Brilliant! Love the idea of contextualizing this book with today’s legal landscape. Especially that the past is with us as a shadow over everything we do. And it’s in the DNA of Black and white Americans. Have you seen the Hulu series of “Kindred”? It’s faithful to the book. I got partway, then fizzled. But it is very well done.
I haven't seen it, but I read that the show is looking for another network to pick up season 2. I hope they find someone, so they can finish filming the story. I appreciate your recommendation!
It’s fascinating to get this glimpse into what teachers have to contend with in the current legal situation.
I generally feel that literature and history ought to be taught in a way that helps students think for themselves about the significance of the material. I’m appalled by the “anti-woke” legislation, but I have problems with policing of speech and ideas that make students uncomfortable, regardless of which side is doing it.
I don’t think college students ought to be protected from reality.
I agree with you. Orwell's "Thought Police" should have shown us where we didn't want to end up. Most teachers I know at every level are deeply committed to helping students think and also feel for themselves.
Yes, I think as a society we are far too casual about blaming educators for everything. I have various problems with education, in my field and others, but I still have a general respect and admiration for teachers.
Any good read, stirs us to think about things beyond our comfort zones or usual perspective. Heaven help us if we actually start to think differently because of it. "Kindred" certainly sounds like a great book - Thanks for sharing
Thinking about the narrow opening for asserting personal agency in this story makes me consider the opposite, when folks cut a large swath of assertion that is not about agency of personal power but opinion and largesse. Not very useful and a trait that has been passed down to me from my ancestors, one that I am actively working on.
We can only be free when we release the tethers of the past and to do that we need to first see that they are there. From that place we take action to create change within ourselves which will spill out to those around us.
I will be free when I can recognize these patterns playing out in my life, and my way of being, to work to shift them. It is my hope to dissolve them entirely and create a new template for my family. While I see the shortfall of what did not yet shift I am working to take ownership of the many things that have.
Thanks for an interesting article Tara, I love your teaching style so much! You go girl, those are lucky students!
This is so interesting, Donna. It makes sense there’d be a relationship between someone taking extra room for assertion and someone else getting a narrow opening. I like Butler’s insight that the family hooks go back many generations, so no wonder the burden is heavy. (Maybe it takes the force of literal mountains to break them?) Thank you for such a thoughtful reading! :-)
This book sounds highly intriguing. As does your article overall. I'm also left with some high quality food-for-thought: "Who said freedom had to be absolute?"
That is a provocative question if I ever heard one. But an important one too. As a religious person, I've always believed in Freedom* with an asterisk--meaning, servitude to God first. So to hear someone mention Freedom* is not only surprising, but especially bold and daring in the context of chattel slavery.
Your way of capturing this idea of Freedom* is very well-executed. Thank you for sharing. And I will check out the book you mentioned.
Thank you, Nadia, for this thoughtful comment. I love your insight that Freedom* with an asterisk in a spiritual sense has a relationship to Butler's asterisked (limited) freedom in relation to history. I think this makes sense. The novel is an American classic that holds up well with time. I do recommend it highly. (My next post is on Milton's Paradise Lost and Satan and hate, so I think it will stay provocative around here a little longer.)
Brilliant! Love the idea of contextualizing this book with today’s legal landscape. Especially that the past is with us as a shadow over everything we do. And it’s in the DNA of Black and white Americans. Have you seen the Hulu series of “Kindred”? It’s faithful to the book. I got partway, then fizzled. But it is very well done.
I haven't seen it, but I read that the show is looking for another network to pick up season 2. I hope they find someone, so they can finish filming the story. I appreciate your recommendation!
Thanks for posting this!
It’s fascinating to get this glimpse into what teachers have to contend with in the current legal situation.
I generally feel that literature and history ought to be taught in a way that helps students think for themselves about the significance of the material. I’m appalled by the “anti-woke” legislation, but I have problems with policing of speech and ideas that make students uncomfortable, regardless of which side is doing it.
I don’t think college students ought to be protected from reality.
Or any students, provided it’s presented in a sensitive, age-appropriate way.
Absolutely.
I agree with you. Orwell's "Thought Police" should have shown us where we didn't want to end up. Most teachers I know at every level are deeply committed to helping students think and also feel for themselves.
Yes, I think as a society we are far too casual about blaming educators for everything. I have various problems with education, in my field and others, but I still have a general respect and admiration for teachers.
What a powerful narrative at a turbid time for race relations in the US! Great breakdown.
Thank you!
Any good read, stirs us to think about things beyond our comfort zones or usual perspective. Heaven help us if we actually start to think differently because of it. "Kindred" certainly sounds like a great book - Thanks for sharing
Very true. Yes, it’s quite a book - even better in full. :-)
Thinking about the narrow opening for asserting personal agency in this story makes me consider the opposite, when folks cut a large swath of assertion that is not about agency of personal power but opinion and largesse. Not very useful and a trait that has been passed down to me from my ancestors, one that I am actively working on.
We can only be free when we release the tethers of the past and to do that we need to first see that they are there. From that place we take action to create change within ourselves which will spill out to those around us.
I will be free when I can recognize these patterns playing out in my life, and my way of being, to work to shift them. It is my hope to dissolve them entirely and create a new template for my family. While I see the shortfall of what did not yet shift I am working to take ownership of the many things that have.
Thanks for an interesting article Tara, I love your teaching style so much! You go girl, those are lucky students!
This is so interesting, Donna. It makes sense there’d be a relationship between someone taking extra room for assertion and someone else getting a narrow opening. I like Butler’s insight that the family hooks go back many generations, so no wonder the burden is heavy. (Maybe it takes the force of literal mountains to break them?) Thank you for such a thoughtful reading! :-)
This book sounds highly intriguing. As does your article overall. I'm also left with some high quality food-for-thought: "Who said freedom had to be absolute?"
That is a provocative question if I ever heard one. But an important one too. As a religious person, I've always believed in Freedom* with an asterisk--meaning, servitude to God first. So to hear someone mention Freedom* is not only surprising, but especially bold and daring in the context of chattel slavery.
Your way of capturing this idea of Freedom* is very well-executed. Thank you for sharing. And I will check out the book you mentioned.
Best wishes.
Thank you, Nadia, for this thoughtful comment. I love your insight that Freedom* with an asterisk in a spiritual sense has a relationship to Butler's asterisked (limited) freedom in relation to history. I think this makes sense. The novel is an American classic that holds up well with time. I do recommend it highly. (My next post is on Milton's Paradise Lost and Satan and hate, so I think it will stay provocative around here a little longer.)
(Thank you for the Restack of The Substack Tithe!)