The 100 Years Project: Tara Bracco
Name:
Tara Bracco
Age:
35 years old
Where are you from:
Long Island, New York
Where do you live:
Midtown Manhattan
Occupation:
I am the Founder of Poetic People Power and Co-founder of The Project Solution.
With the Poetic People Power I work with artists combining art and activism to share stories as a demonstration of how art and politics influence our community. With The Project Solution we are building a group of local donors here in New York City to fund projects overseas - projects like water projects in Africa. Right now we are supporting a bathrooms facilities project at a school in India.
100 Years from now what do you want to be remembered for:
I would be happy if in 100 years from now the work that I am doing is no longer needed.
More important to me, than being remembered is feeling like the people that I am working with have an impact on people and that our projects extend into the lives of others. If that happens in a true way for people it won't be able to be measured in an exact way. I wouldn't be surprised if nobody could look back at my work and pin point What I specifically did. They may be able to look back and see the projects that I was involved in and what those projects did for communities but the long term impact is something I hope is still being felt in 100 years, instead of being just remembered.
Can you give me an example:
Project Solution recently worked with a group of local donors to extend a pipeline in Cameroon. The idea was to extend the pipeline to serve 500 villagers and create new taps for them so that they would have access to water. I was really excited that we did that and the community that we worked with was excited that we did that. But, what we recently learned and what I had not expected, is that people are now considering relocating to that area because those taps exist.
That is the kind of thing that I mean. That there are these impacts that happen; a ripple effect that actually changes people and their lives...People may not know or care about who Tara Bracco is but someplace, somewhere, somehow people are impacted and benefiting from something that I participated in.
What are you confronted with when looking to answer this question:
This is a difficult question and one of the things I admire about your project is the willingness to ask such a difficult question...
I am hesitant for anybody to think of me in any particular way. This idea that I would want people to think of me in one specific way seems really hard for me to pin down. It also feels to me a little counter to the work that I am doing because the work is so community focused. I am really aware that what I am able to accomplish is because of the people I know and the communities that I am a part of. So, for me to come out front and center and suggest that there is something about me that should be memorable, feels a little bit awkward. I really just want to be part of a community doing a larger thing out in the world. It is not about me.
I don't have any grand notions of making some huge world-wide impact. I feel like in order for us to all move through our days and weeks and years in a way that feels good, all it takes is us being involved in making some kind of change...
THE 100 YEARS PROJECT
For the last few years I have been fortunate enough to have interviewed some very interesting and incredible people who I have regularly showcased in the Inspiring People section of Dana Delivered. One of my favorite moments of each interview is the last question that I ask each and every Inspiring Person:
100 years from now what do you want to be remembered for?
Often the initial reaction to the question is as fascinating as the answer. To observe each person grapple with issues related to mortality, productivity, the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life as they endeavor to arrive at an answer that somehow reflects something of who they are and what they stand for, has piqued my curiosity to discover what anyone, anywhere might have to say when asked that very question:
100 years from now what do you want to be remembered for?
Join me everyday for the next 365 days as I ask the question, get an answer and capture the images of all kinds of people doing all kinds of things. Visit Dana's Dailies on DanaRoc.com everyday, "friend request" me on Facebook or follow me, @Danaroc on Twitter.
How will you be remembered someday? What is it that you will have said or done or built or mastered that people will still be talking about decades and decades from now, long after you are gone and what if anything are you doing about that right now?
The 100 Years Project is ultimately an attempt in 3 phases to leave a record behind of this particular and unique period of time at the beginning of the 21st century.
Welcome to Phase 1...
So as somebody that is community minded it is difficult for you to approach something with the expectation that you would solely be acknowledged. And yet, there are people out there that may never take responsibility for the fact that they are here and that that there is a consequence to all of us that we are here - we are taking up space and using up resources and not every one will take responsibility for that. People like you who live intentionally to make a difference should be acknowledged, personally, somehow...
I see a need and I want to be a part of change. Whether I am working on a piece for a magazine or a new non-profit prompts me to ask "What can I do? How can I participate?" There is a real boldness to that. It's really risky.
If you are leading a cause, the chances are that you will be doing it alone for awhile...Trying to make a vision happen can be very isolating so it is nice when people want to acknowledge that you put forth the effort...
Who do you know of from years ago that you feel has impacted your life profoundly
I don't know if there is one person but I am very aware that I was able to go to college and have the money to do that because my mom had three aunts, two of them never married, and they worked in a factory making dresses their whole lives.
My aunts saved up and they saved up and they left us some money which meant that I could go to college. That to me left a sense that my opportunities were created by other people a long time ago. So, that kind of generosity really meant that I could go off and explore the things that I wanted to do and become who I wanted to become. I think that really still leaves an impression on me because I can really see how, if you don't have that just little bit in the world to get you started, how much harder it is.
I am just really sensitive to people with economic obstacles because of my aunts and their generosity. If you come out of school an you don't have money to put down on your first apartment, it could take you years just to get that...
What is one thing that you feel is representative of this time that we are living in:
Fear.
There is a lot of fear out there. People are scared. They are scared about what is going to happen in six months. We live in a media culture that encourages us to be fearful of a lot of things. We are living in so much fear about our own economic stability and about our own personal protection...Terrorism is something that is talked about a lot...Not that these things didn't exist a long time ago... We are just surrounded by fear.
Fill in the blank, in 100 years I hope that_______:
In 100 years I hope that everybody on the planet has access to food and water.
It sounds like one of those things somebody in a Miss America Pageant would say. It sounds like a ridiculous wish and I am not saying it for that purpose. I am saying it because I know after studying these things how problematic these issues are to so many people throughout the world and it really concerns me. It really concerns me. We can do a lot better than what we are doing. That is why it is so important for everybody to:
dream really BIG...
