Question: Who is most comfortable with talking about liberation… educators or social scientists? Academics or practitioners? Believers or atheists? People in the community or people outside of the community?
Last week I had an opportunity to meet with a social black activist/educator who has about 1000 FB friends. I wanted to know how her followers responded to her very direct posts about race and black power. We ended up questioning the percentage of followers who were licensed educators and the percentage of those who were from the social sciences. Interestingly we discovered and included an additional category into the analysis… community members. She said it is from this category, the community, where she has had the greatest level of dialogue.
The conversation made me think about an observation that I have had since undergraduate school where I was a double major: social science and education. In a glaring way, I noticed a distinctly different thought process and commitment to inclusive, yet diverse perspectives that separated individuals of one program from the other. I guess it is the social scientist in me today that now has me intrigued… who is most comfortable with talking about liberation? Where would I mostly find people who are just as willing to reflect on the issues of liberation (and oppression) as they are to engage in what they perceive to be the solution?
Do you have an answer? Please share your opinion on our Facebook page.
Written by: Angela Dye, M.Ed.
