Pedagogy of the Oppressed

It is Sunday night. I’m listening to Andrew Osenga’s Souvenir’s & Postcards album and loving every second of it. Yesterday was a huge study day so that we could all go over to this one girl’s house from our program- her name is Faith.

I wanted to blog about the book mentioned in the title but I honestly didn’t finish it (opps..) so I’m not sure that I’m qualified. However I did read 3/4 of it before class on Thursday and particularly enjoyed the first half of the book.

For a bio on the author (which actually may be of interest)- click here.

As a background, the author talks about the oppressed and the oppressor (from his 1940’s Brazilian perspective) and how there’s some of each in everyone…that when the oppressed escape their situation they only know how to be an oppressor because its all they’ve known. The solution to this is educate the oppressed using oppressed-led dialogical methods that help them become fully human…as it were.

Here’s a taste:

“Solidarity requires that one enter into the situation of those with whom one is solidary; it is a radical posture…true solidarity with the oppressed means fighting at their side to transform the objective reality which has made these ‘beings for another’”.

“To affirm that men and women are persons and as persons should be free, and yet to do nothing tangible to make this affirmation a reality, is a farce”

“The oppressors do not perceive their monopoly on having more as a privilege which dehumanizes others and themselves. They can not see that, in the egoistic pursuit of having as possessing class, they suffocate in their own possessions and no longer are; they merely have”.

“Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence”

“The truth is, however, that the oppressed are not ‘marginals,’ are not people living ‘outside’ society. They have always been ‘inside’- inside the structure which made them ‘beings for others.’ The solution is not to ‘integrate’ them into the structure of oppression, but to transform that structure so they can become ‘beings for themselves’”.

St. Pattys Day

Today was Patty Griffin day in Philadelphia– or so we have been calling it for about a week. It involved two episodes- one was watching her on Letterman last night. The other was going to see her with about 8 other people from school today for free at this place called World Cafe Live.

She is good.

Chris Clements would have liked the drummer- even though you can’t see him in the pictures.

ps- she said that her grandmother was from New Brunswick, which according to my calculations would make her, in part- Canadian.
pps- she is also from Bangor, Maine- props to anyone who is able to guess the movie that I associate with this city.

Back in Action

I’ve been back in the old U.S. of A. since Sunday and it definitely feels different this time around- more familiar… a better grasp of things. I got lost on the way back- because I was trying to take this picture while I was driving:

While you might not be able to tell from this picture- the shot I was trying to get is one that says ‘Stroudsburg’ PA- I could be wrong but I think this is the city where my friend #12 Mike M. spent much of his youth…

That picture cost me 45 minutes but it was well worth it as I went through this crazy little town called “JimThorpe”…

Here are three reasons (among many) why I like Canada:

1) The Weather

2) Even though I love living in the city, it’s nice to come home to this every once in a while…

3) My nephew and niece live there…

today

The majority of today was spent with Steve, Nathan and Darryl– getting cheese put on our pasta at East Sides (some more than others), visiting The Meeting House and dreaming about what’s going to happen on March 24th. Things seem to be coming together nicely.

This was a good day.

No state troopers on the way home last night…I did however make it in just under 8 hours which I was pretty happy about….as opposed to the 10 hours it took using an alternative route on the way down…