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Quote by Ken Breniman

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Subversive Acts of Humanity : A Survival Guide for Choosing Evolution over Self-Destruction

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Ken Breniman

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“Intellectual life on American campuses has, over the course of the past half century, been fundamentally reshaped by the ascendancy of the “identity synthesis.” Inspired by postmodernism, postcolonialism, and critical race theory, a new generation of scholars succeeded in welding a diverse set of influences into one coherent ideology. Despite the real variation within and between different academic departments, this synthesis is characterized by a widespread adherence to seven fundamental propositions: a deep skepticism about objective truth inspired by Michel Foucault; the use of a form of discourse analysis for explicitly political ends inspired by Edward Said; an embrace of essentialist categories of identity inspired by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak; a proud pessimism about the state of Western societies as well as a preference for public policies that explicitly make how someone is treated depend on the group to which they belong, both inspired by Derrick Bell; and an embrace of an intersectional logic for political activism as well as a deep-seated skepticism about the ability of members of different identity groups to understand each other, both associated with Kimberlé Crenshaw.”

PoliticsIdentityActivismMarxismPostmodernismIdentity PoliticsPostcolonialism
Book:The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
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“There comes from this, then, at least a working definition of a soul: one’s capacity to sit with the mysteries of a thing that cannot in any rational way, be understood – only felt, only moved through. And sometimes that thing is so grotesque — what we do to one another so grotesque — that sitting with it feels an affront to the notion of art as a conduit of beauty. Still, sit. Sit.”

SoulMoralityTragedyActivismAtrocitiesWitnessing
Book:One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This
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“So if our goal is to shift the culture, we have to work on making influences in mediums that control the culture. So what does control our culture? Art. Music, photography, paintings, drawings, films, videos... if you think about what shapes and moves our society forward, it's art. If you think about what you spend most of your time listening to and looking at, whether an Instagram photo, a show, a song--all of that is art. So not only is it important to use art in our resistance and activism; it is vital. Because how else are we going to reach people? Art is a universal language, a way of making people see and understand experiences in a profound new light. Art influences society by changing opinions, instilling values, and translating experiences across space and time. Art is a way of taking up space and reclaiming narratives that are never told otherwise.”

ArtRevolutionActivism
Book:Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It
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“Falling into the hole of but I started before that person and they're getting more attention is not healthy, because there is always someone who came before you. People rise to fame in the blink of an eye, and others will work for years, even decades, with little to no glory. It's just the reality of the job and the way the media operates. That's why you have to stay grounded in your why, because your why will keep you motivated and ready to keep fighting even when the credit and cameras do not come. The press often covers the person who lit the fire, not the people who spend years laying the kindling so the fire will catch and spread.”

FameActivismRecognition
Book:Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It
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