
You know, I'm not really sure either.
Let's head over to Seattle Children's Theater
and have Mr. Idris teach us about them and how to make one.
Hi, friends. Mr. Idris here.
I am the artistic director of Seattle Children's Theatre,
which is where we are right now
in one of the rehearsal spaces.
And I'm so excited to talk about culture jars
with you all today and we're gonna make one.
So a culture jar is sort of a representation
or a story, if you will, a container of all the things
that make you who you are, right?
So if you think of, I don't know if you like,
one of my favorite things to snack on is salsa, right?
Salsa comes in a jar
and salsa has tomatoes, it has onions,
it has cilantro and other yummy things.
And you dip a chip in and it's one bite.
All of those different things come together
to give you a great bite.
And so people are kind of like that too.
That's another way to think about culture
is a little bit from over here, a little bit from over here,
and a culture jar is a great way to represent that.
Now, in coming over here very excitedly,
I thought a good place to start was to get an actual jar
and grab a few items to shove in here.
And I thought we could start here,
but then I'm gonna show you another way
that you could also get your culture jar going.
So I'll just dump these out real quick
and we'll talk through 'em.
First thing I thought of is I've lived in a lot
of different places and all the different places
that I've lived have definitely affected me
and make me who I am today, right?
So one thing I found really quickly
was my old Colorado driver's license.
Um, I'm not originally from the state of Colorado.
I'm originally from Michigan,
but I lived in Colorado for about 10 years.
My first son was born in Colorado.
I became a college professor.
So I grabbed my Colorado driver's license
and put that in my culture jar.
Next up is uh, is cocoa butter, okay? Lotion.
Being well moisturized is very important in my culture.
Um, and cocoa butter has a really cool smell to it.
So that goes in my culture jar.
Now, next up is another location.
So this is a house key from when we lived
in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I don't know if you can see it,
but on here is what they call the Zia symbol,
which is the symbol that represents, it speaks to the Native
and Indigenous cultures of New Mexico
and the practice of acknowledging the four directions.
So, um, definitely representing,
New Mexico has played a large part into who I am.
Um, now, this is a pin
that I got at the Smithsonian African American Museum.
Definitely ask your grown folks about what that's all about.
And this lived on my backpack,
but then the back pieces fell out.
So I stuck it in my little makeshift box.
But I kept it 'cause it's beautiful
and it represents, you know, my African American heritage
and culture, which is obviously very important to me as well
as more specifically this symbol,
this fist, really reminds me of the Civil Rights Movement
and all of that, which is where, you know,
the era my parents grew up in
and which has been a heavy influence on me to this day.
So that's going in my jar.
And finally, and most importantly,
I grabbed two little pieces of sound technology.
So this is a stereo jack,
and this is probably before many of y'all's time,
which this is called an iPod Shuffle.
And it contains songs on there, MP3s.
And I brought these for my culture jar
because music, music is a huge
and probably one of the most important parts of, you know,
who I am and my culture for sure.
Um, so that's going in my culture jar.
Now, so another great way to create a culture jar
is to draw one.
You can draw one and then that way,
you can add all the things you want to add to it
um, and you can give it color and things like that.
Here's a quick and easy trick to draw a jar
if you're stressing about it.
Draw like a quick oval best you can.
And then you just draw a line up and then another line up,
and then another circle on top, okay?
And then you got your jar.
I'm gonna start with the things that I actually brought
with me today that I just told you about.
So there's a little bit of green in my driver's license,
my Colorado driver's license.
So I'm gonna use a green marker
and I'm gonna draw my Colorado driver's license.
And so I'm gonna put Colorado
and cocoa butter, representing cocoa, brown.
I'm gonna use a light brown marker.
And so we'll draw my little jar of cocoa butter, right?
And then maybe for funsies,
I wanna draw some coconuts on there
representing cocoa, even though it's cocoa, like chocolate,
not cocoa like coconuts.
But we don't have to be literal 'cause we're making art.
Art is representational.
Whatever's helping you get these images
and ideas outta your head.
Anything is fair game.
If you wanna find things on the computer and print 'em out
and cut 'em out and add 'em together,
just have some real fun with it, you know,
that's what we love about art.
Art is fun.
Our little Black fist here
and it's got some nice gold in it.
I don't see any gold, so we'll just use yellow.
And the word it says is Free at the bottom.
So we're gonna write Free here in the yellow. Cool.
Then we got New Mexico.
And while we're at it, since, you know, places is kind
of the theme here.
You know, I want to represent Michigan,
which is my home state.
And what's really cool about Michigan
is that it is shaped like a mitten.
That is what we call it. We call it the mitten sometimes.
I've added a little M and I here
just to represent the state of Michigan.
You'll keep adding and adding
and adding until your heart desires, you know?
I didn't bring up, you know,
how much food is important to me, you know,
but for the music part, I could add some notes as well.
But once you get it like that, you cut this bad boy out.
Like so.
I mean, first things first,
you talk to your nearest grownup
and, you know, negotiate the scissor rules,
the rules of the house regarding cutlery.
Cool. So check it out.
Look at that. That's me in a jar.
Who is this guy?
Mr. Idris? Bam.
Now we get our glue, our glue stick here.
That'll do it.
Here we go. Culture jar.
And what's really great is if you have a friend
or people in your house,
you can line all your jars up together
and make like a whole shelf of different cultures,
which represents your community.
Everyone's got a different jar. So that's it for now.
Thank you so much. Bye, friends.
Can I see your culture jar, Auntie Lena?
What'd you put in it?
You sure can.
Well, I have a piece of Kente cloth
to remind me of my family's roots.
I have Ivy from my garden.
I have a crayon 'cause I love to color.
I have a Black Lives Matter sticker
and I have a little crochet possum.
Wow, that's awesome. It's a jar full of you.
Well, thank you, Possum.
It was fun to think about my story and my history.
It also made me think about my future.
Oh, your future?
Yes.
What other things can I find out about my family
and our culture? But enough about me.
What did you put in your culture jar?
Oh, uh, nothing yet. I can't decide.
I think my brain is stuck like Mateo's was.
Right, from the book, "Mateo Finds His Wow."
Mm-hmm.
Oh, I've got an idea to get that brain unstuck.
Oh, goody. What is it?
I just remembered,
I went to story time at the library a few weeks ago
and they read a book about how we are all connected.
Oh, you found a book and can we read it with our friends?
Of course. It's called "All Around Us" by Xelena Gonzalez
and illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia.
Let's head back to the Seattle Children's Theater,
and "Look, Listen & Learn" as Miss Brenda reads to us.
(magical chime)
[Both] Hi, friends.
I am Miss Brenda and I am here with my friend...
Lila.
Lila and I are at Seattle Children's Theatre.
And today we are going to read...
"All Around Us."
[Miss Brenda] And "All Around Us"
was written by Xelena Gonzalez
and illustrated by Adriana M. Garcia.
"Grandpa says circles are all around us,
we just have to look for them."
[Lila] "He points to where the rainbow
that rises high in the sky
after a thunder cloud that's come.
He traces the colorful arc with his hand and says..."
[Miss Brenda] "Can you see that's only half of the circle?"
[Lila] "But the rest of it is down below in the earth
where water and light feed new earth.
"where water, life, that's the part we cannot see.
Grandpa and I work side by side in the garden,
planting flowers and pulling vegetables.
We eat what we grow, crunchy lettuce, sweet carrots
and spicy chiles."
[Miss Brenda] Mm. Does that sound good?
Do you like chilies, spicy chilies?
Not really. I don't really like the spice.
[Miss Brenda] "Grandpa saves the stems, leaves
and seeds to bury back in the ground.
'Here is another circle,' he says.
'What we take from the earth, we return.'
He draws a big circle on his belly with his hand
and a little circle on mine.
He says, 'We even have circles inside.'
That makes me laugh.
Grandpa and I take a walk around the neighborhood,
where we find other circles, the sun, the clock,
the bicycle wheels.
We stare at the green and brown rings
in each other's eyes for a long time
and then we laugh again.
He's right. Circles are everywhere."
Look at that eye, you can see the green and the brown.
And yellow. [Miss Brenda] And yellow.
[Lila] "'We'll show you one more important circle
before the big round moon comes out,' says Grandpa.
We walk back to our yard
and sit under a tall pecan tree.
[Miss Brenda]"Grandpa seems sad when he sits here
because this is where we bury the ashes of our ancestors.
I don't remember them, but he does.
'Even our bodies return to the earth,' he says,
and pats the ground with his big hands.
'But that's only half of the circle.
That's the part we cannot see.'
Finally, we walk to the front yard
to water our smallest tree.
Grandpa planted it for me on the day I was born
and everything that fed me while I grew
in my mother's belly is buried at the roots.
I love bringing water to the apple tree
that is already taller than I am.
Grandpa pats my head
and says, 'Do you see, my grandchild?
We have new life within you.'
I am part of this circle too. The part we can see.
Just like a rainbow."
[Lila] Look over here.
[Miss Brenda] Beautiful colors.
What's your favorite color in there?
Pink and purple. [Miss Brenda] Good choices.
That's it.
So, what was your favorite part about the book?
My favorite part is like this part, but inside the book.
So all of the arches and circles?
Yeah.
And I thought the drawings were gorgeous.
They were just really pretty. And I like the colors.
Think it's time for us to go?
Yeah. Thanks for reading with me, Miss Brenda.
Oh, you are welcome, Lila. That was fun.
[Both] Bye, friends.
(magical chime)
So what'd you think about the story?
Oh, I really liked it and I think my brain's unstuck.
The book reminded me of all the stuff from my story.
Well, like what, Possum?
Well, like when they were planting seeds
and saving the leaves, it made me think about
when I did the recycling competition at my school.
Oh, yes.
That was very successful.
You should be proud of yourself for that.
It should definitely be included. What else?
Oh, and the rainbow made me think about my tree
and how much I love sleeping in it.
Well, your home is certainly part of your story.
And when the grandpa was sad, thinking about the people
who died, well, it made me think about
not having Papa Possum anymore.
Oh, I know you miss Papa Possum a lot.
And life and death are all part of the cycle
and seasons of life.
And I liked when the girl said that she was part
of the circle too.
What'd you like about that part, Possum?
Hmm, I don't know. That part just makes me feel happy.
I mean, who wouldn't wanna be part of a rainbow?
You are right, Possum.
Who wouldn't wanna be part of a rainbow?
I love thinking that we're each a bright, dazzling color,
shining brighter because of all the other colors around us.
I really like my story,
but what could I do with it after I share it with my class?
Well, like any story, you should keep sharing it.
But with who?
Who would you like to know more about you,
your family, your culture, and your traditions?
Oh, well, I'll have to think about that,
but first I'll share it with my teacher.
That sounds like the perfect place to start.
Hey, you've got me thinking even more
about my own timeline
and I have something I'd like to share with you.
Oh, what's that?
Black-eyed pea salad.
It's one of my family's traditional meals
we eat during holidays and celebrations.
Oh, what are black-eyed peas?
Well, let's find out as we join Miss Amari
and our friends in the kitchen.
(magical chime)
[Both] Hi, friends.
My name is Miss Amari.
And I'm Riah.
And today Riah, what are we making?
Black-eyed pea salad.
Yes, today we're making black-eyed pea salad
and we're going to start off by making the dressing.
So what do we have here today, Riah?
We have, um, syrup and dijon mustard.
Yes, we have dijon mustard.
We have a little bit of olive oil.
We have some balsamic vinegar,
a little bit of garlic.
Pepper.
Yes, pepper, salt. Of course, the black-eyed peas.
And we're gonna end it off with some thyme.
So to start off, we're gonna mince our garlic.
So, and we're going to chop it up into super small pieces.
Now watch your hands. So try to grab the garlic like this,
and then you're going to have the knife right here.
Perfect. So you can kind of have it like this.
And watch your hands and chop, chop, chop, chop, chop, chop.
I love black-eyed peas
because we always have it at our family cookouts.
It's part of one of my family traditions.
Okay, so we got our minced garlic.
We're going to put that in here
and then we're going to get some balsamic vinegar.
So if you could measure one-fourth cup
of balsamic vinegar here.
Then we're gonna pour the balsamic vinegar in here.
Then we're going to do one teaspoon of Dijon mustard.
(both laughing)
Okay, there you go. Now you dump that in there.
We have our mustard.
Now we have one tablespoon of syrup. You wanna pour it?
Yeah. Okay, go for it.
Yeah. Yeah. We're almost done.
We have half a cup of oil.
Perfect.
You got it right on the line, okay.
Now you can pour it in there.
Here we go. Okay, go for it.
Now you whisk. Good job.
Okay, a little slower.
Yeah, really good.
And then we're going to add our salt and pepper
and we can end with the thyme.
So you can keep whisking it
while I grab the salt and pepper.
So it says, just a pinch. Do you know what a pinch is?
No.
Okay, a pinch is when you grab just a little bit
in between your fingertips, of course,
after you wash your hands
and you pinch it, pinch it and pinch and pinch and pinch it.
And then we're gonna do the same with the pepper.
Do you wanna pinch it in? Yeah.
Okay. Get your little pinch.
[Riah] Just a little.
[Miss Amari] Just a little bit.
Pinch it, pinch it, pinch it.
Oh, good job. Okay, perfect.
So yeah, this is a very important dish in my culture,
so that's why it's one of my favorites.
Hopefully one day I'll learn the recipe from my grandmother
or I can maybe start my own tradition
and show them this one.
Now we're gonna end it with some thyme.
You can add the thyme on top.
How much? [Miss Amari] You know, a dash.
So a dash is kind of like a pinch.
You can just do-do and then you're done, do-do.
[Miss Amari] Look at that. Okay, perfect.
Mix it up just a little bit more.
Now we're gonna pour this over.
[Miss Amari] Would you like to pour it?
[Riah] Yeah.
[Miss Amari] Okay. Pour it over.
Ooh, yummy.
[Miss Amari] Ooh, perfect.
Okay, so we're going to mix it up just a little.
Now we can use the spoon to mix it up.
Oh, yeah, that looks delicious, Riah.
Okay, so we had this sitting overnight
and we have a little bit from overnight.
Would you like to try it, Rya?
Okay, let's go. Yes.
Get a good forkful.
Did you like that one, Riah?
Um, Half and half.
Yeah, I definitely agree.
You know, sometimes we don't always love recipes,
but when your grandma made it
or your mom made it, it makes them extra special.
So I think it's really tasty.
Thank you, Riah, for taking the time
to make this black-eyed pea salad with me.
You're welcome.
And let's say goodbye to our friends.
[Both] Bye, friends.
(magical chime)
So Possum, what did you think of the black-eyed pea salad?
Oh, well, I agree with our friend.
The salad tasted okay.
Oh, well I guess that's fair.
The taste can take some getting used to,
but black-eyed pea salads and black-eyed peas,
they're a favorite food tradition in my family story
and that's why I like to share it.
So Possum, are you going to do a timeline
or a circle to share the story of you?
Oh, well, I wanna make a culture jar like yours,
Auntie Lena, to tell my story.
So I'm gonna ask my teacher if that's okay.
I love it.
That just goes to show
that there are so many different ways to tell our stories.
So what are you going to include in it?
Ooh, some of my baby teeth,
because I have a lot, a twig from my tree,
a photo of Mama and Papa Possum holding me when I was a baby
and I've gotta talk to my Grand Possums for their ideas too.
Ooh, it sounds like you are well on your way
to telling the story of you, Possum.
Oh, my jar is gonna be awesome
and I can't wait to share it with my class.
It'll be fun to see your culture jar
and you'll get to hear the rest
of your classmates' stories too.
Sharing keeps us connected to others
and being connected helps us to always be kind, loving,
and respectful to one another.
Oh, thank you so, so, so much
for helping me with my homework, Auntie Lena.
You are welcome, Possum and friends,
thank you for taking the time
to "Look, Listen and Learn" with us today.
Remember, you are the best you that the world will ever see.
Bye for now. Bye-bye.
[Narrator] Now, for Auntie Lena's Parent Tip.
Today's episode touches on the importance of recognizing
that we are all connected as human beings
and to the whole wide world.
Children are constantly learning new concepts
and being introduced to new behaviors, so it's easy for them
to be consumed with themselves and their own feelings
and forget how they may affect people
and things around them.
Teaching kids that their actions, feelings
and words can impact others allows them
to become more empathetic and more thoughtful overall.
It's also important to emphasize that those who came
before them and how their culture shapes who they are,
teaching them how their ancestors interacted
with the world can encourage them to be equally kind
and considerate.
The story "All Around Us" is a heartfelt story
told by Xelena Gonzalez
and her remembrance of her father's teaching her
how her Native American and Spanish elders honor the earth
and one another.
Teaching our early learners to honor their culture,
the cycles of life and the people around them
prepares them to appreciate both new life
and the passing on of life.
Both are cherished lessons to know
in becoming the best that they can be.
(cheerful piano music begins)
[Narrator] "Look, Listen and Learn"
is brought to you in part by Thistle Theatre.
Thistle Theatre is a local professional puppet theatre
for families.
We feature an ancient Japanese style
of puppetry called Tabletop Bunraku.
Learn more at thistletheatre.org.