POLS-134: Spec. Topics in American Democracy Journal Entry 2

I spent approximately 2 hours trying to reflect on the conversations of Thursday’s class. We were trying to wrap up our discussions on the Prologue and share our views on how the chapter made us feel. Our highs and lows and what stood out to us. The Prologue was such a heavy chapter for me, it shared a piece of trauma that some consider a heavy cross to bear. Raskin shares his account of the day of the Insurrection, his last day with Tommy and finding Tommy’s body after committing suicide. It was so brilliantly written for its audience, I could feel every ounce of pain he felt as if it were my own. The way he described the his numbness and overwhelming emotions of his work day in the Capitol on January 6th. The way he played with his words about his love and longing for his son. To know that a man was so at ease within explaining his emotions, the despair he felt in losing one of his most prized possessions. It made me wonder if he was as open with his emotions with Tommy in life, as he was in death. It made me wonder what my father thinks of me and how he describes me to his peers. I’ve come to realize from listening to the experiences of my friends that there is a culture of toxic masculinity amongst fathers in the Black community as it relates to showing emotions to their children-especially between fathers and sons. I am from the Caribbean, where that pattern exists on steroids. Our fathers are held to the standard of providers and in the absence of the father, mothers assumed this role. This made them harder, with less time to nurture and as such, it’s cultural norm to expect as little emotional connection. It never meant we weren’t loved or appreciated or even celebrated, it just means seeing Raskin express his affection for his son’s entire being so profoundly and openly seem so new. It should be standard for parenting across the old, however the Caribbean has many old habits to fix. Raskin’s lyric prose writing style told his story in the most beautiful way. It was like a sad movie playing over and over in my head, but in an overbearing or exhausting way-but more of a rush and calming way. The imagery brought his story alive right before my eyes.

“These sunken treasures of mourning tug distantly for my attention, but I am in a weeklong daze, asking: Tommy, Tommy, Tommy, where have you gone, my dear boy? Where have you gone ? Scenes from his life replay in my head like shorts at an all-night film festival.”

— J. Raskin. The Prologue, Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth and the Trials of American Democracy

We later ventured off into the conversation of the extent to which we think with others. After taking some time to properly digest some of the questions from the chalkboard catalog, I made a list of answers for the questions that stood out the most to me.

(i) When do you think with others?

(ii) Do you think with people from different time periods? How many people? How far back in time do you go?

I believe that I think with others a lot throughout even my daily life, especially with my mother. She’s sort of my best-friend, I like going to her with my ideas and thoughts just to have someone to feel them out. I like hearing her own experiences and use them to guide mine, so as to prevent a repeat in history. I would say she does the same thing with me, she likes asking for my opinion on many of her life decisions and sometimes I’d tell her that the situation may have required her to sit and think alone for awhile without consultation, she’d respond “I sent you to school to be educated so you could be my brain, so think for me” and we’d laugh in unison. She tends to say that I’m an old spirit living in the body of a young man because of my ‘constant words of wisdom’ and my love for listening to the stories of my elders. Personally, I believe there’s a sort of beauty and power in the sharing of stories. Growing up we weren’t allowed to go to funerals, however whenever I did go I was so fixated on not leaving until after the eulogy was read. Just something about listening to all the good people had done for the world and left behind was a calming factor amongst all the chaos of grief.

Oral Traditions are a huge part of Caribbean culture, it is a custom passed down from generation to generation and originated during the era of Slavery. Slaves would use stories of their homeland and beliefs to help the other slaves to never forget where they come despite being forced to neglect everything of African heritage. I use to sit for hours listening to my aunts and uncles share duppy (ghost) stories and tales of the mischievous Brother Anasi the spider with my cousins and myself-maybe that’s where my love for lore came from. I remember an assignment I had gotten for an English class in Freshman Fall semester to interview someone on their first experience voting in the United States. What had intended to be a thirty (30) mins to an hour interview, turned into a four hour conversation. Just listening to his account of being a young immigrant boy for Jamaica voting for the first time in Bronx, NY. I like conversations that link the past to the present and helps us to answer present issues.

Personally, I believe my “thinking with” has taught me most of my life’s lessons. However, I still believe I have yet to even scratch the surface of this habit. I have yet to fully embrace it, the way I should. I have yet to fully comprehend the depths of it and I look forward to honing this skill.

Before this week, his most famous public remark came in 2006, when, during a debate about gay rights, he reminded a Republican state senator that “when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.” — Bill McKibben, February 12, 2021. The Beauty of Jamie Raskin’s America, on Display at Trump’s Impeachment Trial.

As we delved into a new chapter, entitled Democracy Summer, we got a closer look into the origins of Jamie Raskin’s political career. We saw how radically for the people he was and how he saw the children and people he sought out to serve through the eyes of his precious 11 year old son. For Tuesday’s class, we were posed the question of ‘what is the best way to kiss someone?’ and we were given a list of options to choose from. Initially it seemed like such an innocent or even simple question, but knowing Dr. S this would definitely not a surface-level question. His questions tend to help you to practice a bit of proactive thinking, they’re the ones that taunt and pick at you from days and has you conjuring up better responses in your head days after the discussion. In my eyes, I saw the questions as a rubric for establishing how best to meet the needs of others as a person in a democratic leadership role. We ended up putting ourselves in the shoes of various roles that we though needed this type of thinking to get their job done. It started a debate on empathy vs. sympathy and how do we tend to a need. Do we do what we think is within our best interest ? Do we do what is in the best interest of the people we are making these decisions for ? But then, another question is posed: how do we know whether what we are doing in within the best interests of the people we are meeting the need for ?

I mentioned the Power of Attorney as an individual that might use these questions to get through the process of doing what they have to. These individuals have to treat whomever they are caring for with as much logic and reasoning as possible. They must assess the facts and not make decisions on the basis of emotions. This does not go to say that no emotions at all should be present, it is just saying that emotions should not be the leading factor. As there is no logic and understanding without emotion. We can’t be quick to give people what they want, because many times people do not know what they want or what they want may not be what’s good for them. In addition, this does not mean that we must take their agency from them or their right to have their wishes carried out. The fact of the matter is that we cannot and should try to minimize generalizing events of this nature. We can’t say what people should do on a general basis, as that will do more harm than good. But understand that there are imperfections in this world and we must treat each case on the basis of the facts and history that they provide; use logic and reasoning to assess the situation and use emotions such as empathy within limits to deduce efficient conclusions.

As we go forward in the book, I hope to look towards the acts of Raskin to help guide my thinking in how to effectively provide for others.

For my Assumptive World Project, I will be analyzing the extent to which nonprofits incorporate empathy and inclusive storytelling in their operations. I have gathered a list of questions I’d like to answer throughout my project:

1. How are they guided by their own stories?
2. How do they balance the emotions embedded in their dire need to help others?
3. How do we dismantle the generalized negative premises held against volunteerism and giving back?
4. How can I develop myself enough to build a foundation and network aimed at overall development in my home country and the Caribbean at large?