Paulo Freire on ‘the Word’

Not sure why I’ve been thinking about this recently. This is the first few paragraphs of chapter three of Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed:

As
we attempt to analyze dialogue as a human phenomenon, we discover
something which is the essence of dialogue itself: the word. But the
word is more than just an instrument which makes dialogue possible;
accordingly, we must seek its constitutive elements. Within the word we
find two dimensions, reflection and action, in such radical interaction
that if one is sacrificed — even in part — the other immediately
suffers. There is no true word that is not at the same time a praxis.
Thus, to speak a true word is to transform the world.

An
unauthentic word, one which is unable to transform reality, results
when dichotomy is imposed upon its constitutive elements. When a word
is deprived of its dimension of action, reflection automatically
suffers as well; and the word is changed into idle chatter, into
verbalism, into an alienated and alienating “blah.� It becomes an empty
word, one which cannot denounce the world, for denunciation is
impossible without a commitment to transform, and there is no
transformation without action.

On the other hand, if action is
emphasized exclusively to the detriment of reflection, the word is
converted into activism. The latter — action for action’s sake —
negates the true praxis and makes dialogue impossible. Either
dichotomy, by creating unauthentic forms of existence, creates also
unauthentic forms of thought which reinforce the original dichotomy.

Human
existence cannot be silent nor can it be nourished by false words, but
only by true words, with which men and women transform the world. To
exist humanly is to name the world, to change it. Once named, the world
in its turn reappears to the namers as a problem and requires of them a
new naming. Human beings are not built in silence, but in word, in
work, in action-reflection.

(Source)

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Rally for Education in Michigan

A
rally in Lansing, Michigan this week that organizers had hoped to draw
a few thousand people attracted over 10,000, making it the largest
rally at the state capitol in at least 20 years. The rally, organized
by the K-16 Coalition for Michigan’s Future, was designed to pressure the state legislature to increase funding for public schools in the state:

Schools have had three years of no increases with
per-pupil funding stuck at a minimum of $6,700. There were mid-year
cuts of about $74 per pupil for two years running, while health care,
retirement and other fixed costs increased. Gov. Jennifer Granholm has
proposed a $175-per-pupil increase next year. House and Senate versions
of the K-12 budget also include the increase. (cite)

With high unemployment and a struggling auto industry, Michigan’s economy has continued to languish. See media clips about the rally.

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Eugene Kang’s Platform for A2 Council

The
Kang campaign just sent me a piece of literature they have been
distributing in Ward 2 with a letter from Eugene and his platform for
City Council. Here’s the text:

EUGENE KANG FOR WARD 2:
WAKE UP THE CITY COUNCIL!

Dear Neighbor,

My
name is Eugene Kang, and I am running for Ann Arbor City Council. I am
proud to have lived in Ann Arbor for my entire life. And I am proud to
have spent almost my entire life right here in Ward 2.

Many
people have asked me why I want to run for office. The answer is
simple: I want to give back to this wonderful community. I attended
King Elementary School and Greenhills School for 6-12th grades. Next
year I’ll be a Senior at the University of Michigan, majoring in
English and Philosophy.

I am energetic, dedicated, and I know
I have a lot to learn. I hope that I can serve a unique role as someone
connected to both U of M students and to the greater Ann Arbor
community. Because the City Council should be more responsive to your
concerns, I have launched a precinct-by-precinct listening tour.
Together, we can make Ann Arbor an even greater place to live.

As
a lifelong resident of this community, I am aware of the challenges
facing Ann Arbor. And, on the next page, I have identified key areas in
which I plan to focus my attention. I look forward to listening to your
concerns and working for you in the future.

Sincerely,
Eugene Kang

And his platform:

Increasing Fiscal Responsibility
• Our city budget has been in deficit for the past five years and
expenses are expected to exceed revenue for at least the next two
years. We need to close this gap – but not on the backs of taxpayers
who are already paying more than their fair share.
• The cost of living in Ann Arbor is already significantly higher than
that of similar cities in the Midwest, and higher taxes will only make
it more difficult for people, especially new homeowners, to remain in
our City.
• I am committed to balancing Ann Arbor’s budget and look forward to
meeting with you to discuss your priorities and listen to your ideas.

Making Ann Arbor More Affordable
• Making Ann Arbor a more affordable place to live is critical to the
City’s future. We cannot allow our middle-class and economically
disadvantaged citizens to be pushed out of our City because of sky-high
housing prices.
• Ann Arbor spends $5.6 million dollars a year to discourage Ann Arbor
residents from moving away. Unfortunately, we spend only 10% of that
amount to encourage people to live in our City by making housing more
affordable.
• To curtail urban sprawl and enable people who work in Ann Arbor to
live here as well, we must provide incentives for residents to remain
in the City.

A Practical Approach to Downtown Density
• Downtown density is inextricably connected to the issue of affordable
housing. While I recognize that building taller structures downtown
would create more space for residential and commercial enterprises, I
am sympathetic to how these structures would change the downtown
aesthetic.
• I support a pragmatic case-by-case approach that would carefully
consider each proposal and weigh the benefits of density with the costs
to aesthetics. It is Ann Arbor’s sense of community that makes it so
special. We must not alter the City’s unique appeal as we work to make
sure as many people as possible can afford to enjoy the Downtown area.

Listening to Every Voice
• The Arbor City Council is not representative of Ann Arbor’s
population. University of Michigan students are Ann Arbor residents.
Their views should be represented on the City Council. An accusation
often leveled against my generation is that we are politically
apathetic. My peers and I are working hard to change this perception.
• Young people do care about politics and I believe that the student body does care about the greater Ann Arbor community.

Contact us at kangforcitycouncil at gmail.com or (734) 972-7254

> Download a PDF of the Flyer Here
> See my coverage of the Kang campaign
> See my viewpoint in the Daily: “A Perfect Storm Brewing in City Politics�

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I’m Sorry, Is this Surprising?

Cntr for Public Integrity: Traveling
on the Abramoff Plan: Dozens of members of Congress have accepted trips
from non-profits with registered lobbyists on their boards

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DCist Help Wanted

One
of the editors of DCist is leaving, and we’re looking for a
replacement. Catherine was one of the first people to join Mike and I
in our little endeavor, and has been an excellent and reliable blogger
and been instrumental helping DCist be so successful. We’ll be sad to
see her go! She has posted to her blog a description of who we’re looking for:

as it stands, my responsibilities at DCist aren’t entirely focused, but i do the following every week, or at least try to:
- write a weekly music agenda on mondays of shows that i think will be good
- do a DCist music interview with a local band, to be published on thursdays
- write a weekend picks post on fridays, highlighting interesting events on friday, saturday, and sunday
- try to write or solicit-and-edit one or two concert reviews every week or two.

If you are interested drop me a line. She also has these nice things to say about the site:

anyway,
DCist is totally great and has been one of the most positive things
i’ve ever been involved in. all the staff have become good friends, and
they’re an amazing group of motivated and talented people. i’m too sad
to be leaving, but since i have to, i want to find one (or two,
perhaps) really good, committed people that would be willing to cover
music stuff and help DCist grow even more awesome …

Check out Catherine’s 165 DCist posts here.

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Technorati, Live 8 Team Up

The folks at the blog search engine Technorati have teamed up with the organizers of the Live8 concerts to create an “Blog Central� where they’ll be aggregating blog posts about the concerts. I’m considering going to the Live8 Philly concert, but a friend of mine is in town that weekend so I am not sure if I’ll make it up there. See concert information on the official Live8 website.

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Data Mining: So Hot Right Now

> WaPo: “Pentagon Creating Student Database“
> NYTimes: “Age 16 to 25? The Pentagon Has Your Number, and More“

From the NYTimes story:

The Defense Department and a private contractor have
been building an extensive database of 30 million 16-to-25-year-olds,
combining names with Social Security numbers, grade-point averages,
e-mail addresses and phone numbers.

The department began building the database three years ago, but
military officials filed a notice announcing plans for it only last
month. That is apparently a violation of the federal Privacy Act, which
requires that government agencies accept public comment before new
records systems are created.

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