Rationale
Artwork by Ellen O’Grady
Growing up, the story of Noah and the Ark was a mainstay of my Sunday school class. Noah builds an ark, collects two of each animal, and when the floodwaters come, he and his family are saved. Eventually the flood abates, a dove brings Noah an olive branch, and God creates a rainbow- the happy ending. As a young adult I seldom thought of this story until artist and activist Ellen O’Grady caused me to revisit it.
O’Grady’s sunday school teacher read the happy story from a large picture book. After God made the rainbow most children seemed contented, but one boy was bothered and asked, “Where did all the bodies go?”
The teacher looked puzzled, so the boy explained. “If everyone in the world died except for Noah’s family, where were their bodies after the flood went away?”
The teacher frowned at the child and said, “What a rude boy.”
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I am Alton Russell, a student at NC State university in Raleigh, and this is my blog. I hope to explore life outside the comfort of my ark and engage with important realities that often go ignored.
I am studying Industrial and Systems Engineering and Global Health and Sustainability. I am interested in health care systems, social justice, renewable energy, social entrepreneurship, human rights, and sustainable living communities.
