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Revisioning Activism: Bringing Depth, Dialogue, and Diversity to Individual and Social Change
Overview
Many forms of activism live within the margins of conventional strategies such as marching, speaking out, and fighting for one’s political representatives. This book of essays highlights, celebrates, and broadens the vision of activism to include the intersection between people and the social and political world, while encouraging dialogue across diverse viewpoints and exhorting psychology to become a social-change agent. The author deconstructs racism by looking at white denial and divergent views of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and he deconstructs sexism by critiquing the diet industry and the way women feel about their bodies. He brings this same psychological eye to understanding societal problems, national celebrities, and popular psychology’s failure to create sustainable change. Whether used in a classroom or with a group, a friend, or alone, this book provokes critical thinking, feeling, and dialogue.
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780985266783 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Belly Song Press |
| Publication date: | 01/15/2017 |
| Pages: | 312 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 3.80(d) |
About the Author
David Bedrick, J.D., is a teacher, counselor, attorney, and organizational consultant, having taught in organizations including the U.S. Navy, 3M, the American Society of Training and Development, and the Process Work Institute. As a practitioner of process-oriented psychology, a branch of Jungian psychology, he has worked with groups, couples, and individuals for more than 20 years. He is the author of Talking Back to Dr. Phil. He lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Read an Excerpt
Revisioning Activism
Bringing Depth, Dialogue, and Diversity to Individual and Social Change
By David Bedrick, Kristin Barendsen
Belly Song Press
Copyright © 2017 David BedrickAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-9966603-5-8
CHAPTER 1
SECTION I
Racism, Anti-Semitism, and Homophobia: Witnessing Social Justice
1
The American Soul: Honoring Our Black Elders
* * *
Gurus, yogis, meditation masters, lamas — these are spiritual authorities for many New Age Americans who look to the East for wisdom. But while teachers from Gandhi to the Dalai Lama have shone fine Eastern light to illuminate our paths, this cultural turn to the East can inadvertently dismiss the spiritual wisdom of our own African-American elders — teachings rooted in our own soil, pain, and shadow.
These spiritual teachers are Fanny Lou Hamer and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who faced beating and death with voices compelled by love. They are John Coltrane, whose vision of individual freedom and collective expression manifested in some of America's finest music, as well as Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, who brought soul to pain and misery. (Is there a finer thing for a spiritual tradition to do?)
They are Howard Thurman, who brilliantly guided the practice of a uniquely American Christianity, and Cornel West, whose intellect and spirit soar in pronouncement of a love-based ethic. And how could we leave out Toni Morrison and Maya Angelou, African-American women who have revealed the glory and redemption we need as individuals and as a nation. These teachers don't turn water into wine; they turn tears into the blues. They don't walk on water; they create music that we float on. They don't carry a staff and part the Red Sea, but they do honor to the Hebrew cry, "Let my people go."
These elders, and countless others, have elucidated a spiritual wisdom that was born in the fires of America's own alchemy, through a process of cooking the demons and injuries of injustice along with the spirit of love and perseverance into a unique brilliance. Their wisdom honors and redeems those who have bled for America's soul.
To many, these individuals may not look like spiritual teachers — but not because they lack spiritual riches to offer. I remember wondering why I was listening to Buddhist chanting instead of John Coltrane's "Love Supreme" during my morning meditation period. I remember several black elders teaching me how to make heated dialogue into a meditation on relationship instead of an inner practice of loving-kindness. I remember Dr. King waking me up to the fact that spirituality is also a public practice when I heard him say that "justice is what love looks like in public." I recall Maya Angelou teaching me how to turn great suffering into powerful humanity, a practice I had previously sought in Eastern teachings. I recall poet Etheridge Knight singing to me of desperation, imprisonment, and freedom, lessons that Eastern spiritual teachers had taught me years before.
Of course, these black teachers don't don robes, hold weekend workshops, or show up in the kind of classrooms or retreat centers that many associate with spiritual teaching. Most Americans would liken these elders to artists and activists more than spiritual teachers. And sitting at the feet of these elders challenges our fundamental paradigm of education, especially spiritual education. Nonetheless, their spiritual powers cannot be denied. They offer a way of living, loving, and dying in a world of darkness as well as light.
To be clear, I have no inherent objection to Eastern philosophies and spiritual disciplines. I have been a student of many fine minds and hearts, from Sharon Salzberg and Pema Chödrön to Bhante Gunaratana, Stephen Levine, and Jack Kornfield, teachers who helped bring Eastern traditions to the United States. But when these teachings are highlighted at the expense of teachings forged on the backs of those who have suffered under the weight of America's shadow, an injustice is perpetrated. For the purpose of righting this injustice, I offer the following critique of some Eastern and New Age teachings in contrast to the relative value and power of African-American wisdom teachings for all Americans today.
First, some New Age and Eastern teachings foster practices that avoid the shadow. Practitioners often attempt to relieve pain and suffering rather than investigating its meaning; they seek bliss even when their path is taking them into their deeper feelings; they can be found blessing each other while remaining unconscious of how they patronize. I have witnessed groups of such practitioners being open-hearted toward streaming tears but not toward screaming ire. I have seen competition and jealousy treated as negatives to be rooted out instead of as fire and heat to deepen the knowledge of self and the bonds of community. At its worst, this kind of spirituality can become a form of denial, a flight toward spirit that denies the soul's descent, risking the same fire that brought Icarus back to earth.
In contrast, much African-American teaching is rooted in shadow. Its elders have sat in the fire of brutality as well as in projections of inferiority, aggression, and deviance. I am reminded of an African-American man who attended a workshop on conflict resolution with some 300 participants from over 25 different countries. Many of us grew to admire his wisdom, personal power, and leadership capacity when he helped to resolve our most protracted tensions. He had a hard-earned ease with anger and aggression that most of us didn't. One night he walked into our workshop hall pushing a mop and garbage pail and singing a song from slavery times. He said that in his garbage pail was all that we throw away — aspects of our sexuality, our greed, our anger, our desperation, and more. "I eat this garbage," he said. "I live on all that you throw away, and that's what makes me strong, true, and a person you look to for keys on how to be alive." His spirit had grown strong in the shadow of mainstream America's compulsion to climb the ladder of success and higher states of consciousness, leaving behind the rags and bones of a true spirituality.
Second, practitioners of New Age and Eastern traditions often urge individuals to handle disturbing feelings like hurt, anger, insecurity, and impatience by looking inside themselves. Many use these same practices as a way of avoiding relationship difficulties and conflict. When the practitioner is angry with their partner, they may turn to their meditation cushion instead of learning to address the issues directly. When they have judgments about their families and communities, many practice letting go of these feelings rather than using the power and impulse of their judgments to speak out for change and healing.
In contrast, through music, protest, and the church's call and response, African-American elders teach dialogue and the fine art of democracy. Like the conversation between voices and instruments in jazz music, this dialogue makes beauty and moral/spiritual development out of engaged interaction, even when it is heated.
Third, some practitioners of New Age spirituality promote the concept that we choose our reality, our emotions, and what comes into our lives. But this perspective can inadvertently deny the genuine victimization and collective responsibility for injustice perpetrated against groups — from blacks and women to Jews and gays — by suggesting that all responsibility lies with the individual's consciousness and not with the collective unconscious. It is worth noting that this kind of denial is less likely to be promoted by people who are marginalized by mainstream culture, people who are more likely to be treated as members of a group rather than as individuals. A friend recently quoted an Eastern spiritual teacher as saying that working on our own individual consciousness is the most important thing we do. I responded that I had a slight allergy to spiritual ideas that highlight the consciousness of the individual over that of the collective.
In contrast, I am reminded of Emmett Till's mother, who said in front of the open casket of her murdered son, "I've not a minute to waste; I will pursue justice for the rest of my life." She practiced a spirituality aimed at awakening a whole culture and freeing their hearts and souls regardless of their personal choices or practices.
Finally, while many who turn to the East consider themselves to be progressive, their progressive attitudes often manifest in condescension, caretaking, and charity towards blacks and other marginalized groups. While they may be involved in working toward social justice, they don't treat our African-American wise women and men with the same authority, respect, and reverence they do their Eastern spiritual teachers, whose feet they are more likely to sit at.
In contrast, some of our African-American teachers once sat at the feet of those who spoke for America's Judeo-Christian heritage. I am reminded of the slave woman who, on her knees, prayed to God to forgive her Christian slave owner, who stood above her, believing he was spiritually superior. She prayed, "Oh Lord, bless my master. When he calls upon thee to damn his soul, do not hear him, do not hear him, but hear me — save him — make him know he is wicked, and he will pray for thee." She who was on her knees was the teacher; he who stood above was in need of redemption. Is this not the kind of reversal as well as and spiritual/moral education Americans still need today?
As an ethnic Jew, I am aware of how African-Americans have enriched the story of Moses. Zora Neal Hurston's novel Moses, Man of the Mountain presaged the Civil Rights Movement, and civil rights activists embodied the great prophet's story of freedom. This poetic irony highlights the depth of a people who were often more spiritually developed while assuming a station of inferiority.
The poet Rainer Maria Rilke suggested, almost one hundred years ago, that people in the West suffer a kind of soullessness and have lost their spiritual way. As a result, their children may need to go far out into the East, "towards that same church which [they] forgot." Rilke's words were prophetic — a whole generation did indeed go far to the East to find their "church" unconsciously turning a blind eye to their African-American elders.
Why look to the East? Why not sit at the feet of America's African-American wisdom teachers? Let me suggest that reaching out to this tradition, especially as white folks, means bearing a certain pain and, yes, responsibility for a legacy of suffering. In this way, many of us don't walk into this "church" with clean hands — a pain we need not face in the ashram or zendo. However, bearing this pain may be just the deepening we need.
The "color line," in the words of W. E. B. Du Bois, still demarcates social boundaries. And while many of us have joined our voices with those who call for social justice, this attitude doesn't embody the same valuation as looking up to folks for spiritual wisdom and development.
James Baldwin wrote, "The black man has functioned in the white man's world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar, and as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations." It's time to shake our foundations, root out our negative projections and stereotypes, and end the unconscious devaluation and patronization of America's black elders. While much wisdom can be found in Eastern New Age traditions, there is a rich tradition of wisdom grown right here, paid for in blood and tears, and ready-made to speak to the souls and psyches of Americans today.
2
MLK Today: Taking the Blinders off White Privilege
* * *
How far have we really come since Dr. King's passing in 1968? Could those who argue that we now live in a truly post-racial society be wearing the blinders of white privilege? Consider the following.
Have we achieved Dr. King's goal of eradicating racial prejudice?
* * *
Some would surely say yes. Recently I dined at a fairly pricey French restaurant, where I had a conversation with the white woman at the table next to mine. She and her husband lived in Manhattan's Upper East Side and also had a vacation home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where I currently live. I grew up in New York City; that was our common ground. We got on the topic of the choking death of Eric Garner and the protests in its wake.
She said, "Before Mayor de Blasio spoke up in support of the black protests, there weren't really any racial issues in New York. We had gotten past that."
"That's simply not true," I retorted. "The racial tension had been there all the time. [Mayor] de Blasio didn't create it. Many folks, especially black folks, knew it was there all the time."
From where did this woman derive her perception? I don't think she was mean-spirited; in many ways, she was quite intelligent. However, a certain psychological intelligence was absent — the ability to realize that her framework was her experience as a wealthy white person.
She had the unearned privilege of never being disadvantaged by racial stereotypes. She had the privilege of not needing to listen to and feel the pain of black New Yorkers, many of whom have stories and perspectives that clearly wouldn't match her own. She had the privilege of needing neither data nor experience to feel free to issue her definitive opinion.
In short, she drew on her unconscious privilege to conclude that racial prejudice was a thing of the past.
Is "color blindness" the key to being judged by the content of our character?
* * *
Many argue, "If color blindness was good enough for Martin Luther King, then it ought to be good enough for a society that still aspires to the movement's goals of equality and fair treatment."
Much of the argument for color blindness relies on a superficial reading of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech, when he said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Based on this statement, some argue that Dr. King believed racism would be ended when Americans no longer saw race.
What allows many folks, especially white folks, to maintain this belief? I know of no data to support the notion that this kind of color blindness helps alleviate racial disparities or racial injustice. In my experience, many who espouse this view simply have no idea what it is like to live in a dark-skinned body. They have the unearned privilege of not having to think of themselves racially.
Dr. Beverly Tatum, former psychology professor and current president of Spellman College, used to regularly conduct an experiment with her psychology students. She asked them to complete the sentence, "I am ______ ." She found that while students of color typically mentioned their racial identity, white students rarely mentioned being white. The same was true for gender; women were more likely to mention being female. She concluded that racial identity for white folks is not reflected back to them and thus remains somewhat unconscious.
In short, black folks simply don't have the privilege of not seeing themselves as a color, and they know others will see them as such, whereas many white folks easily enjoy not seeing their own color. Trying to not see race before we are truly awake to racism's ugly present and past assigns racism to our individual and collective shadow, rendering its harm more insidious because it hides in seeming good-heartedness and innocence.
To quote Dr. King, "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
Is affirmative action contrary to Dr. King's dream of not being judged by the color of our skin?
* * *
I recently dialogued with a white man who insisted that Dr. King was opposed to affirmative action. He was immune to my presentation of Dr. King's views from my extensive reading on the issue. Instead, he said, "I choose to take Dr. King at his word; the man was quite articulate and capable of saying what he meant." Again, he referred to Dr. King's "Dream" speech. He continued, "It seems pretty clear that for members of any race to expect preferential treatment because of their race is unacceptable. It doesn't matter how noble one's motives. It's wrong."
What was wrong was his reading of Dr. King. In his 1964 book Why We Can't Wait, King wrote, "Whenever the issue of compensatory treatment for the Negro is raised, some of our friends recoil in horror. The Negro should be granted equality, they agree; but he should ask nothing more." Later, in 1967, he wrote, "A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him."
However, we must not stop there. Again we must ask: Why was it so easy for this white man, despite my argument about King's actual words, to maintain his position? While I confess to not knowing this man's mind and heart, many white folks I have dialogued with are unaware of the preferential treatment they receive — that they are the beneficiaries of the affirming actions of a racially biased society — while black folks are still the beneficiaries of dis-confirming actions.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Revisioning Activism by David Bedrick, Kristin Barendsen. Copyright © 2017 David Bedrick. Excerpted by permission of Belly Song Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xiii
Section I Racism, Anti-Semitism, and Homophobia: Witnessing Social Justice
1 The American Soul: Honoring Our Black Elders 1
2 MLK Today: Taking the Blinders off White Privilege 9
3 Dreaming King's Oream Forward: Reflections on America's Psyche 15
4 What's the Matter with "AH Lives Matter"? 21
5 America's Deadly Denial of Racism 25
6 How to Have a Conversation About Race 29
7 The Holocaust and the Inner Ghetto: The Psychology of Jewish Suffering 35
8 I'm Not a Hypochondriac-I'm Just a Jew 39
9 Skull and Crossbones: Projecting onto Folks with HIV/AIDS 43
10 Paging Dr. Ben Carson: Homophobia Calling 45
Section II Hunger, Self-Hatred, Failure, and Sexism: The Real Weight-Loss Story
1 Does America Really Need to Go on a Diet? 53
2 Do You Know Why You Eat? The Key to Losing Weight 57
3 Why Diets Fail: Seven Things You Should Know 61
4 Trying to Lose Weight? Satisfy Your Real Hungers 69
5 Shame, Body Image, and Weight Loss 75
6 Resolving to Lose Weight? Consider This First 79
7 Think Your Diet Needs More Discipline? Think Again 81
Section III What's Going On? Reflections on Current Events
1 Philip Seymour Hoffman and the Shadow of Individual Addiction 87
2 Diagnosing Depression in the Wake of Robin Williams's Suicide 91
3 The Lie of Brian (Williams) 97
4 Who Cheats? Who Lies? Moving Beyond Lance Armstrong 101
5 Upon the Murder of 20 Children and 6 Adults in Connecticut 105
6 Scapegoating, Stereotyping, and Projecting Won't Make Us Safer 107
7 Crazy About Gun Control 111
8 Upon the Boston Marathon Bombings 115
9 Racism on Trial: Reflections on the Prosecution of George Zimmerman for the Murder of Trayvon Martin 117
10 In Honor of Maya Angelou: This Caged Bird Sang and Sang 121
Section IV Beyond a Popular Psychology: Remembering the Shadow
1 Into the Dark: A Psychology of Soul, Shadow, and Diversity 127
2 Building and Repairing Trust: Keys to Sustainable Relationships 133
3 Six Reasons Not to Forgive-Not Yet 137
4 Understanding Stress: Beyond Reduction, Management, and Coping 143
5 Three Things to Learn from Failure 147
6 Resolutions, Commitments, and All That Jazz: Five Reasons Why Resolutions Fail 151
7 To Compromise or Not to Compromise 155
8 I'm Sorry: Three Components of an Effective Apology 159
9 What Is Shame? How Does It Color Our World? 163
10 When "Questions" Shame: Learning to Be More Direct 167
11 Beyond Individual Psychology: How Psychology Shames 171
12 Winning the Battle with Inner Criticism 175
13 Understanding Dreams About Inner and Outer Criticism 179
14 Getting Real: Seven Roadblocks to Becoming Our Authentic Selves 185
15 The Courage to Find Soul: A Call for More "Psyche" in Psychology 191
16 Death, Dying, and Altered States: Bridging Two Realities 195
Notes 199
Bibliography 221
Index 237
About the Author 259
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