COE Exchange

Posts Tagged ‘Baraka Obama’

To whom do we listen? Whom do we warrant as worthy enough to read…and then act? These questions sprang to mind as I read ’s new book this week. In A Home Elsewhere: Reading African American Classics in the Age of Obama, Professor Stepto writes that “The schoolhouse episode is a staple event in African American narratives” because of the “formative first scene of racial awareness.” Moreover, Stepto notes, the event represents “a moment when race is imposed.” These words launch a chapter with the striking subtitle, “Schoolhouse Blues.”1 Who is Robert Stepto? And why should we attend to him…

Given the furor over the Obama speech to America’s students and the inquiries I have gotten surrounding it, I decided to pen a few words about this and to make a suggestion.  Here goes: First, years ago a philosopher named wrote a book call “Laws of Form” in which the opening line is “Draw a line.” What he meant is that knowing must begin with a distinction. This is not a unique idea, as and and other developmental theorists have echoed similar notions. Sadly, however, human knowing often ends there as well; that is, with a simple dichotomy. The world…