inspirational, but is not gonna move trump...there will come a time[and i think its coming soon] when trump will make his move to keep his office and his power, and control the elections, and sadly america will need something more than a non-violent march against kings :(
Professor Glaude, thank you for these words. I read them from across the Atlantic and recognised more than I expected to.
When you describe those who insist the country belongs only to them, you name something anyone who has studied empire will know well. The logic of exclusion travels. It decides who belongs, who must earn belonging again and again, and who stays permitted to remain only on someone else's terms. Britain has its own version, and so I read your speech as speaking beyond America.
What stays with me most is the tiredness of the people you are speaking to. Many of them fought these battles once already. They saw Roe, affirmative action and Brown as ground that had been won, and now they watch it given back. I don't think apathy explains their quiet. It looks more like grief, the grief of finding out that progress was never a ratchet.
Yet your speech carries Fanon's charge: each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it, or betray it. Du Bois grew up in the ruins of Reconstruction and spent decades recovering what had been lost, refusing to let it be forgotten. Derrick Bell asked us to give up the hope of a final victory and to find our dignity in the struggle itself. Perhaps that offers the tired a way back in. We don't have to believe the fight will end. We only have to decide we will not be the generation that walked away from it.
Thank you Professor. 🙏🏻
inspirational, but is not gonna move trump...there will come a time[and i think its coming soon] when trump will make his move to keep his office and his power, and control the elections, and sadly america will need something more than a non-violent march against kings :(
Professor Glaude, thank you for these words. I read them from across the Atlantic and recognised more than I expected to.
When you describe those who insist the country belongs only to them, you name something anyone who has studied empire will know well. The logic of exclusion travels. It decides who belongs, who must earn belonging again and again, and who stays permitted to remain only on someone else's terms. Britain has its own version, and so I read your speech as speaking beyond America.
What stays with me most is the tiredness of the people you are speaking to. Many of them fought these battles once already. They saw Roe, affirmative action and Brown as ground that had been won, and now they watch it given back. I don't think apathy explains their quiet. It looks more like grief, the grief of finding out that progress was never a ratchet.
Yet your speech carries Fanon's charge: each generation must discover its mission, fulfil it, or betray it. Du Bois grew up in the ruins of Reconstruction and spent decades recovering what had been lost, refusing to let it be forgotten. Derrick Bell asked us to give up the hope of a final victory and to find our dignity in the struggle itself. Perhaps that offers the tired a way back in. We don't have to believe the fight will end. We only have to decide we will not be the generation that walked away from it.
Come November, then.
Well said, and much needed inspiration ! Thank you
Hi Professor,
The only reason I am waiting to vote on Election Day is to protect and defend our rights if that's necessary.
Best, Robin - your 72 year old birthday friend. x