My This I Believe essay

Tomorrow I lead 4 groups of kids through writing an essay for NPR's This I Believe. Now, I have never written one for myself, so I just did. Here it is:

I Believe in Public Space
by Steve Robinson

For as long as I can remember, I have always had a love of public spaces: public schools, public libraries, public parks. Whether inside or outside, these are the places I’ve always felt the most at home. The idea that a place can be used by anyone has always given me a feeling of warmth and inclusion. Heck, I even feel this way about public restrooms, provided they are clean and well-lit!

As a kid, the public spaces in my community were my favorite places to visit and spend time. While I didn’t always love school, I felt safe in those public buildings, sitting on scratched up but sturdy desks, using a book that some other student had used the year before. I have a vivid memory of seeing a long line of voting machines stacked in the hallway of my elementary school. “How cool,” I thought. “Adults come and use this place when we’re gone.”

Ours is a capitalist society, and I obviously think that it’s okay to own things, including places and land. Lots of nice things happen on private property. But for me, the truly exciting and meaningful places are open to the public. This is particularly true of public schools. I’ve spent my entire life in public school buildings. I loved the school buildings of my youth with their worn terrazzo floors, painted cinder block walls, and high ceilings with slightly stained acoustic tiles. My college days were spent in similar spaces: the libraries, the lecture halls, the dormitories—all public spaces at a public university. It’s no wonder I chose to teach at a public college. From kindergarten to this very day, I have spent nearly every day of my life in a public school building. This, as much as anything, has cemented my belief in places that are open to the public.

Public spaces make me feel warm inside: a bench on a public street, a seat on the public bus, a path through a public park. I was thrilled to learn that large sections of the American West are designated by the Bureau of Land Management as public land. On a recent motorcycle trip in Utah with my father, we cruised on Harleys through Arches National Park just before sunset. As sunlight streamed through the sandstone arches on every side of us, I thought “No one can own this—it belongs to everyone.” I appreciate the irony that all North American places—both public and private—were taken from Native American cultures, many of whom did not have concepts of ownership that applied to place.

I believe in public spaces because they belong to everyone. Everyone belongs. The fact that anyone may use a space fills it will possibility. My belief in the power of public places reveals something about me. I like things that are shared, things that are fair, and things that are open to everyone. Perhaps my belief comes from some egalitarian sense of democracy and inclusion. That would make me seem like a really good person, wouldn’t it? But it could just as easily come from a deep-seated fear of being excluded. After all, if a place is public, than anyone can belong there. And if anyone can belong, than so can I, right?