Education as the Practice of Freedom
Finna take a break for a while from the blog in order to both 1. jump back into the artistic realm of things, and also to 2. dedicate more time to connecting with my loved ones. I’ve found (and Baldwin points this out beautifully) when someone is a writer, they often find themselves dealing in solitude. I’ve come to the conclusion that I am at my best when I know in no uncertain terms, that I am backed by my incredible community of imperfect, insanely loving/human, freedom fighters, because ego and narcissism are kept at bey due to gratitude not leaving them too much room to operate. I’m discovering “me + too much solitude (can and does at times) = my becoming a sh*tty version of myself”.
I wanted to leave those of you who find your way to this blog (with any degree of regularity) with the most updated version of Dr. Jeff Duncan-Andrade’s talk, “Note to Educators: Hope Required When Growing Roses in Concrete.” Working with and learning from him at SFSU changed the course of my life in that he provided me an example of an eastbay mixed race man of color educator who: loved 2Pac/Hip-Hop; played hoops; was deeply maladjusted to injustice; expressed his masculinity without fear and/or it being at the expense of femininity; was unapologetically obsessed with pushing with everything in his mind and body to see that all young people receive a quality education; used any/all privilege he could identify in his own positionality to redistribute resources back to where they had been historically stolen; and strove to identify when and where he was f*cking up by inviting challenge and critique into his life as opposed to running from and avoiding it.
German Philosopher Immanuele Kant says, “Examples are the go-cart of judgment,” and Cornel West says, “Courage is contagious.” I realize Jeff’s work is not a panacea for the social trauma that affects poor/working young people of color in schools, that he is imperfect, never “free of spot or blemish,” occupies a different positionality than me as a Chicano (as opposed to Nikkei) male, and is the result of a ton of amazing support and mentoring in his own life… But the big homie gave (and continues to give) me a courageous example of something I didn’t necessarily believe to be possible until I witnessed it firsthand. His tutelage not only sharpened my moral compass, but far more importantly helped me to begin humanizing and therefor loving myself in this period of my bless-ed life and I am so far from the only one of his students he’s assisted in this process.
In other words, I feel very strongly that if you are able to take the time to watch this in its entirety, you won’t be sorry. =P
Sayonara for now, family. I’m off to make another attempt at synthesizing the brilliant lessons you’ve all un/knowingly taught me. Thank you (as always) for dropping by.
Peace + Balance,
C.Masashi.Senbei
Posted on June 21, 2011, in dem(hyp)ocracy, Doin' it Movin', Hip-Hop is Asleep(?), MIS/EDUCATION, Read a Bucking Fook, S/HEROES, YAY AREA and tagged critical pedagogy, education as the practice of freedom, Jeff Duncan-Andrade. Bookmark the permalink. 1 Comment.
I think this is a great example of pushing individuals whether young or old to pursue higher education opportunities. While traditional education is seen as the means of doing this, there are other alternatives for those who think there is “no hope.” Online education is becoming a manageable alternative and gives hope to individuals who may have to tackle work, parenthood or physical injury. I think a higher education for everyone is on our future.