Daniel Gray-Kontar, Cleveland

I.

So when I think about the American Dream, as I’ve been doing since the Republican National Convention has arrived into Cleveland, I’m forced to think about all of the discourse that has emerged in the past several weeks. So much of it has been about Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and so many of the personalities representing the two political parties vying for political power in our country. And while the arrival of RNC has inspired so much of my thinking, and is, in fact, the catalyst for this writing and reflection, I’m forced to remember that the American Dream has very little to do with any of these personalities. It has little to do, in fact, with political parties. The American Dream is about the beautiful battle of narratives, which crystalize into ideologies. It is about the fact that The American Dream is about one’s capacity to speak the truth of one’s personal and collective narrative without fear. It is, further, about the capacity to speak one’s own truth, to associate with others who share your truth, and to engage in discussion and debate with others who do not share your truth, your backstory, your understanding of what it means to be, of what it means to engage in the struggle for self-actualization and self-determination. This is The American Dream. And too, the constant questioning of whether or not the American Dream is being realized is a part of the American Dream.

And so … As I sit in front of an ice sculpture of the words “AMERICAN DREAM” melting in the sun – a sculpture which is designed to force us to question our personal understanding of its meaning – I realize that as long as we live in a society in which we are able to create works of art that force us to question who and what we are, why we are, how we are, and where we are going – if we are allowed to freely question, to freely answer, and to freely act upon our reflections within the context of acting in ways that are not harmful to our shared Republic — we are living the Dream. The moment that for any of us, we are no longer able to engage in this kind of relentless critique, then we are no longer engaged in the pursuit or actualization of that dream. And so we must question, not only what is The American Dream, but who amongst us is not allowed to live it; why are they not allowed to live it, and how we must respond and react in a way that upholds the meaning of our collective Dream as human beings who call themselves (or do not, by choice) American.

II.

The Dream

Many are inside, but do not see.

See, but do not speak.

Speak, but do not know.

Know, but do not feel.

Feel, but do not touch.

Touch, but do not reach.

Reach, but do not hear.

Hear, but do not listen.

Listen, but are outsiders

(or so, they have been told).

Many are inside, but do not see …