I grew up in the country in the rural South
Where did Stevenson actually grow up? On Wikipedia, it says Delaware.
14 Matching Annotations
- Sep 2020
-
sdsuwriting.pbworks.com sdsuwriting.pbworks.com
-
-
I sometimes push too hard
Self-awareness—ethos.
-
and after a couple of hours
Stevenson lays it on pretty thick here when it comes to his role as the active listener. Building ethos, although some of his anecdotes seem a little over the top in terms of persona.
-
Vaclav Havel, the great Czech leader, talked about this.
Stevenson quotes a foreign leader instead of an American one. Again, providing evidence of other countries who have taken a different approach to dealing with their own history.
-
And yet
Again, cycling his audience through these thought experiments where he always brings the conversation back to to question of our American identity as it relates to ongoing injustice and systemic racism.
-
The only country in the world.
Stevenson uses a series of thought experiments that challenge this audience's perspective and plays on their value systems when it comes to America's position on the world stage. Throughout, he flips between "I" and "we" statements in a really interesting way, trying not to separate himself from the audience too much.
-
And being here at TEDand seeing the stimulation
Drawing a contrast between his usual surroundings for EJI and the more privileged setting at TED.
-
- Aug 2020
-
sdsuwriting.pbworks.com sdsuwriting.pbworks.com
-
And I have to tell you,it was energizing.It connected deeply with something in meabout identity,about the capacity of every person to contributeto a community, to a perspective that is hopeful.
Pathos all over the place with this anecdote and Stevenson's follow up about a more participatory, hopeful spirit.
-
"Bryan, Ms. Parks is coming to town. We're going to get together and talk.Do you want to come over and listen?"And I'd say, "Yes, Ma'am, I do."Andshe'd say, "Well what are you going to do when you get here?"I said, "I'm going to listen."And I'd go over there and I would, I would just listen.It would be so energizing and so empowering
Building ethos with this personal anecdote about interaction with a notable figure from the civil rights movement. Also noting the importance of and power one can find in simply listening to other humans.
-
But ultimately,those realitiesare shadowed by suffering,abuse, degradation,marginalization.And for me, it becomes necessaryto integrate the two.Because ultimately we are talkingabout a need to be more hopeful,more committed, more dedicatedto the basic challenges of living in a complex world.
Love this point. That we are doing ourselves a disservice by pretending as if nothing is going on—by remaining silent. When we avoid acknowledging and healing from the painful things, we do not fully realize that which is joyful.
-
We're constantly running into each other.
Following my note from above, just because we're silent doesn't mean that nothing is going on. It's always simmering somewhere beneath the surface.
-
And yet, we have in this country this dynamicwhere we really don't like to talk about our problems.
Returning to this idea of the nefarious role of silence when it comes to oppression and racism.
-
And there is this stunning silence.
Stevenson is making a connection between his statement in the last section about how "we seem to be very comfortable" when it comes to letting unjust factors rule our justice system. Connecting this idea of false comfort to silence on issues that might disrupt the status quo. This is kind of like a logos chain. Creating a logical basis for why we have to make more noise when it comes to these kinds of injustices.
-
And my grandmother was tough, but she was also loving.
Returning to this idea of the compassionate teacher. Tied into the identity of Stevenson's family and community.
-