Freedom and Community

Each person values different things. They use those things to guide them into becoming who we want to be. This is the same for the three Americans, Joe Maddon, David Kennedy, and Deidre Prevett. They have all valued the same things which made them develop their American Creed. Joe Maddon, David Kennedy, and Deidre Prevett value family and community as their American creed.

Family was one of the first things they valued for their American Creed. Their families each had a bad past. Maddon’s family worked as coal miners and plumbers. Kennedy’s family lost all their money in the Great Depression, and Prevett’s family were at risk of being forced out of their land because of the trail of tears. Even after that, their families worked hard to make sure they had a good future, which led to them having family as part of their American Creed. Diedre Prevett said, “We can’t forget where we come from,” which shows that one should value their family as they were doing everything just for you. Prevett understands this because her family also supported her with college and becoming an educator and also helping her family. This also goes with what Joe Maddon said, “They all wanted to improve life for their children but it was tough,” which shows how each of their families valued them a lot, so they should value their family and do the same as them. Maddon’s family worked hard so that Maddon would not have to work a hard job like coal mining, which made him value his family and to do the same for his kid.

Once knowing and valuing what their family did, the three would decide to value their community and do the same for them. A quote of Joe Maddon “The moment we trust each other. That’s when we can build something.” This is important because Maddon understands that to truly value community and start improving it for the next generation, we need to have trust and build relationships with each other. Joe Maddon wanted his kids to live easy lives. To join a baseball team where they would forget about language and race. Deirdre Prevett, who is an educator, said “What I’m doing now is kinda paying it forward” This is important because it shows how Prevett understands her American creed of valuing community because when the land she lived in almost got taken, they found oil in it which allowed them to pay for 5 generations of college tuition, which all those people became educators. Prevett and the others are using their opportunity to help teach those in the next generation. This also relates to what David Kennedy said. “During the height of the Great Depression we were 13 million people unemployed. That’s 25% of the workforce unemployed.” This is important because his family, like many, was also part of the 25%. His parents had gone bankrupt and had to give up their dream of making a fortune from their copper mine. But they had not given up on their son David. They still worked hard to make sure he had a better future, which helped him realize that he should also work hard to make life better for future generations in his community.

All these things are what made Joe Maddon, David Kennedy, and Deidre Prevett value family and community as their American creed. They’ve each acted on what they valued and helped many people.