WE HAVE NEVER BEEN WOKE, due in 2023, should make *all* readers uncomfortable:
It will show how wokeness is used "as a weapon, often at the expense of those who are actually marginalized & disadvantaged in the prevailing order...
1/7
2/7
The new book "will dismantle popular (and self-serving) narratives about the ‘losers’ in the system – leaving readers with a totally different understanding of social inequality, and unnerving questions about what it would take to meaningfully address it.
(con't)
3/7
The book shows that "the primary producers & consumers of content on antiracism, socialism, feminism, etc. also happen to be among the primary beneficiaries of gendered, racialized & other forms of inequality – and not passive beneficiaries [but] active participants.
(con't)
4/7
"The core tension roiling U.S. society is fundamentally not about whether science, education or journalism are good, or whether minorities should enjoy basic civil rights. [The elite 'symbolic analyst' class likes] to frame the conflict as being ‘about’ these things...
5/7
"...because it allows them to position themselves as being ‘on the side’ of truth, reason, the vulnerable and the disadvantaged, while their opponents are portrayed as being ‘on the side’ of ignorance, fanaticism, oppression, exploitation and the like.
(con't)
6/7
"That is, the ‘losers’ in the system are portrayed as being somehow responsible for most social problems, and it is implied that giving still more power or authority to those who currently dominate the system will somehow ‘solve’ those problems."
(con't)
7/7
Al-Gharbi's new book subjects his own class (our class!) to "reflexive" soc sci analysis, revealing the real origins of social inequality & asking "unnerving questions" about what we'd need to do to *truly* address it.
"Thread harnesses the power of relationships to create a new social fabric of diverse individuals deeply engaged with young people facing the most significant opportunity and achievement gaps."
"Our mission is to inspire & educate Black & other minority communities of their full rights & privileges as Americans granted to them by the Constitution. We desire to inspire them to take charge of their own lives."
We just discovered @cricri42 and are excited to share her heterodox views with you:
"Black. Woman. Uneducated, working-class background. These are some of the identities that are supposed to define me, that are supposed to give me a particular perspective in life."
1/4
2/4 "If we insist that all ideas are determined by identities, if we cannot transcend these identities thru the exercise of reason, if we cannot think beyond identity-prescribed interests, then there's no room for collective action & solidarity w/ others." uncommongroundmedia.com/political-prin…
3/4
And check out Christine Louis-Dit-Sully's new book, available later in May of this year:
*Transcending Racial Divisions*
"Identity-based anti-racism has become more of a hindrance than a solution for a better and freer world for us all."
The *2nd* poem published by someone of African descent in the future US, Jupiter Hammon:
AN Evening THOUGHT. SALVATION BY CHRIST, WITH PENETENTIAL CRIES: Composed by Jupiter Hammon, a Negro Belonging to Mr. Lloyd, of Queen's-Village, on Long-Island, the 25th of Dec., 1760.
1/15
2/15
SALVATION comes by Jesus Christ alone,
The only Son of God;
Redemption now to every one,
That love his holy Word.
Dear Jesus we would fly to Thee,
And leave off every Sin,
Thy Tender Mercy well agree;
Salvation from our King.
3/15
Salvation comes now from the Lord,
Our victorious King;
His holy Name be well ador’d,
Salvation surely bring.
Dear Jesus give they Spirit now,
Thy Grace to every Nation,
That han’t the Lord to whom we bow,
The Author of Salvation.
👉 POWERFUL & timely essay by @JohnRWoodJr. Read the thread. It's may not be what you expected:
"We do need unity in America. We need peace & order. We need justice & the correcting of genuine social inequities. There is a path to this kind of unity. It is a painful path."
1/19
2/19
"There is a price to be paid for what we sometimes call 'unity.' Sometimes, consciously or not, we use 'unity' to fashion societal arrangements that bury legitimate grievance and social dissent beneath consensus, where they may be comfortably ignored."
3/19
"We may feel polarized in America along the axes of left and right, Black and white. But the core division that must be identified and spoken to in American life is the divide between the privileged and the marginalized—in ways that go beyond what you might think."
"A case can be made that the correct narrative to adopt today is one of unabashed black patriotism—a forthright embrace of American nationalism by black people."
"Is this a venal, immoral, & rapacious bandit-society of plundering white supremacists, founded in genocide & slavery & propelled by capitalist greed, or a good country that affords boundless opportunity to all fortunate enough to enjoy the privileges and...
3/
"...bear the responsibilities of citizenship? Of course, there is some warrant in the historical record for both sentiments, but the weight of the evidence overwhelmingly favors the latter. The founding of the United States of America was a world-historic event...