This Monday, I’m so glad and honored to be sharing my blogging friend, Ariffa’s new book and great blog! I greatly appreciate her attention and recognition of educators and look forward to reading her book! Please see her guest post below and check out her blog & book!
Kingdom of the Sun, 10/14, and Education
By Ariffa Bevin
Hi Everyone!
It truly an honor and blessing to be a guest poster on Ananda’s blog. It means so much to me to have an educator such as herself reach out to me for this opportunity. So, thank you Ananda for this opportunity and for your work. Thank you to all educators.
If you already follow my blog, you will know that I am an author and my book Kingdom of the Sun was published on 10/14/13. It was not until the day after that I realized that Kingdom of the Sun’s publishing was announced on Columbus Day. Now, I knew that it was Columbus Day in that most people (expect for me) had the day off. However, I did not think about Columbus Day as it related to Kingdom of the Sun. I thought about both separately and it was never my intention to have my book published on such a day (10/14 was simply another date). Even so, it just so happens that history is a very prominent theme in Kingdom of the Sun. It focuses not so much on Columbus Day, specifically, but on something much bigger that causes the book’s main characters to say things like:
“History is a powerful weapon.”
“History and truth are not always one and the same.”
“There is always more than one story…always.”
-Abel Godfrey, Kingdom of the Sun
“History is a very powerful weapon. This is especially true when one possesses the means to twist its truth.”
-Helena, Kingdom of the Sun
So, why did I choose history as one of the themes for Kingdom of the Sun? It is because it ties into my purpose for writing the book. You see, I believe many people do not realize the significance of history in terms of power and control, how it can manipulate and divide and at the same time, create unity. When most think of history, they think and believe that its main purpose is to prevent bad things from happening again, and yet the same choices and mistakes are made over and over again in different ways by different people.
Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons due to Copyright Expiration.
It is because of these reasons that teachers are one of the most significant aspects to learning history; they are a gateway. However, within that is a dilemma. For example, do they teach the given “truth” of Christopher Columbus “discovering” something that had occupants who had already made it their home and land long before he showed up and claimed it? Or do they teach the real truth of his “discovery” and the horrible actions and consequences that followed? For me, I believe that education is power and that there is always power in truth.
Although Kingdom of the Sun’s publication date was not planned for Columbus Day, I am so happy that I did it because amongst other things, I want my book to represent light: an illumination on things that are normally hidden, an illumination of all things dark, an illumination of truth and recognition and how we should never, ever cease to gain it.
Peace and Love, Everyone
Ariffa
missananda 