I figured it would make sense to start a forum for us to suggest which book we'll read next.
So feel free to comment on a book you'd like to read/discuss and then Priya, our leader extraordinaire, can make the selection.
The title I'm throwing out there is "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Back to school special
I mentioned that we were reading "The Beautiful Struggle" to a friend of mine. He happened to have met Coates briefly and in the context of a public trial that Coates was covering. My friend said Coates was a nice enough dude but wondered how one person can write and speak with such authority and with no "formal" credentials. Following the trial, my friend read Coates' memoir and came away with the following: Coates' dismissal of formal education aligns quite conveniently with his school-of-hard-knocks self narrative while his celebration of it (mainly, Howard University a.k.a. the Mecca and a slew of mainstream intellectuals) bolsters his resume in the eyes of elite America. Basically, my friend thinks Coates exploits the best of two worlds, is a sham, etc. because he publicizes his stint at Howard to no end yet never got an actual degree from there.
My semi-solicited $.02? Folks love to perpetuate elitism-- Coates and my friend included. A fancy college degree adds credibility to one's voice. My friend wants Coates to have a college degree. Coates' readers want Coates to have a college degree. Even Coates wants Coates to have a college degree. I don't blame Coates alone. Every time I peep the author bio at the top of a blog or at the back of a book, I see where the writer was born followed by where they attended college. For Coates and other writers of color, it might be a complex question about race and education and assimilation. It is a question that I cannot answer now but one that I wish to consider carefully. For now, Coates' double reverence strikes me as a written contradiction between home and institution, between the personal and the public, or between radical and square. Then again, why do I consider these two sides of the coin mutually exclusive? Aren't they both on the same nickel?
Of course, I picked up this book knowing its key themes include the education of Coates, a public thinker who intrigues and educates me every time I read one of his articles or blog posts.
I admit that, in a similar vein of thought as my friend's, the ending of "The Beautiful Struggle" confused me. For the majority of the book it seemed like Coates did not respond to traditional schooling and then all of a sudden he was dancing and drumming and disciplined and ready to attend a 4-year college. Based on his writing, I couldn't figure out how he made the transition but I'm glad he came of age, by any means necessary and drum circles included. Coates now is a fantastic writer, public intellectual and father.
If you're at all familiar with Coates' blog on The Atlantic-- which is one way to easily and cheaply access his growing canon-- you know he waxes on anything and everything you could name. Recently featured posts cover the state of the US Senate, Civil War reenactment societies, X-Men comics and the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and his encounters with of-the-day feminists-cum-abolitionists, college basketball, the implied rape of Bristol Palin by Levi Johnston, and on and on.
A few days ago Coates touched upon Frederick Douglass' self-education and access to knowledge outside the confines of formal educational institutions. He speaks personally...
I hope my son goes to college. But beyond credentialism, I really hope to inspire in him a deep desire to learn, and an understanding of how relatively easy it is, in this time, to feed that desire.
...then provides a disclaimer and shouts out the Mecca:
There's always the sense when I post about people who are self-educated that I am, by default claiming that formal education is utterly worthless. I'm not sure why that is, but be it known for the record that I consider myself a product of Howard University, even if I don't have a degree, and Baltimore City Public Schools, even if I had a rough go of it. Let us take as a given--from here on out--that the university has produced some our greatest thinkers, and will likely continue to do so.
I, for one, think the caste system of political and social pundit-hood should be done away with. I am glad to hear a non-traditional voice in the mainstream political discourse (CNN, NYT, The Baltimore Sun, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Village Voice). I would be even happier if folks would strip away their academic credentials from their pieces of art and let their work speak on its own merit. I bet we're not ready for that yet. I bet I wouldn't have picked this book up in the first place if I didn't read Coates' blog and wikipedia page where Howard U features prominently.
Do you want or need to know the academic credentials of the writers and artists you follow?
My semi-solicited $.02? Folks love to perpetuate elitism-- Coates and my friend included. A fancy college degree adds credibility to one's voice. My friend wants Coates to have a college degree. Coates' readers want Coates to have a college degree. Even Coates wants Coates to have a college degree. I don't blame Coates alone. Every time I peep the author bio at the top of a blog or at the back of a book, I see where the writer was born followed by where they attended college. For Coates and other writers of color, it might be a complex question about race and education and assimilation. It is a question that I cannot answer now but one that I wish to consider carefully. For now, Coates' double reverence strikes me as a written contradiction between home and institution, between the personal and the public, or between radical and square. Then again, why do I consider these two sides of the coin mutually exclusive? Aren't they both on the same nickel?
Of course, I picked up this book knowing its key themes include the education of Coates, a public thinker who intrigues and educates me every time I read one of his articles or blog posts.
I admit that, in a similar vein of thought as my friend's, the ending of "The Beautiful Struggle" confused me. For the majority of the book it seemed like Coates did not respond to traditional schooling and then all of a sudden he was dancing and drumming and disciplined and ready to attend a 4-year college. Based on his writing, I couldn't figure out how he made the transition but I'm glad he came of age, by any means necessary and drum circles included. Coates now is a fantastic writer, public intellectual and father.
If you're at all familiar with Coates' blog on The Atlantic-- which is one way to easily and cheaply access his growing canon-- you know he waxes on anything and everything you could name. Recently featured posts cover the state of the US Senate, Civil War reenactment societies, X-Men comics and the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln and his encounters with of-the-day feminists-cum-abolitionists, college basketball, the implied rape of Bristol Palin by Levi Johnston, and on and on.
A few days ago Coates touched upon Frederick Douglass' self-education and access to knowledge outside the confines of formal educational institutions. He speaks personally...
I hope my son goes to college. But beyond credentialism, I really hope to inspire in him a deep desire to learn, and an understanding of how relatively easy it is, in this time, to feed that desire.
...then provides a disclaimer and shouts out the Mecca:
There's always the sense when I post about people who are self-educated that I am, by default claiming that formal education is utterly worthless. I'm not sure why that is, but be it known for the record that I consider myself a product of Howard University, even if I don't have a degree, and Baltimore City Public Schools, even if I had a rough go of it. Let us take as a given--from here on out--that the university has produced some our greatest thinkers, and will likely continue to do so.
I, for one, think the caste system of political and social pundit-hood should be done away with. I am glad to hear a non-traditional voice in the mainstream political discourse (CNN, NYT, The Baltimore Sun, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Village Voice). I would be even happier if folks would strip away their academic credentials from their pieces of art and let their work speak on its own merit. I bet we're not ready for that yet. I bet I wouldn't have picked this book up in the first place if I didn't read Coates' blog and wikipedia page where Howard U features prominently.
Do you want or need to know the academic credentials of the writers and artists you follow?
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Talk to me like I'm stupid
Borrowing an often-used subject line from Coates' blog on The Atlantic-- and in the simplest of terms-- tell me: is this book worth the hype or not?
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Who wants to be an author?
Let me know if you would like to create your own posts, start your own threads of thought. Lola took a spot already, but I can make 99 more of you authors of our blog.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Aaaaand we're countin' down...
First order of beeswax: does everyone have access to a copy of Ta-Nehisi Coates' "The Beautiful Struggle"? Let me know.
Second: you are welcome to post anything you want here, book-related or not. Send me your items, post to the comments section or let me if you want the site password if that's easier for you.
Third thing: anyone may join in the fracas. This is a place where we can stay in touch with our friends' ideas. A non-Zuckerbergian approach to the online conversation.
Lastly: we can dissolve this page at anytime. Let's try it out for the duration of Coates' book. Speaking of, your thoughts so far?
Second: you are welcome to post anything you want here, book-related or not. Send me your items, post to the comments section or let me if you want the site password if that's easier for you.
Third thing: anyone may join in the fracas. This is a place where we can stay in touch with our friends' ideas. A non-Zuckerbergian approach to the online conversation.
Lastly: we can dissolve this page at anytime. Let's try it out for the duration of Coates' book. Speaking of, your thoughts so far?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)