Inspired by Katniss and Peeta’s work at the end of the Hunger Games series, this is an ongoing project (est. November 2021) that seeks to tell the stories of people forgotten by history and remember those who have been lost to racism, violence, and injustice. Starting with the United States, this will eventually expand to the rest of the world as well. It’s named for the rebel-sponsored “propos” which spotlighted specific tributes from districts who showed resistance or reluctance to join the fight against the Capitol. Although this project might have had ulterior motives, the idea is the same: remember those that the government and the powers that be would like us to forget.
Inspiration
“I want to do something, right here, right now, to shame them, to make them accountable, to show the Capitol that whatever they do or force us to do, there is a part of every tribute they can’t own. That Rue was more than a piece in their Games. And so am I.”
Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games
“It’s as if I’m Finnick, watching images of my life flash by. The mast of a boat, a silver parachute, Mags laughing, a pink sky, Beetee’s trident, Annie in her wedding dress, waves breaking over rocks. Then its over.”
Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
a little digression, but also an important influence:
“It’s nothing like what I was taught in my history classes: smiling pilots giving the thumbs-up, people cheering at the borders because we were at last safe, houses incinerated neatly, with no mess, as though they were just blipped off a computer screen. In the history books there were no people, really, who lived in these houses; they were shadows, wraiths, unreal. But as Alex and I walk hand in hand down the bombed-out road, I understand that it wasn’t like that at all. there was mess and stink and blood and the smell of skin burning. There were people: people standing and eating, talking on the phone, frying eggs or singing in the shower. I’m overwhelmed with sadness for everything that was lost, and filled with anger toward the people who took it away. My people – or at least, my old people. I don’t know who I am anymore, or where I belong.”
Lauren Oliver, Delirium
“In my most careful handwriting, come all the details it would be a crime to forget. Lady licking Prim’s cheek. My father’s laugh. Peeta’s father with the cookies. The color of Finnick’s eyes. What Cinna could do with a length of silk. Boggs reprogramming the Holo. Rue poised on her toes, arms slightly extended, like a bird about to take flight. On and on. We seal the pages with salt water and promises to live well to make their death count.”
Suzanne Collins, Mockingjay
For more thoughts on the Hunger Games inspiration behind this project, check out this post which features my Hunger Games bullet journal theme for November 2021.
Goals
- The problems we have in the US (all of them, but racism and the justice system and police training being a few) will continue to be talked about, and the people affected by them will be more than a hashtag
- That my own ability to talk about and think about racism and other prominent issues will improve; that I will be a better educated and more aware individual; and that I will confront the ideologies that have been conditioned into me and begin to reverse them
- That this project will inspire, convict, and invite others to educate themselves as well
- And that the continued conversation and homage to people who have been lost or forgotten will bring some semblance of comfort and healing on an individual and national level, just as Katniss’ remembrance of the people she lost during and after the Games allowed her to heal.