Tag: Raoul Peck

James Baldwin, Cambridge Union, 1965

Fastwrite

Does Baldwin actually manage to speak across the color line? What do you think? To what degree does he seemed trapped in the American dichotomy of black vs. white? To what degree (and where, and when? ) is he able to escape or transcend that binary?

The Opening: One and I and You

Minutes 14:00–22:00

• Amanda and Sarah (15:30)
• Michael (15:30): Contrast with Anzaldua
• Kate (18:00)

The Conclusion: The West (We?)

To Do

1. Wed, 9/25, 4:00 pm: Group C posts responses to Barack Obama’s ” A More Perfect Union”. I’d like to ask the same question of President Obama as of James Baldwin: Does he (and, if so, how) cross the lines of division that mark our society? Does he articulate a view of a “union”, or simply of a faction in that union?
2. Thurs, 9/26, 4:00 pm: Everyone else reads Group C’s responses and posts comments on at least two.
3. Fri, 9/27, NO CLASS, but . . . during class time (approx.), please post at least one “response to a response”. That is, if you are a member of Group C, respond to the comments on your post. If you are a member of Group A or B, respond to one of the other comments on a post you responded to.
4. Mon. 9/30, class: Read Deborah Brandt’s “Sponsors of Literacy”. I’ll lead our discussion (or try to). I’m interested in thinking about how the various “sponsors” of literacy may hinder as well as help our attempts to talk across groups.