As I was working on my Word Power quilt, I could often hear my mother saying to me - “Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can never hurt you.”  The words were soothing at the time, but as an adult, I rebel at the implication that words have no power to harm. 

The rhetoric from President Trump and his administration almost always paints a starkly black picture. It is so often bombast with no nuance, no recognition of complexities, no suggestion of the worth of other viewpoints.  Situations are dire, difficulties caused by someone else. Problems have easy fixes. I believe such doomsday talk and facile solutions do very real damage, alienating too many people and closing off meaningful discussion.

My quilt represents my yearning for courteous, respectful, meaningful political dialog that makes all participants feel included and all viewpoints considered.  It captures my hopes that we will look beneath surfaces to fully understand issues in all their complexity and to really get to know each other. 
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In the end, I want words that inspire hope and give us the strength to keep working together for a better future.

Ann