5 minute read
Off the Shelf
WHAT ARE WE READING + WATCHING?
— CHRISTIAN ALLAIRE, AUTHOR OF THE POWER OF STYLE
The Power of Style: How Fashion and Beauty Are Being Used to Reclaim Cultures
Kristen Gallerneaux, The Henry Ford’s curator of communications and information technology (and chief content curator for this magazine), appreciates the journeys of self-expression found in Christian Allaire’s new book on reclaiming and honoring culture through fashion.
As an Indigenous teen growing up in rural Canada, my fashion choices didn’t always align with local style. Perhaps this is why I felt instant kinship with The Power of Style author Christian Allaire’s experience as a “fashion-obsessed Ojibwe teen” who grew up on Nipissing First Nation reserve.
This book was inspired by a “lack” — specifically, Allaire’s frustration with the absence of Indigenous representation in fashion and media. But what began as a project focusing on contemporary Indigenous style soon expanded to include natural hairstyles in the Black community, the political-spiritual weight of long hair among Native American peoples and the use of glamorous wigs by drag performers to manifest personae. Other chapters highlight plus-size cosplayers who emphasize body-positivity, hijabs and modesty sportswear among Muslim people, and the history of high heels in men’s and nonbinary fashion.
Here, and as a writer at Vogue magazine, Allaire centers diversity, amplifying a broad spectrum of emerging voices within the cultural fashion arena. Chapters demonstrate (to use designer Bethany Yellowtail’s description) “bridges of understanding” between traditional and contemporary clothing — from couture to ceremonial regalia, costumes and streetwear. Throughout The Power of Style, Allaire reminds us that “fashion holds more power than you think,” and this book provides a compassionate roadmap for self-identity and gender expression through style — all with young adult readers in mind.
Jarell Brown,
Business Intelligence Head of Analytics, The Henry Ford
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
My family and I have read Where the Sidewalk Ends together since my daughter was born just over eight years ago — just as the book was read to us when we were kids a lot of years ago. When my daughter was 1, she would giggle at the rhyming and the different voices my wife and I would use. And when she was 4 and my son 2, they would crack up in barrels of laughter. My daughter has now begun to ask questions about the images and word meanings. Everything is different in the poems, and Where the Sidewalk Ends touches a variety of themes about being an individual, about dreaming and about using your imagination EVERYWHERE!
The most important part about this book: the conversations we have as a family as we grow and continue to read together.
Kate Morland
Senior Manager, Museum and Exhibits
Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum, PBS Kids
In this PBS Kids television series, the main characters — Xavier, his sister Yadina and their friend Brad — meet historical figures as children with the help of a timetravel machine.
Inspired by his Black history unit in kindergarten, my son wanted to watch something about the Underground Railroad. So we tuned in to the episode I Am Harriet Tubman, where a young Harriet meets Xavier and his friends while she sneaks away to see her family. Later, they join up with the abolitionist as an adult on an Underground Railroad rescue and learn that courage is bravely moving forward even when you’re scared.
DID YOU KNOW? /
The PBS Kids television series Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum is based on the children’s book series Ordinary People Change the World, written by Brad Meltzer and illustrated by Christopher Eliopoulos.
Eric Schilbe
Executive Sous Chef, The Henry Ford
The Fable of the Hot Dog Vendor by Dino and Giovanna Cortopassi
Recently, I received The Fable of the Hot Dog Vendor as a gift. At the time, I was reading at night to my two boys as often as I could. I began reading them this story, which is about someone that appreciates good food and knows the importance of “the very best,” no matter what it is. As time goes on in the story, things change, but the main character always appreciates good food and knows its importance.
As I read this to my boys, they understood that “the very best” is always important, even in a hot dog. My wife and I have always told our children to do their best in everything they do, not to worry about being better than others, but to be the best version of themselves. As a chef, I have always lived by this and based my career on always serving the best. Understanding that food in our culture is important, defining us in so many ways.
The Benson Ford Research Center can help you discover the power of dreaming big and embracing what’s possible on topics discussed in this issue, from space travel and road travel to greening initiatives and alternative foodways. For access, write to research.center@ thehenryford.org.
BOOKS
No One at the Wheel: Driverless Cars and the Road of the Future by Samuel Schwartz with Karen Kelly
Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead by Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman
Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight by David A. Mindell
Powering the Dream: The History and Promise of Green Technology by Alexis Madrigal
The Emergent Agriculture: Farming Sustainability and the Return of the Local Economy by Gary Kleppel
Cultivating Food Justice: Race, Class, and Sustainability by Alison Hope Alkon and Julian Agyeman
The Way We Eat Now: How the Food Revolution Has Transformed Our Lives, Our Bodies, and Our World by Bee Wilson
ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS Accession 1788 - Sundberg-Ferar Transportation Design Records
Industrial design firm Sundberg-Ferar worked with NASA and Lockheed Corp. in the 1980s on design concepts for a proposed Earth-orbiting space station.*
Accession 2013.16.4 - DARPA Urban Challenge Collection
Materials relate to the 2007 DARPA Urban Challenge, part of a series of competitions promoting the development of autonomous vehicles.
*Space station and some other drawings are digitized and can be viewed in The Henry Ford’s Digital Collections.
