Category: Granite Views

It started in a parking lot. I noticed and greatly admired his old, possibly vintage, car, and told him so as he stood behind it, awaiting his partner outside the grocery store. What I thought would be a very brief chat actually turned out to be a much longer conversation. Of course we spoke of the pandemic and its impact on our lives and those of our family and friends, the weather, and rather quickly turned to politics. We then proceeded a little more cautiously, feeling one another out till we found we were a bit off center from one another: he for one candidate, but not sure this time, and I for the other, but hopeful.

We might have just stopped there, but each of us seemed to want to explore the other’s position a little more. We did, and it didn’t take long to recognize we held quite similar values and expectations, just different ways of imagining who could better bring that about. We reflected on previous presidents and our respective voting record and the reasons why. We both lamented the polarization in our country but didn’t deny the deep divide between others we each knew to be on one hard-held side and another equally so.

We didn’t engage in any conversational poker, each trying to outmatch the other by slamming down a factoid, latest rumor or conspiracy theory. Instead we just explored one another’s likely voting preferences. We ended up exchanging names and wishing one another well.

Of course I was late getting back home. But on the way back I made a resolution. Namely, I would find a way to have one of these conversations each day between now and the November general election. Just one a day. Of course it would be necessary to find a conversational opening that would be neither aggressive nor confrontational, and be ready to be rebuffed. But the fellow’s agreement that we Americans desperately needed to have conversations across differences kept spurring me on.

Yes, it is risky, perhaps even more so than inquiring why a fellow shopper isn’t wearing a face mask. But if we do not take the chance and reach out to see if we have any common ground with all those who bear the same citizenship as do we, what chance do we have collectively or individually?

We in New Hampshire are jokingly said to have made politics our state sport. If so, should we not get into the game? In his new book, Montana Sen. Jon Tester recounts his almost life-long effort to cross divides of class and geography, and in his political life, to understand the issues that keep us truly grounded, as he still very much is in his farm in rural Montana.

Whether it’s a parking lot or another venue, we need to take that first step.

Being first in the nation for the presidential primary, we in New Hampshire take our politics seriously. Our residents generally take the time to educate themselves before heading to the polls and make a considered, thoughtful vote. The pandemic has changed the way we live our lives and restricted our freedom in many ways. Fortunately, it didn’t slow our desire or ability to vote in the primary on Sept. 8. With more than 90,000 absentee ballots cast, Secretary of State Bill Gardner reported a record turnout with total ballots cast of over 300,000. If you voted in person, there were mask requirements, social distancing, hand sanitizer, and for those who refused to wear a mask, outside voting stations were available in many towns. The months of preparation for a smooth and successful primary election were on display.

In the “Live Free or Die” state we call home, our residents typically have strong convictions and principled views, making it sometimes nearly impossible to prepare for every circumstance during voting day. Just ask Exeter Town Moderator Paul Scafidi. After he informed a voter that she could not wear an anti-Trump T-shirt inside the polling place, the woman surprised everybody by simply taking the T-shirt off and voting topless. In Portsmouth two individuals took exception with being asked to wear a mask to vote, or alternatively to vote in the tented area outside. Both individuals refused to comply with either request, necessitating a call to the police. Ultimately they were allowed to vote inside without a mask, with one noting they “stood up for the courage of our convictions,” according to media reports.

There is an awful lot we don’t agree on these days — who to vote for, Covid-19, mask requirements, in-person or remote learning, and the list goes on. One thing our spirited residents do agree on is the importance of casting your ballot. Gov. Chris Sununu recently tweeted, “Make no mistake: the election will happen in New Hampshire on November 3rd. End of story. Our voting system in NH is secure, safe, and reliable. We have done it right 100% of the time for 100 years – this year will be no different.” Well said. May the Granite State tradition continue.

We are appalled by the devastating effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our world. While we see most of it is bad, oftentimes devastating, I’m convinced that in the long run our world and our lives will be better.

Maybe not so if I’m in the cruise ship business, office space business, brick-and-mortar retail or any of so many other businesses that will be permanently impacted. But education is one of those entities that will be permanently changed and, in my opinion, for the better.

Trying to get schools back to normal anytime soon will be nearly impossible. As a result, our schools will increasingly become better at delivering distance learning. And the more they do, the more they will like it, and the more they’ll be hooked on keeping it as a permanent component of how they deliver learning.

They’ll learn what I’ve learned, that from a strictly learning standpoint, established platforms for distance learning, like New Hampshire’s Virtual Learning Academy Charter School (VLACS), generally speaking, deliver better results than traditional classroom learning. You can do the research, as I did. The results are clear. Students retain more of their learning online and it’s cheaper. The cost for VLACS is about half the price of a traditional school. While it may not be right for every student, make no mistake, online learning is here to stay.

But there’s more change coming. There is a growing agreement that a high school diploma is no longer sufficient to prepare young people for the world of work and that there needs to be a greater connection between school and preparation for careers. This, too, is going to change the nature of K-12 learning. Internships, apprenticeships, Extended Learning Opportunities (ELOs) and making business a clear partner in the education of our students will become a greater part of the high school experience. More students are going to be able to receive college degrees and work-related credentials while they’re in high school.

As a result, the cost of college value proposition will continue to diminish and colleges will continue to struggle to attract students. While this was already happening, the pandemic will only speed up the number of colleges that will close.

All of this will translate into not only a shift in how our system delivers learning, but a shift in how we use resources in this new model. Our public schools will be better than ever! Trust me, it’s coming!

–Fred Bramante is a past chairman and memtber of the New Hampshire State Board of Education. He speaks and consults on education redesign to regional, state and national organizations.

Now more than ever Hippo depends on your support to help fund our coverage. For almost 20 years Hippo has worked hard to provide high-quality news, information and coverage about the local food, music and arts scenes. We track down things to do and places to go — and it isn’t easy. Just putting together our weekly live music listing takes hours. The time and the expense required are why you won’t find a more comprehensive list of local live music anywhere else.

And we spend time digging into our stories about food, arts, the outdoors and nightlife as well. In this issue, our food reporter Matt Ingersoll talked to multiple bartenders and cocktail experts about the Moscow mule and its local popularity and variations (Matt uncovered the mule scene!). We’re also introducing a new column called Drinking With John Fladd this week by longtime Hippo veteran John Fladd. Don’t get the wrong idea. We’re about more than drinking. We’re about covering the creativity — in cocktails and food and beyond — that makes southern New Hampshire unique. Local craft, local creativity — that’s the heart of Matt’s story. Who else covers that week after week?

Though we’ve been fortunate over the years to be supported by local advertisers (and, thankfully, continue to be), the pandemic has severely restricted the amount of advertising. This means that without your support we won’t be able to continue to cover southern New Hampshire arts, food, music and events like we have in the past. Hippo needs your support.

Hippo keeps you informed with entertaining, thoughtful offerings from our veteran and award winning writers including Amy Diaz, Michael Witthaus, Eric Saeger, Matt Ingersoll, Angie Sykeny, Lisa Parsons, Meghan Siegler, Dave Long, Jeff Mucciarone, Jennifer Graham, Henry Homeyer and Michele Kuegler. The writers you love or love to argue with (Dave Long’s loyal readers have many opinions about his opinions).

Hippo answers that vexing question of what to do and where to go (yes, even now). We need your help to do that.

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The final months of summer gardening are always met with mixed emotions. This is often when the plants we have worked so hard to grow come to fruition and are ready for harvest. It is also the time when the impacts of bugs, drought and animals are felt more acutely, and the mature plants require more care to keep them producing the glorious vegetables during this harvest season.

There is so much to learn about life through gardening as it teaches you that the work is never done, growth requires care and attention, and to produce results you have to put in the time. All too often, when embarking on anti-racism efforts, fellow white people (myself included) often want to see the fruit without the labor. There are many times where we say, “please just tell me what to do” without having the context or the history for why this particular action is needed. Without this foundational understanding, it can be difficult to commit to the work in meaningful and long-term ways.

The scope and importance of becoming more aware of whiteness takes time to dig into the depths of our subconscious, to unearth long-held beliefs and thought patterns that many argue are imprinted into our DNA over generations. It takes quiet reflection, sitting the discomfort of acknowledging our own dirt, picking away at our bugs, having conversations with people to help us clear the weeds, and fertilizing our soil with knowledge. Due to our social conditioning, the gardens of white people, in particular, need the investment of time, curiosity and labor to understand what lies beneath.

The beautiful upside to this work is knowing that it will produce the results we want. There are literally hundreds of years of learning to unlearn but we are so lucky to have books by James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, bell hooks, Maya Angelou, and countless other Black authors to read, social media accounts to follow and films to watch. In the moment, it may feel overwhelming and hard to understand where it will lead us, but we have to trust the process and our own labor in the work.

Gardening is not an easy process. The path to success is not clear or linear, and there are variables that will constantly pop up, and work to deter us from seeing the work through until maturity. The same is absolutely true to on the path to becoming anti-racist. There are going to be moments of appreciation, gratitude, frustration, sadness, and fear. Despite all of this, those who take on the work know one thing to be true: In the end, it will be worth it.

If I close my eyes and concentrate, I can recall the very sound our mail slot at home would make as the letter carrier deposited our day’s delivery. My sister and I would race to be the first to gather the mail and plop it on the kitchen table. Its delivery was as much a fixture in our childhood as was the sound of the milkman’s bottles on the back step or the thud of the evening paper as it sailed across our lawn and landed on the porch.

Later, when I started collecting stamps, I learned the different classes of postage. “First Class” meant just that: it had priority. And if I had any questions about mail or postage or stamps, I could always go downtown and ask my uncle who was the postmaster. He once gave me a tour of the post office, introducing me to all the staff, including Sandy, the carrier for our route. What he and his fellow workers exemplified — and I greatly admired — was pride in their work and the integrity of the U.S. Postal Service. One of my earliest pieces of memorization was the Service’s motto: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these carriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”

Well, so much for that if the new Postmaster General’s recently implemented procedures result in major delays of the mail. What we thought we were buying with a First Class stamp just a few weeks ago may now not be the same service we have come to expect. The impact of those changes, according to postal workers themselves, is demoralizing and a challenge to their commitment to their historic mission.

The president’s oft-repeated judgment that vote by mail is rife with fraud has been disproved by so many secretaries of state — some of whom are Republicans — that it is irrational, if not virtually felonious, on that basis to tamper, albeit indirectly through a major donor political appointee, with the integrity of one of our most trusted institutions. That the Postal Service must find its way in an ever more competitive environment is obvious, but it cannot be a party to any political effort to influence a free and unencumbered election.

The late John Lewis called on us all to vote, reminding us that it is the most powerful act we can perform in a democracy. We must ensure that our other fundamental institution is able freely to play its role in that process.