November 19, 2019 was the last time I posted an entry on this blog. Now one year later I am returning to resume.
Why such a long absence? Toward the end of 2019 I became sick for a protracted period (eight straight weeks!) as well as extremely busy, and that lasted for quite a while into the new year. Then a new semester began and it fully engaged my attention, especially after COVID-19 hit, causing a great disruption and forced dramatic transformation of all I had been doing, and planning to do (as of course has been the case for just about everyone around, all over the world). The rest of the Spring 2020 semester, all on-line, without having planned ahead of time to do so, or early on anticipated doing so, or having any prior experience teaching this way, proved extraordinarily draining for me, and for my students (although these were good classes and I continued to enjoy working with and steadily learning more and better about all of these people). Once the semester ended, and I finished taking time to breathe, I began work on writing my two books, in earnest, and that has proceeded well, even while proving highly demanding and often all-absorbing. But I really do find this work most satisfying and fulfilling and this seems just the right time in my life to be concentrating on pursuing it. Life has become considerably restricted for me, as I spend most of my time, day to day, week to week, and month to month, at home, in our house, other than taking many long walks around Eau Claire, which I absolutely love doing, especially from mid-March through mid-October, when the weather was largely consistently warm, and other than going to the grocery store and attending to miscellaneous health care appointments. I am doing well, despite the isolation, despite missing and worrying about a great many people, and despite worrying as well about many issues of immediately topical as well as urgent social and political concern, at a multiply dangerous, difficult, and yet nonetheless potentially promising and cautiously hopeful time for our nation–and for beyond our nation.
What I am going to do, in re-starting this blog, is work my way backwards, bit by bit, through Facebook posts I have made ever since November 19, 2019, re-posting here and adding retrospective reflective (including self-critical) comments. As the title of this blog indicates, directly, don't expect to find miraculous wisdom here, but I do consider it a responsibility to continually strive to contribute to a broader public, as best I can, with whatever I have to offer, and if anyone out there finds anything I write about of interest and use I am glad of it.
I am deciding this afternoon, instead of tomorrow, to share my weekly posts on Facebook, as this fits better with where I am at this week.
I know many on Facebook and elsewhere are and have been dealing with considerable negativity in their lives–doubts, worries, and fears; struggling and suffering; despondency, restlessness, and exhaustion–so I will aim not to add to any of that, and to share what might otherwise prove of some interest or use. But I will mention, before proceeding further, that I certainly understand all of those feelings, and I myself over the past few weeks have needed to invest more effort to push all that to the side, as best I can.
I did by noon today finally complete my ‘entry' essay on the show _Informer_ as part of _21st Century British TV Crime Drama: a Critical Guide_. This essay proved the most difficult to complete of any to date, but I have strived to be as precise, careful, sensitive, and thoughtful as I can in addressing a TV show that emphasizes the experiences of British Muslim individuals, families, and communities, especially in relation to the British state and in particular British police counter-terrorism.
Recently I stopped to calculate how long this entire book will be in complete draft form (and that includes my own revisions, edits, and proofreadings of all drafts), and as a result I decided to cut the total number of shows I am addressing in this book from 35 to 30. After all, this is not a ‘reference' book but rather a series of sustained critical readings illustrating not only potentially useful ways of approaching 21st century British TV crime shows critically but also doing the same in relation to many closely related kinds of popular culture ‘texts' as well as in relation to the range of topical issues these shows often directly or indirectly address. Each entry is running approximately 30 to 35 single-spaced typed pages in length, and that follows an introduction which is itself a little over 100 single-spaced typed pages in length. I think it will be a valuable book, once finished, and I can do all I need to do in this book with 30 shows, which will, after all, include most of those shows most people will expect to find covered in such a book, with this focus.
I've written five entry essays now, along with the introduction, to this book. I am next giving myself ten days to work on the first half of chapter two of _Ian Curtis, Joy Division, and Critical Theory_ , my other book in progress, which I will follow up by aiming to complete entries on _London Spy_ and _Undercover_ before Christmas. I am no longer ‘ahead' of my target plans for 12 to 15 months of work on these two books, while on leave, but I am not yet behind and I hope to prevent that last from happening.
Since that was just yesterday I am not prompted to add commentary on that post at the present time.
***
I stopped other work temporarily this past Saturday to read this entire book in a little over three hours. I read one reviewer comment he found the book ‘dry as dust number crunching', but I didn't experience anything like that reaction. I found the book fascinating and compelling, even if I don't entirely agree with how Savage et. al. have reconceived and redefined class, and classes, in 21st century Britain. I do appreciate how these sociologists and other social scientists have carefully explained their positions, and the research and analysis they have done to arrive at these positions–with indeed many intriguing tables, charts, and graphs–along with their attention to explaining how their conception relates to and especially diverges from more familiar and long influential conceptions of class, and of classes, operating in Britain. I also appreciate that these sociologists and other social scientists strongly argue for the continuing substantial shaping impact of class on people's lives, regardless of whether people recognize or admit this to be the case. And I appreciate their commitment toward overcoming inequality, as well as their use of the work of Pierre Bourdieu, especially in taking into account cultural and social as well as economic capital, while also discussing multiple constituent dimensions of each form of capital and showing how these can be precisely related and measured along with how they precisely intersect and exercise interdeterminate impacts. The book is quite accessible, for a general audience, although I admit I might think so because of the cultural capital I maintain. As is by now well-known Savage et. al. identify seven classes in contemporary Britain, as follows: Elite, 6% of the population; Established Middle Class, 25% of the population; Technical Middle Class, 6% of the population; New Affluent Workers, 15% of the population; Traditional Working Class, 14% of the population; Emerging Service Workers, 19% of the population; and Precariat, 15% of the population. I continue to find classic Marxist conceptions of class, and especially of the working and capitalist classes as well as the old and new middle classes, useful and important, but I respect what Savage et.al. have come up with here, and wonder, in particular, how COVID-19 and Brexit are affecting the distribution of Britons among these seven classes–i.e., how much shifting from the percentages I just listed above, corresponding to 2015 Britain, are and have been changing since then.
*****
I have been reading this collection of essays this past week, and these accounts are riveting not only in terms of the content they share but also in the form and style in which this content is conveyed. Many of these experiences are deeply painful yet at the same time as Benjamin Zephaniah attests they are simultaneously inspiring of hope.
‘This is an inspiring collection of essays … Every page of this book breaks down stereotypes of what being a Black man is.’ Benjamin Zephaniah
“What is the experience of Black men in Britain? With continued conversation around British identity, racism and diversity, there is no better time to explore this question and give Black British men a platform to answer it. SAFE: On Black British Men Reclaiming Space is that platform. Including essays from top poets, writers, musicians, actors and journalists, this timely and accessible book brings together a selection of powerful reflections exploring the Black British male experience and what it really means to reclaim and hold space in the landscape of our society.
Where do Black men belong in school, in the media, in their own families, in the conversation about mental health, in the LGBT community, in grime music – and how can these voices inspire, educate and add to the dialogue of diversity already taking place? Following on from discussions raised by The Good Immigrant and Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, this collection takes readers on a rich and varied path to confront and question the position of Black men in Britain today, and shines a light on the way forward.
Read by Contributors: Alex Holmes, Alex Wheatle, Aniefiok ‘Neef’ Ekpoudom, Courttia Newland, Derek Oppong, Derek Owusu, Gbontwi Anyetei; Jesse Bernard, JJ Bola; Joseph Harker; Jude Yawson; Kenechukwu Obienu; Kobna Holdbrook-Smith; Nels Abbey; Okechukwu Nzelu; Robyn Travis; Stephen Morrison-Burke; Suli Breaks; Symeon Brown; Yomi Sode
(p) Orion Publishing Group 2019″
I will comment here I finished this book later yesterday. It impresses me as well because the book takes on many distinct issues, with many disparate takes and moods, as not all the writers, by any means, agree on everything, including whether it is at all possible to be hopeful that conditions can and might improve. These writers consistently push themselves, and comment on doing so, to make themselves vulnerable in ways they often have not, and still feel considerably uncomfortable about, and I respect and appreciate them for doing so. I am seriously interested in eventually teaching a class focused on Contemporary Black British Experience, focusing entirely on memoirs and non-fictional essays, like in this book, and the two others below. Tremendously impressive and vital work abounds to fill out such a class, and I would love to do it.
*****
This is another most compelling book I am reading at present. The writers here are more overtly, than in _Safe: 20 Ways to be a Black Man in Britain Today_, focused on providing advice and encouragement to Black British girls and women on how specifically to resist oppression as well as to live the best lives they can, true to their full potential. The book is particularly based on the co-authors' experiences as students at Cambridge.
“As a minority in a predominantly white institution, taking up space is an act of resistance. Recent Cambridge grads Chelsea and Ore experienced this first-hand, and wrote Taking Up Space as a guide and a manifesto for change.
FOR BLACK GIRLS:
Understand that your journey is unique. Use this book as a guide. Our wish for you is that you read this and feel empowered, comforted and validated in every emotion you experience, or decision that you make.
FOR EVERYONE ELSE:
We can only hope that reading this helps you to be a better friend, parent, sibling or teacher to black girls living through what we did. It's time we stepped away from seeing this as a problem that black people are charged with solving on their own.
It's a collective effort.
And everyone has a role to play.
Featuring honest conversations with students past and present, Taking Up Space goes beyond the buzzwords of diversity and inclusion and explores what those words truly mean for young black girls today.”
*****
I am also currently reading this likewise compelling book that surveys the field of obstacles Black British girls and women face toward self-actualization while simultaneously addressing opportunities and possibilities, and encouraging resistance and resilience.
“The long-awaited, inspirational guide to life for a generation of black British women inspired to make lemonade out of lemons, and find success in every area of their lives.
‘This book is a gift for anyone who wants to better understand what Black women and girls are up against – and the tremendous resources they draw upon as they make their way in the world’ Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook and founder of LeanIn.Org and OptionB.Org
Slay In Your Lane is a brilliant book about what it is like to be a woman, black and a Londoner in 2018. Everyone should read it’ Sadiq Khan
‘Black women today are well past making waves – we’re currently creating something of a tsunami. Women who look like us, grew up in similar places to us, talk like us, are shaping almost every sector of society.’
From education to work to dating, this inspirational, honest and provocative book recognises and celebrates the strides black women have already made, while providing practical advice for those who want to do the same and forge a better, visible future.
Illustrated with stories from best friends Elizabeth Uviebinené and Yomi Adegoke’s own lives, and using interviews with dozens of the most successful black women in Britain – including BAFTA Award-winning director Amma Asante, British Vogue publisher Vanessa Kingori and Olympic gold medallist Denise Lewis – Slay In Your Laneis essential reading for a generation of black women inspired to find success in every area of their lives.”
*****
Tomorrow night, Thursday 19 November 2020, on Insurgence #801 I will play music from bdrmm, Oneohtrix Point Never, A Certain Ratio, and The Twilight Sad. Insurgence, with Sean Murphy, ever Thursday 10 pm to midnight, US Central Time, on WHYS Community Radio, Eau Claire, and also, streaming via the web, throughout the world, at: www.whysradio.org
This is another of my these days relatively rare ventures beyond our house, but it continues to be fantastic to do this show, a definite highlight for me each and every week.
*****
As a final set of comments for the time-being I did appreciate the chance Sunday late afternoon to take a prolonged walk outside, even if was bitterly cold, especially with the wind, much like at the Packers' game earlier that day, in the 30 to 40 to 50 mph range. Andy and I now have balaclava ‘hoods'–mine green and his purple–which help with those kinds of conditions. Yesterday I did so again, and that was all the better, a beautiful sunny day, and far less cold because of much less windy conditions.
Tomorrow Andy and I will likely aim to do this as well with temperatures nearing 60. I do appreciate when I can leave the house as it can feel difficult to spend so much time just in this one albeit otherwise quite lovely and comfortable and productive space, day in and day out for so many weeks and months running. I do miss other people.
I certainly connect with the inclination to dismiss Donald Trump's post-election behavior as that of a ‘pathetic loser' but, even so, I am concerned and disturbed by the damage he once more is doing, as he has throughout his entire presidency. Like Ta-Nehesi Coates, who Trevor Noah interviewed on _The Daily Show_ Monday night, I believe the damage Trump has done will last a long time, longer than my lifetime as well (Coates is, after all, younger than me), and we are in for ‘hard times' ahead. But I am trying, as best I can, not to become distracted worrying too much about what I cannot control, and even cannot effectively impact at all. The most disturbing thing about Trump's current behavior is it does indeed threaten to cost a great many lives, and I certainly think it is a damning indictment of him as president that he has so thoroughly failed a ‘duty of care'. This is a terrible pandemic and its impact is, has been, and will be immensely devastating. It is crucial for any political leader to start by accepting and working with that as undeniable fact.
I do hope people reading this will take care and stay well and healthy, or recover quickly and fully. I think about a great many people I know and have known with whom I am not directly in touch at present, and I certainly am wishing all of them, and all of you, all the best.
Coates did mention given the long histories of slavery, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration Black Americans are incredibly used to hard times and limited reason for hope, which is definitely the case, but they also, including certainly Coates, continue to speak, write, act, and interact in ways that push toward a better future, even if and when it seems unlikely to arrive any time soon. I keep trying to do what little I can to contribute in the same ways, from where I am at and with what I have to offer.