4.7.3: Discussion Questions
- Page ID
- 211494
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)- Fred Moten states, "The history of blackness is testament to the fact that objects can and do resist." Identify ways that Black bodies have acted as "pressures" to "the assumption of the equivalence of personhood and subjectivity." In your response, be sure to think about and identify ways that Black bodies have acted in resistance. Move beyond normative political activist work.
- This chapter outlines ways Frantz Fanon labored to produce a new human. How might Black people exploit or utilize the "zone of nonbeing" to perform a departure from harmful Western conceptions of man?
- Explain the differences between surveillance, racial surveillance, sousveillance, and dark sousveillance. Explain how each of these express or interact with ideas of Black fugitivity. Provide examples of each form of surveillance you have witnessed and assess whether or not these examples perform acts of liberation for Black bodies.
- In the discussion about Robin D.G. Kelly’s contested narratives about Black youth’s labor practices some of the actions (e.g. clocking in when not present) might be seen or thought of as acts of theft, while others (e.g. shooting a jump shot while throwing away trash or wearing extremely long nails) might be seen or thought of as immature play or displays of urban class attire. How do these subversive acts perform abolition, negation, dispossession, and/or fugitivity? What tensions are at play with these acts and how do you reconcile them as acts of agency and not judgements of character and morales?
- What acts of negation, abolition, dispossession, and/or fugitivity have you witnessed in Black culture that labor towards building a new humanism as expressed or hoped for by Frantz Fanon.
- Consider the goals of the Undercommons, as expressed by Fred Moten. Select one system (prison industrial complex, education, medical aid, financial wealth, housing, etc.) that has historically harmed Black bodies and imagine how an Undercommons might be built to create a new world or system. What facets of the old system would you dismantle? What parts of the world are the most harmful for Black bodies, and how might we dismantle them? What possibilities could create a new world that does not perpetuate harm?
- How does Hip Hop and contemporary poetry act as liberating literature? Identify artists (rappers, poets, musicians) who have utilized music through sound and words to create music that performs abolition work: negation, dispossession, or fugitivity. Please include cited examples from the artist’s oeuvre to support your claim.
- Considering the position of this chapter on abolition and liberation for Black bodies, select 1-2 radical practices of abolition work and explain why this otherwise way of being and knowing the world is necessary for building a new world. Consider your personal experiences; how might these practices impact your life or had impacted your life if they were employed earlier.