A Kentucky Kitchen Table to Be Thankful For

By: Natalie








Kentucky Kitchen Table: Change is a Good Thing

KKTBy Sara

The sound of laughter and chatter filled the warm air outside as guests began to arrive. Attention was focused around my two-year-old niece as she implored the guests to play ball with her while they were waiting. I hosted my Kentucky Kitchen Table at my home in Barren County, Kentucky. Barren County, which neighbors Warren County, is a rural area consisting mainly of farmland. As of 2015, only 43,570 people called Barren County home. Those guests who have decided to wait outside in the warm October air admire the rolling hills and roaming cattle surrounding the home. They chatted and caught up and for some, spoke to one another for the very first time. Inside the house, the smells of pot roast, fresh bread, vegetables, and warm cake mingled in the air. The table was set for ten, with filled glasses of sweet tea and lemonade already claiming spots for each guest. I went outside and announced that the meal was ready, and my guests began to make their way inside.

Bobby Joe, a seventy-year-old farmer from Green County, Kentucky and his wife, Donna, a fifty-four-year-old factory worker from Somerset, both smile as they talk with everyone else at the table. Bobby Joe grew up incredibly poor in a small community in Hart County, Kentucky and received no more than an eighth-grade education. He married young and had three children with his first wife, making an honest and hard-earned living as a farmer growing tobacco, raising cattle, chickens, mules, and mares, and repairing farm machinery for others in the community. His first wife, Glenda, worked in the local hospital, Jane Todd, for practically her entire life until she passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease. Bobby Joe remarried years later, marrying Donna, who worked in the same hospital and was friends with Glenda. Donna was a single mother who raised her son while working to provide for them. These two individuals have very different backgrounds that offer two unique perspectives at our table.

Eva Mae, Bobby Joe’s sister and a recently widowed eighty-one-year-old, lives in Hart County, Kentucky with three of her grandkids. She has dealt with her children’s drug usage and many medical hardships that both she and her husband endured in their thirty-six years of marriage.

Drew, a thirty-four-year-old recovered, (but always recovering, he emphasized), alcoholic and father to a fifteen-year-old son offers a unique perspective at the table. Drew speaks from a place of someone who has hit rock bottom and bounced back. While he expresses regret over these wasted years of his life, he also expresses appreciation for the new outlook on life that recovering from this situation gave him.

Andrea, the twenty-five-year-old newlywed wife of Drew and newly named step mother to his son, also expresses a lot of her outlook on life as being influenced by her new husband. She grew up in a lower-middle class family that was never hungry but didn’t have much more than they needed. Growing up, she struggled with wanting what everyone else had but also feeling privileged to have what she did. She worked minimum wage jobs throughout high school. After graduating, and since, Andrea has worked a factory job. Jacob, the also twenty-five-year-old twin of Andrea, also sat at the table. Growing up in the same situation, he joined the National Guard straight out of high school. He underwent basic combat training at Fort Benning, Georgia and advanced individual training at Fort Lee, Virginia. Returning home after AIT graduation, he went to work in a factory while still attending monthly drill trainings for the military.

These drill trainings were stationed in Central City, Kentucky, where Jacob met his newlywed wife Kylie. He and Kylie share a two-year-old daughter that they have raised in Barren County, Kentucky. Kylie grew up in a home with a mother who abused various substances and created dangerous situations for she and her siblings. This placed a strain on her relationship with her family that she continues to battle with today. In her teenage years, Kylie struggled with accepting herself and admitting to her family that she was bisexual but eventually found the courage to feel comfortable with herself. She also joined the National Guard directly out of high school, effectively removing herself from the situation she had felt so stuck in. She now works at the local hospital and focuses her attention on being the best mother that she can.

Tristan, a nineteen-year-old Mexican-American, sits awkwardly at the table as he is unfamiliar with the majority of people he is sitting with. Tristan was raised in a Mennonite community until he reached the end of their educational system, that does not extend past eighth-grade. He works with his father at their family owned construction business and on their family owned farm in a small community called Fountain Run, Kentucky. He and his sisters help their father tend to their unique herd of cattle, horses, donkeys, and zebras. To help him feel more comfortable during the meal, Tristan’s girlfriend Leah came along with him. Leah is an eighteen-year-old student of Southern Kentucky Community and Technical College. Leah grew up in a rather affluent household in Barren County with her married parents and two brothers. She leans toward the Democratic side of politics, a contrast from many others at the table.

I, Sara, an eighteen-year-old first-generation college student, sat at the table and absorbed every word said by my guests. I recognized that every single person at this table had a different story and had lived their life in a way that I would never be able to fully understand. In the moment I took a moment to appreciate the way that this assignment brought me closer to some of my family members, a friend, and a new friend that I had the privilege to meet that day.

I had decided that to make the most of the meal, I wanted to cook everything by myself. I prepared a meal made of many homemade Southern comfort foods, something that was sure to go over well with all of my guests. Beginning the meal, I allowed everyone to fill their plates and talk amongst themselves before I initiated the most important part of the project. I asked the one required question but requested that my guests didn’t answer until I asked it again at the end of the meal. Instead, I prompted them with the question: “What kind of person do you want to be?”

It was silent for a few moments, as could be expected. I waited and allowed my guests to think it over rather than trying to break the silence with another question. After a few awkward moments, Drew decided that he would like to be a person that others could depend on and someone that is never known to speak negatively of other people. Eva Mae agreed and added that the best thing she could strive to be is someone known to love other people, no matter their situation. The conversation continued as Jacob assured Eva Mae that she was exactly that kind of person and thanked her for the lessons that she had taught to him and his new wife.

As the discussion on that question died down, I moved to ask if what my guests enjoy most about where they live. Everyone in attendance lived in rather small communities but Leah had experienced the lifestyles of bigger cities. While practically all of the others talked about enjoying that they had room for their children to play outside their home and were never far from family, Leah expressed appreciation for the safety and the true sense of community that a small town provides.

I continued asking other questions, not only the ones offered on the handout but also ones that came to mind while I heard my guests reminisce and reflect on their lives. The discussion went smoothly and by the end, Tristan and Leah both felt so incredibly comfortable with these people who just an hour ago had been complete strangers. After getting a sense of where my guests stood on certain issues, I decided that I would soon wrap up the conversation. I arose and offered dessert and reminded everyone of the question that I would soon be asking again. I had to repeat myself as my voice was drowned out by the chatter and laughter just a few feet away. When everything settled down, I asked the question: “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?”

Kylie was the first to answer, sharing that to her citizenship was a sense of belonging—a sense of true belonging—and what led her to enlist in the National Guard. Jacob agreed, adding that citizenship took an entirely new meaning to him when he joined the military. Tristan, who asked that I mention again his Mexican-American decent, said that to him, citizenship is not something that you learn but something that you feel. To him, citizenship is a feeling of safety and assurance in life. We all nodded in agreeance and began to stack our plates and get up. Right before everyone left the table, Bobby Joe chimed in and said, “Citizenship is everything.”

Reflecting on the meal, it is made clear in my mind that this project relates heavily to one of our classes’ central questions: “How do we live well together?” It was obvious that everyone at the table wanted nothing more than everyone to accept one another and who they were, no matter how they lived their life. It is not surprising that current politics came into the discussion but every single person at the table agreed that our political climate and how we discuss politics are entirely wrong. It was mentioned that it was extremely difficult to have a political conversation without someone or a group of people being attacked for their views. When this was said, not only did I remember the importance of guided deliberation, but the imagery of the rider and the elephant immediately came to my mind. In our society, everyone wants to defend their side of the idea without even trying to understand where their “opponent” is coming from.

During this project, not only did I get to learn many things about people who I thought I knew completely, but I also got to learn that what most people really want is a genuine world peace. Most members of our society, or at least the ones that sat around me at my Kentucky Kitchen Table, are tired of the way things are. The world needs to change, and discussion is the first step.

Buffalo Kentucky Kitchen Table


By Virginia












Pork, Potatoes, and Politics: My Kentucky Kitchen Table


By Granite

On October 22, 2017, I hosted my Kentucky Kitchen Table in the rural town of Gamaliel, Kentucky.  Gamaliel is a small town located in Monroe County and boasts a population of around 500 inhabitants. A total of 10 adults and three children attended my Kentucky Kitchen Table. These included my father Grady, my mother Cindi, sister Zena, grandmother Faye, grandfather Garon, uncle Geoff, aunt LaDonna, cousin Grayson, cousin Gibson, and Gibson’s wife Tessa. Grady is an emergency room doctor and Cindi homeschools my sister Zena, who is a senior in high school. Faye and Garon are retired, with Garon formerly working as a mechanic and then as the founder of Gamaliel Shooting Supply, the family business. Geoff manages the Shooting Supply, and LaDonna is an interior designer. Grayson is a sales representative at the Shooting Supply, Gibson is the communications director, and Tessa stays at home with their adopted son, Gideon. The family members present represented four generations of Pares and brought unique and diverse perspectives to the figurative and literal table.

My family began the dinner with a prayer led by my uncle, and then I provided a general description of the purpose of the dinner and of the class. To begin our discussion, I asked the only required question for the dinner: “Beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws, what does citizenship mean to you?” As different members of my family voiced their opinions, a common theme quickly became prevalent: each individual believed that citizenship meant having pride in your country and in how you treat your fellow citizens. I was specifically interested in how the different generations represented would view different social issues. However, the generation gap did not seem to play a large role in their responses. Rather, each individual member of my family stressed the importance of citizenship and its role in our society today. As the conversation shifted between topics, I noticed, not for the first time, but in a new way, how tight-knit, respectful, and appreciative my family is. Despite having differing opinions on some topics, no one spoke over another, no arguments developed, and the mood was consistently jovial. This made the conversation much easier and allowed for people to feel they could truly voice their opinion.

After first allowing the conversation to continue organically, I realized that people were getting off topic. Thus, I decided to proceed through the list of provided questions and have people answer the question directly. Once someone had answered the question, others would join in and agree or disagree or even provide a personal experience of their own. I found one of my favorite parts of the discussion occurred when someone would share a personal experience in relation to a question, and then an entire conversation would develop between that family member and another, resulting in multiple side conversations that were all related to the topic at hand.

One of the first questions I asked was for someone to share a time that they had a conversation or interaction with someone from a very different background. Gibson and Tessa immediately spoke up and detailed the interactions they had with native Taiwanese while they were adopting their son, Gideon. Several years ago, they attempted to adopt a child from an orphanage in the Republic of the Congo. When this fell through, they turned to Taiwan in order to find the next member of the Pare family. Throughout the adoption process, Gibson, Tessa, Geoff, and LaDonna visited Taiwan multiple times, and Tessa even spent several months straight there while going through the legal section of the adoption process. While she was there, she was  reliant on the generosity and assistance native people of Taiwan for everything in her daily life. Because Tessa is an adopted child, she demonstrates one important facet of being a citizen- the willingness to care and provide for others in order to help improve their quality of life. Tessa’s history and familiarity with the adoption process caused Gibson and her to want to adopt their children.

When I asked for other examples, Grady began discussing his time spent as a doctor in the E.R. and how he often interacted and treated patients from all walks of life. He referred to having seen the homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics, terminally ill, and even a member of the brutally violent gang MS-13. As a doctor, he was expected to view and care for each patient equally, regardless of race, gender, religion, or social status. Everyone in my family supported this statement, which led into a brief discussion on my group deliberation regarding the mental health of EMS providers, a category which Grady falls into.

I quickly affirmed my suspicion that one of the issues closest to my family’s heart was freedom. As the owners of a gun store, my family is often presented with arguments from those opposing freedoms provided by the Second Amendment to the Constitution. While we fully support the Second Amendment, we also believe that the many other freedoms provided by the Constitution are paramountly important to the meaning of citizenship. Gibson pointed out that the freedom of religion embodies part of what it means to be a citizen- coexisting in harmony with those who have any religion, or even no religion at all. However, as Christians, our religion comes with a caveat- one of the tenets of our faith is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. This plays a large role in our citizenship; we become a better citizen by loving those around us and helping to provide a better way of life for those whom we have the opportunity to help. Geoff also brought up the point that, in the United States, we live with no immediate fear of war. The peaceful living situation provided to us as citizens of the United States opens the door to incredible opportunities to promote change, make the world a better place, or simply do nothing. Grayson agreed, saying that one of the best things about being a citizen in a free country is that we have no obligations. Our freedom was won in order to have the ability to participate and also the ability to not participate at all. While voting, paying taxes, and following laws are important aspects of being a citizen, the freedoms provided by the United States of America allows citizens to exercise all, some, or none of these fundamental rights.

Following this spirited discussion between Uncle Geoff and his sons, we took a break from debating citizenship to enjoy another aspect of citizenship: the ability to spend time with family and enjoy good food! The conversation shifted for several minutes to the delicious dishes provided by Cindi, LaDonna, Faye, and Tessa. After dining on pork loins, mashed potatoes, cauliflower salad, rolls, macaroni and cheese, deviled eggs, and topping off dinner with Cindi’s delicious apple pie, the conversation turned back to citizenship. Before I even had the opportunity to present the question, Zena asked my grandfather Garon what social issue he was most interested in. While Garon thought about his answer, I asked other family members to chime in on the topic. Their responses were widespread and somewhat surprising to me. However, a common theme seemed to be earning what you make. Grady mentioned that he believed one of the greatest issues facing society was changing the mentality regarding people having a willingness to work versus having a willingness to receive unnecessary help from others. The rest of my family immediately agreed. Because my family has owned a small business since 1976, hard work has been one of the many values instilled in each generation of our family. During dinner there was a general appreciation of those who work for every dollar they earn. Nevertheless, this was not the only social issue brought to the table. Zena, who has earned a minor in American Sign Language through WKU despite only being a senior in high school, has a passion for educating the public of the fact that deafness is not a mental illness. She brought this up in response to her own question, and I was surprised to learn that many people view deafness as something that can prevent those who experience it from doing normal, everyday things. It was only after we had discussed all of these answers that I realized Garon never answered the question! However, I decided to pose another question to him. Upon asking him what kind of person he wants to be, he responded that he hopes to be someone who is peaceful, patient, and forgiving. This statement was echoed by Grayson and Gibson, who claimed that they are responsible for their own actions and ensuring that their actions are used to help others. As soon as they mentioned this, I immediately thought of If It Feels Right, an article by David Brooks. In this article, Brooks argues that many young adults in America believe moral choices are a matter of individual taste and that they only undergo actions that promote their own personal well being. As Grayson and Gibson spoke, I realized that these two young men were saying the complete opposite of what Brooks claims. They viewed the world through the the idea that it was their responsibility to be as good of a neighbor as possible and realized that their actions affected many more lives than just their own.  

Before we ended our dinner and discussion, I decided to pose one final question to my family. Because my family’s political views are fairly consistent throughout, I was interested to hear what advice they would offer to an incoming political candidate. From my sister to my granddad, everyone agreed that politicians who wish to be successful and invoke real change should strive with all their might to keep the promises they make on the campaign trail. Zena made the insightful comment that the first lie is the one that hurts the most. Once a politician has been labeled as a promise-breaker, they will never be trusted again. I thought this was very interesting in regards to the most recent presidential candidates. Both of our candidates in the last presidential election repeatedly made promises they were either unwilling or unable to keep, and this lowered their favorability in the eyes of the voters.

When I first read about this assignment, I thought it sounded very interesting and I knew I would enjoy having a thoughtful and intentional discussion with my family. The fact that my mother, aunt, and grandmother are excellent cooks was just a happy coincidence! After completing my meal, I realized that the experience lived up to my original expectations. The type of open, reasonable discussion that occurred around the dinner table is an excellent way to discuss difficult topics while respecting the opinions and ideas of others. Hopefully, the knowledge I gained from hosting my Kentucky Kitchen Table will allow me to be more attentive to the ways I speak to and interact with others and help me to become a better family member and citizen.

My Kentucky Kitchen Table

By Annalee

This past weekend I had the opportunity to eat a dinner around a table in my hometown, Louisville, and discuss the way the world is, and how our community interacts. Among the people I ate with was an “optimistic dreamer” who spends most of her time at the University of Louisville’s Office of Technology Transfer getting a first look at the new technology UofL has to explore, her name is Karen; a “quiet mom” who works passionately with GIS (geographic information system) looking at data and the maps in Louisville, her name is Lisa; the “hardworking” renaissance man I call dad, and of course, my “warm” Aunt Jenny who often used her experience working as a behavior specialist to add an authoritative response to the discussion. My Aunt Jenny was the first person to come to mind when thinking of who would allow me to host a dinner at their house, and she was thrilled to have an opportunity to bring out her china. Everyone brought their own dish to the dinner, and I supplied the dessert. The two woman, Karen and Lisa, that my Aunt Jenny invited where complete strangers to me when we began the meal, and throughout I noticed the difference in backgrounds and things that were closest to their hearts; I think that was one of the things that made the discussion that much more beneficial for us all.

The first thing I noticed when beginning the dinner was that the individuals around the table had never had an experience like this one before, and after answering their many questions about what my class is like I noticed how much they were all looking forward to it.

We started with my aunt’s homemade chili and a caesar salad that Lisa brought, and throughout the meal I saw a connection between how little these people had experiences like this and how they reacted to the questions I was asking; they often times had to think a little and a few times their response began with “I had never really thought of that, but…” I can definitely relate to this; many of the articles we have read in Citizen and Self have opened my eyes to options I never would have thought extensively about. We spent the first bit of the dinner discussing citizenship and what it meant to them, and Karen said that she thinks being able to be the person that you are is what citizenship is all about, and mentioned religion as an example. There was an overall agreement that those things were often taken for granted, and as the night went on their opinion on that slightly changed as they discussed social issues and how there are so many people in the world with a fear of being the person they are. I thought that it was interesting to see their slight shift in opinion, and while I think their opinions were very optimistic and hopeful, I think they were expected and represent a large part of how we think today. We believe something to be true until the moment the truth is contradicted and we either end up feeling inferior to the opposing argument, or fight back, when instead we should think for ourselves and have a reason behind a change of heart. While they were discussing which social issues are dearest to their hearts, I noticed that they were bringing up things that they felt a lot of empathy for, whether that was the kids from Maryhurst Alternative School in Louisville, who need escape from abuse, or something more widely known such as abortion. A lot of the discussion surrounding these social issues came from a more personal discussion about home lives. Because my dad and my aunt were both at the table, they had similar perspectives of their childhood: growing up around a dinner table where they had the same meals every week and could not leave the table until every bit of the meal was finished. My dad said, “I mean I can look back at it now and think of it fondly, but at the time I really hated it.” Karen thought of the girls in Maryhurst and how they definitely did not have safe home lives, and made the comment that so much of what she knows, from manners to social problems, comes from her household and how she was raised. A lot of the conversations that we have with our families are what shape the core of who our family is, and I think that can definitely relate to what we talk a lot about in class; what we are commonly exposed to, the media for example, is where we get the base of our arguments.

My Aunt Jenny spent the second half of her career working as a behavior specialist for Jefferson County Public Schools in Louisville, and during this dinner she mentioned how she feels as though she has an obligation to help families and children find their way in life. It meant so much to her to first-hand see the improvement in the student and the way they interact with their family. I think it is common for individuals in society to really resonate within their career path and think of it as their way to contribute to the community. It is a personal obligation, where she, and many others, feel the desire to see something happen. Later, when speaking about which social issue is closest to her heart she spoke about how she has a lot of empathy for the families she works with that need food stamps, but then struggles when she sees those parents with a laziness towards getting a job. That is another example where the people at the dinner noticed the contradiction in their own lives, which is something we talk a lot about in Citizen and Self; there being a disconnect not between how we feel, but how we explain how we feel. I was curious to see if anyone else around the table has something that they do because they believe that it is the morally right thing to do. Lisa talked about how she always felt the need to help the homeless by giving them money, although she often felt uncomfortable doing so. She eventually came up with a plan to take them out for a meal with her rather than just handing them the money and not seeing the use they put towards it. This situation reminds me of our discussion of Haidt’s article Righteous Mind, specifically about the elephant and the rider and I think it is a perfect example of a person’s rider taking a little control to explain a more logical approach to the elephant’s actions.

As dinner continued and we had the choice between Karen’s chess pie and my brownies, my dad was still thinking about the question about obligations to the other people in our country/community. He kept bringing up the point that “honesty is so important, regardless of the situation,” and went on to share his opinions on doing what is good versus what is right. His comment made me think about a time when a person in my life had lied to me about something that, had I found out about at the time would have really hurt me, and they did it to ‘protect’ my feelings. I learned from finding out the truth later that that experience was one where I would have much preferred the person have done what was right, instead of what was good; honesty is so important to me. I remember talking a lot about the battle between good versus right while discussing Ivan Illich’s speech, “To Hell with Good Intentions,” in class, and this moment at the dinner table was one where I felt I could really put the readings I had studied from class into the real world because someone I know from home was speaking about the same thing, it was quite frankly pretty cool.

I wanted to end the dinner on a more positive note, so I asked the question about the best things in our world today and each person had immediate responses. They were shouting out words like “people,” “love,” “family,” “relationships,” all of the things in the world that we can have strong connections with if we really try. Lisa’s response was one that I really loved, and it stuck with me throughout the night: she said, “the best thing is being able to help others in a crisis, it is about humanity and humility.” I think that if everyone took the time to talk with their neighbors and their families about the issues they hold dearest to their hearts, that it would start a chain reaction and broaden to positively changing the way democracy works today. We also talked a little about democracy during the dinner, and my Aunt Jenny spoke about how although we have so much freedom in the U.S., people still take things like religion and race and judge others with a righteous and almighty mindset; one that will have the opposite effect for an improving democracy.

Overall, I really enjoyed this experience. The reactions I got before the dinner had even begun were ones that would definitely inspire me to implement discussions like this into my daily life more. This was the first time that I had ever gone into a conversation about the world and about democracy that I had a different approach to, and it definitely had an impact on me, and hopefully the others around the dinner table. I learned that while my dad and my Aunt grew up in the exact same home environment, their adult lives had shaped them into seemingly very different people. Karen and Lisa both said that they never would have thought to taking the first step in befriending their neighbors, and I honestly cannot remember that being a normalcy in my childhood home, either. This semester we have been talking all about community involvement and actually getting out and talking with people about the topics that are depicting so much of our lives, and this night felt like a really good start.

KKT picture

Unfamiliar Faces

By Cristina

Unfamiliar faces surround me in a wicked world consumed by materialism and technology. Society buries its burdens and layers them with meaningless conclusions. Long-term solutions wither in despair. The roots of our community are parched and famished from no conversation. What once was a community is now a graveyard of lost democracy, identity, and empathy. All that surround me are faces. Faces that were once familiar, founded upon living flesh, but have now dried to cracked, brittle bones.

These cracked brittle bones form the skeleton of our society. The spine supports our foundation. Yet, our foundation lacks the flesh necessary to form a community. In the modern age, it is difficult to establish this community, as the second hand on the clock begins to tick faster and our minds begin to scatter. Numbers become blurred images and faces become placeless, losing their identity.

Gathered around the kitchen table, we could once find this sense of community. This historical event is marked in history books as being the bridge between where society is and where society wants to be. Under the bridge are the waters. If we cross the bridge and sit at the table, the waters will flood our bones and begin to bridge the divide between the citizen and the self.

To bridge the divide, I set up a Kentucky Kitchen Table, a gathering of people—friends, family, neighbors, and the like—around a meal at a kitchen table where ideas of citizenship and community are discussed. Around the table in Bowling Green Kentucky, cracked, brittle bones had individual identities. 7 diverse identities belonged to those, not including myself, named: Liz, Sarah, Jack, Dwayne, Ernie, Jess, and Melanie. Around the table, those identities were dissolved.

Liz is the daughter of Ernie and Melanie. Liz is a character like no other, devoting her time by volunteering at Curbside Ministries. Curbside Ministries is a Christian based organization that goes to underprivileged parts of Bowling Green, Kentucky with the mission of representing and showing Jesus’s love. Through volunteering at Curbside Ministries, Liz plays games and spends time with underprivileged children to establish bonds and show love. As she continues her volunteering through Curbside Ministries, Liz wants to further develop Bowling Green as a community that extends roots of empathy and compassion to all citizens no matter what demographic.

Sarah is a college freshman majoring in civil engineering. With her degree, she strives to work for the state and a private firm, and eventually continue her dad’s legacy by taking over his business. She is an individual who derives her character from her faith, Christianity. Through her faith in God, she develops and refines her morals and values. As a result, her religious identity positively grows her thoughts and her treatment of others around her.

Jack is a freshman at Western Kentucky University. He is majoring in wildlife biology. After obtaining his degree, he hopes to pursue his dream job as a park and recreation research biologist in order to better understand the environment and how society impacts it. If Jack could give one piece of advice to his neighbors, it would be to consider the impact our choices and decision not only have on our environment but also on other individuals; for, we have the ability to strengthen or weaken the fibers of the relationships we have with people around us.

Dwayne is an individual who is outgoing, determined, caring, and charitable. Dwayne recently changed his major to biochemistry. After obtaining his degree, Dwayne desires to go to medical school and become a pediatrician. Dwayne is charitable and has sympathy. Aiding children as a doctor reflects this quality. Dwayne strives to be the individual who is willing to lend a helping hand.

Ernie is reserved and down to earth. He has traditional values and values social reform. He is a General Manager at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). As a worker for TVA, Ernie supports their mission of providing regional environmental stewardship, reliable power, and economic development across seven states, specifically in Kentucky. Through employment at TVA, Ernie believes he is able to fulfill his role as a citizen, aiding others by the means of providing resources. Thus, his job relates to his role as a citizen.

Jess is also the daughter of Ernie and Melanie. Jess is a 7th grader who dedicates her time and effort to her favorite sport, basketball. Jess has a fireball of a personality. Jess is defined by the stamina and determination she puts forth during games and practices. Jess values teamwork on and off the court, from carrying out a basketball play with her teammates to working together with her family. The value of teamwork is Jess’s favorite thing about her community as it has no geographical domain and can be found anywhere she is present.

Melanie is a “blessing,” according to Liz.  Melanie has an outgoing personality and loves the company of others. As a mom, Melanie not only provides nurture and love for her kids, she also volunteers as a CASA. CASA works to prevent child victims of abuse, neglect, and dependency from being abused both in and out of their family of origin. In addition, Melanie volunteers at Hope House in Bowling Green, Kentucky; Hope House is an organization with the mission to alleviate physical and spiritual poverty through gospel restoration. There, she teaches classes to teenagers with kids. By preventing abuse and alleviating poverty through her job, Melanie can serve a greater purpose—providing children and adolescents with an open door of hope.

At the kitchen table, 7 diverse identities cooked in a melting pot to form ideas about community and citizenship. In order to develop these ideas, a series of questions were asked. The central question during the dinner asked what citizenship meant to each person. Specifically, what citizenship means, beyond voting, paying taxes, and following laws. This question presented obstacles as there is no concrete definition of the word citizenship. Rather, citizenship is a word constructed upon a white pillar of values: the collective group, freedom, and respect. These ideas were discussed at the table.

Citizenship is not about the self; rather, it is about the individual working towards not only the betterment of society but also towards the betterment of individuals within that society. Citizenship is “you before me,”—the individual making the safety of others a priority over theirs. Citizenship means forming a collective group. When natural or manmade disasters strike the stone walls of our existence, it is the duty of citizens to form a group and provide aid and relief to victims of despair. However, citizenship means forming a collective group even when convenience is amiss.  When wicked problems are at a great distance from our foundation or when our journey begins in arduous terrain, it continues to be the duty of citizens to form a group. Ease is a deficit that weakens the group; with this, shortcuts to solutions become poisonous thorns. Individuals must learn that when thunder strikes and sets fire to the rain, the group must act.

As a citizen, one has an array of freedoms, such as the freedom of speech. These freedoms are what society affirms as their natural rights as citizens. Citizens have the natural right to articulate their values and morals. However, the freedom of speech may become inundated with hostility. At the dinner table, most individuals agreed that society is filled with hostility people have towards others. When an individual hears another’s person’s opinions they have three options: ignore, accept, or refute. Most individuals respectfully carry out these options; however, there remain a fraction of people who carry out these options through hostility. Hence, a lack of respect resonates. This further develops the definition of citizenship—the quality of being respectful, rather than hostile through discussion. Once, a person learns to respect another person’s opinions, people will begin to work together as a community to solve society’s wicked problems.

Gathered around the kitchen table, we have now found the lost sense of community. No longer is society buried under a thousand screams. Rather it is delivered as a thousand praises placing society where it had strived to be. We have taken up the oar of our ancestors to rediscover citizenship and traversed the waters under the bridge. We have crossed the bridge and sat at the table; the waters have flooded our bones and begun to bridge the divide between the citizen and the self.

I, as a citizen of society, have learned that citizenship is more than its dictionary denotation. Citizenship possesses a connotation that differentiates it from other words. Citizenship is formed from a collective group that consists of diverse identities, morals, and values. Citizenship is molded as a cast of freedom and respect for the very values on which it protects. We pick up the shovels and dig a grave for hostility. The tombstone is inscribed with a farewell to relics of old memories.

If we examine the word citizenship and redefine what it means to be a citizen within a community, we will have addressed a probing question, “How can we solve our problems?”  As Martha Nussbaum proclaims in her chapter, “Citizens of the World,” in Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities: “The problems we need to solve—economic, environmental, religious, and political—are global in their scope. They have no hope of being solved unless people once distant come together and cooperate in ways they have not before.” It is imperative to regard Nussbaum’s words as words of wisdom and truth. When we examine the word citizenship, we have learned it is more than tangible voting, paying taxes, and following laws. Citizenship is intangible at its core. It is a thread of our identity. If we take a needle and sew the gap of hostility and act through deliberation, we will produce a garden of solutions to our wicked problems.

A Kentucky Kitchen Table is not a dreaded project, but rather a collective group of individuals gathering about a brown, cedar table in a crisp fall to discuss citizenship and community while eating a warm meal. Around this table, the cracked, brittle bones belonging to diverse identities—Liz, Sarah, Jack, Dwayne, Ernie, Jess, and Melanie—flourished with conversation and blossomed with white flowers of hope. Unfamiliar faces became familiar.

Kentucky Kitchen Table: Do What You Can

By Kristen

Soon after learning about the Kentucky Kitchen Table, I started to stress out. I live two and a half hours away from Bowling Green, so finding a time that would work both for myself and my guests was going to be a challenge. My initial KKT was set for the middle of October, and I had invited my immediate family, multiple aunts, my old band director, and my brother’s girlfriend. The timing was going to be perfect, everyone could make it and it seemed like I could get through this assignment with little to no setbacks. That was until I realized that the date of my sorority initiation was set in complete conflict with my original plan. So… I had to improvise. As it turned out, there wasn’t another weekend that I was free to go home for a while, and many of my original guests were unable to make it. A few weeks passed, and it was time for me to host the dinner.

I sat down at the table with my mom, dad, aunt, older brother, and my brother’s girlfriend. While I did know the majority of people at my KKT, the diversity amongst us is evident. What we lacked for in racial diversity, we made up for in age, economic, and political aspects. My parents are high school sweethearts, so they come from a similar background. Both of my parents were brought up in small, coal-mining towns in southeastern Kentucky. My father, Bill, has worked at Ford Motor Company for over twenty years on line, and was recently promoted to skilled trades. His dad served in the Korean War and worked as both a coal miner and on a rescue squad. He has pretty strong conservative leanings. My mom, Patti, is the daughter of a coal mining veteran as well. She’s worked for Toyota Motor Manufacturing for upwards of twenty years. For the majority of the time, she was on the line. A few years ago, she was promoted to Diversity Coordinator of her department. Essentially, she plans events and helps promote an environment of equality at Toyota. She, on the other hand, identifies as more of an independent politically. While both of my parents began college, neither obtained their degree. My aunt, Susie, is my mother’s sister. She has worked in the public school system in Richmond, KY for thirty years as a speech therapist. She is strongly democratic, and often argues with my father about policies and politics. My brother and I are both first generation college students, and we grew up in central Kentucky. My brother, Trey, is two years older than me. He’s attending a community college back home and looking to pursue some type of business degree. My brother’s girlfriend, Rileigh, is someone I don’t know very well. She’s 18 years old and is hoping to become a veterinarian.

It’s important to note that my family, throughout the course of our busy and chaotic lives, have become accustomed to not eating around the dinner table. For the most part, we opt to eat in front of the TV or in the kitchen. While we normally eat together, the dining room is for special occasions. So, sitting down in our slightly neglected dining room table definitely made the dinner feel more familial. There was my dad, telling jokes to my brother’s girlfriend, who is not quite comfortable with our over-the-top brand of southern hospitality just yet. My mother, who is very much a go with the flow type of person, sitting back and listening as we were about to begin. My aunt, trying to turn on the UK game to check the score. My brother, who is somehow simultaneously a carbon copy and the complete opposite of my father. They’re both very strong willed, but they possess very different political leanings. My brother’s girlfriend, sneaking off to play with our three dogs before we began. Then there was me, who was nervous enough after my first attempt had failed. I’ve experienced political conversations with my family on numerous enough occasions to know that I might’ve opened a can of worms my moderator training isn’t equipped to handle just yet.

I hosted my KKT in my hometown of Georgetown, Kentucky. Scott County is the fastest growing district in Kentucky, all because of the Toyota plant that attracts people from all over the state looking for work. That being said, it still has a small-town feel. There’s only one high school in the county, home to over 2,500 students. In contrast to the highly industrial Toyota plant, there are horse farms pretty much everywhere you look. I went to school with many of the same people from kindergarten all the way through high school.

I began by explaining what my project was actually about, then we started into discussion as we dug into the food. We started with an easy one, “Do you know your neighbors?” To my surprise, the answer wasn’t a unanimous yes. It turned out that Rileigh spends most of her weekends in Morehead, KY visiting family, which left less time to connect with her neighbors here. My aunt lives in an apartment in Richmond with her long term partner, Tommy. She said that she felt like she could probably connect better with her neighbors, but she doesn’t really feel the necessity. Something I thought was interesting is that she said she felt more connected with her neighbors when something was going wrong, like when their power went out, than on a daily basis. Both my parents and brother felt very connected to our neighbors, especially because we’ve lived in the same house with the same neighbors for 15+ years.

We discussed the very important “What does citizenship mean to you?” question for a fairly long time. When asked, my dad immediately responded with freedom. He said that, as a son of a veteran, he felt that those sacrifices give us the ability to have our freedom, and ultimately be citizens. He launched into a bit of a rant about the NFL kneeling protests, but that’s besides the point. My dad and brother both agreed that being a citizen was the very core of being an American. When they were talking, the two words (citizen and American) almost sounded synonymous. Their freedoms and rights were what citizenship is about. It was generally agreed upon that being a citizen was about respect, about standing for the national anthem and going beyond just paying taxes and voting. Rileigh brought up an interesting idea, that citizenship is about being there for the people that need you and filing in the gaps. That simple comment launched my dad into a story about when he was younger, and his father was working long hours to put food on the table. His neighbor would let my father come over and pick peaches straight off his tree, and that was often his dinner. “It’s about those little things,” my dad said, “because you never know how much they’ll add up over time.”

That response in particular made me think about the central questions of the class, and it really relates back to multiple of our central questions. How do we solve problems? Well, it seemed to my KKT members that even the smallest of steps could lead to something great, and have a lasting impact over time. In relation to the readings, the approach is comparable to the “The Energy Diet” by Andrew Postman reading, about putting small measures in place. It’s certainly an easy, non-intimidating approach. How do we live better together? One way that was suggested by my dinner partners was to have faith in your neighbors, like the sweet man that provided my father with food. We’re more likely to understand those around us, as well as come together to tackle bigger issues, if we can trust our neighbors.

The next question I asked was “What kind of community do you want to live in?” Overwhelmingly, there was a generational gap in answers. The older of the group decided they wanted to go back in time, back to how things were when they were younger. “I want to live somewhere like home 30 years ago, where we slept with our doors unlocked and could walk down the street in the dead of night without concern,” said Susie. “Back in the stone age, before every house had A/C, we’d leave the doors open at night. Now, that just sounds ridiculous.” Whereas the gen-xers would prefer to go back to the past, the younger generation felt like society needs to take steps forward. Beyond physical safety, my brother argued that emotional safety was just as important. “We need a community of understanding, and compassion. There’s no way we’ll address any of our problems if we don’t listen to each other,” said Trey.

It was getting late, and we had long since finished our dessert (chess bars, my specialty). As I said goodbye to some of my guests and helped clear the table, the conversations of the night were still flowing through my mind. The main take away from my KKT was the great effect that just sitting down and having a real conversation can have. In the modern society we live in, it can be easy to get caught up in the chaos and general stress that is everyday life. With new technology, especially smart phones, making deeper connections with people can be difficult. It’s very easy to use technology as a scapegoat (something that my mom often points out to my brother and I) and not be present in the moment. The KKT gave me the opportunity to really learn more about those around me, even those that I thought I already knew very well. Overall, I learned that a lot of problems could be addressed in a more efficient way if we just take the time out of our day to really listen to each other: not just hear what others are saying, but really listen and understand.KKT 1KKT 2

Not pictured: Susie