Ten Most Important Studies for a Young Person (Items 2 and 3)

Dear Stevie,

As I said in my last post, you asked me to suggest some important works for you to study in this, your first year out of school. You have studied hard already, through high school, college, grad school, and of course all those athletic trials. Now you are free. Free not to "NOT study," but free to study what you choose.

I was very touched that you asked me what I thought would be good for you to study. And I have been thinking alot about what I wanted to recommend. I am working on a list of ten suggestions in no particular order.

One. Read your Bible as a disciplined regular practice. See last post!

Two. America in the King Years, An historical trilogy studying the period between 1954 and 1968.


The introduction to the third volumne of Taylor Branch's Pulitzer prize winning study of America in the King years begins with these words.

"Non-violence is an orphan among democratic ideas. It has nearly vanished from public discourse even though the most basic element of free government, the vote, has no other meaning. Every ballot is a piece of non-violence signifying hard won consent to raise politics above fire power and bloody conquest. . . But the whole architecture of representative democracy springs from the handiwork of non-violence."

Your heart is already filled with the kinds of thinking about issues of justice that make me proud. This history will just fill in some important information that will help you understand our world, what it was, what it is, and what it should become in relation to class and race. The books center around Martin Luther King, Jr. but really cover all the main action of the Civil Rights Era.

Three. Get a solid foundation for understanding classical music. I have used a metaphor at times which has been offensive for some people. And I may be all wrong. The metaphor is this. Popular music is like eating McDonald's hamburgers. Everybody likes them. They are easy to get. They are cheap. Classical music is like a fine steak. They aren't always available, and when they are, they are expensive. The taste is more refined, but oh so much better than a Big Mac. And it is true that not everybody likes classical music, but my opinion is that it is lack of education and understanding that blocks their appreciation. I would hate to see you miss the depth and delight of classical music.

Here is where you should start, as I said in a post, some time ago, the lectures of Robert Greenberg, entitled, How to Listen to and Understand Great Music. This is about 40 hours of listening, so it is a large undertaking. I did it while driving to and fro to work. and it is done best in chunks. Listen to lectures, which include large portions of great musical works as samples, then check out some CDs from the library that are from the periods he is teaching about and listen to them. The Greenberg Lectures are pretty standard fare at public library audio sections.

OK. That is three. Enough for now. I will post again soon.

Love,

MOM aka brd
XOX

Survivor

Dear Fine Institutions of Education,

This morning I had breakfast with a young man. Let’s call him "A". He told me of his education in Africa. Sometimes, when his family had $50 he could study for one semester. They did not often have $50. I read a paper that he wrote. In it he spoke of that time. He said he lusted for education. He told me how grateful he is that he can now study every single day, every single semester.

(I think of other boys I have known at his age. They may have lusted, but it was not usually for education.)

Coming to the United States as a UN refugee in 2004, this young man began to learn English, to write papers, to enjoy the benefits of mandatory public education. For him this was a great gift.

After breakfast this morning, my husband left to take this guy to a small junior college to participate in an open house and, later this afternoon, to try out for a soccer team. Perhaps, soccer will provide the avenue by which "A" may continue his education.

"A" has given me permission to let you read an essay that he wrote. It is not perfect grammatically. It may lack polish. However, those things might betray an institution if they were to use those criteria or the results of a standard testing measure to exclude this person from participating in the academy. If I were an institution seeking students. I would seek this boy.

---

I am a survivor
I woke in the morning, heard the sound of soldiers banging on the door trying to get in the house. Daddy told us, “kids go under the bed”, I didn’t see my father again for two years. I’m one of the many survivors who endured the 1998 civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo; I didn’t see anything but the importance of surviving from the war.

I survived in the most disastrous war despite the important of names that brought hatred, and killing between I and Congolese civilians and soldiers. Because of my name, "A", I was buried into a shadow of death; just because the name I had represent me and the rebel. Most people labeled me names like “rebel”, “kanyamurege”, and “cockroach”, to determine rebellion between them and me. Because of the birth name I carried, people began to attempt to kill me. I was a survivor of the name tragedy when people tried to kill me; my name brought suffering, lonely, and painful in my life at that time. I wouldn’t be here today if I wasn’t a survivor. I was one of the scared boys who always thought I can die today or tomorrow but was still standing and afraid of dying. Just because I carried that name I was in the very dangerous moments that allowed people to come and try to burn me alive. When I mean burn, that’s they were trying to catch me and put gasoline all around my body and start burning me. For example “American barbeques meats” but I was supposed to be the meat who got barbeque with gasoline around me, but nothing happened because I ran away from them. The reactions made me start thinking of what strategy can I use to be able to survive.

Nothing helped me to survival in 1998 war except what I learned and what I had been told by my parents. “Son, never put your self first, but last.” My parents wanted me to understand society life matters not movements that were going on. As always taught to me "patience and self control is always the first goal to survive situations" I used that same goal to protect myself and my family to stay away from getting killed. I was patience that time, escaping troubles and being around people who knew me; and always remembering the word, patience and self control, is the key in my life as a survivor.

I used self control to be a very skeptical young boy to people around me and to protect my family at the same time. I was about to get poisoned by my own friends. They put soda, a very strong African poison, into my food I was about to eat that food but someone told me to not. I lost the beautiful trust that I had for my friends just because of that step and I couldn’t trust my friends any more. I was automatically being skeptical before doing or taking a step. For example, I lost my beloved once just because of lack of self control and patience in their step; they were burned by Congolese civilians.

Finally I came to discover one important key to survive, faith, I saw myself getting on my knees, trying to put my faith into God’s hands but still scared of getting killed. Faith helped me to stand and look forward to survive the war. By the grace of God, I am a survivor. No matter what situations comes into my life I will succeed and continue be a survivor.

---

I find this all very amazing. Sitting across the breakfast table from a young, bright-eyed man who enjoys bacon and eggs, liked seeing a raccoon, and teases my son because he couldn't remember the words "A's" mother told him to tell me, I would be tempted to forget, that this person grew up hiding from from rebel bands instead of participating in marching bands. But that difference is the very thing that "A" will use to survive and succeed in this culture. Perhaps one day, he will lead us and we will all benefit from the inner strength that he has to offer.

Betsy

P.S. Got a scholarship? I've got the recipient for you.

A Woman at Harvard? What Would Goethe Say?

Dear Dr. Faust,

"Nor past nor future now the soul employ,
The present only constitutes our joy." That's what he'd say!

Or, well, I'd say that, anyway, on the occasion of your appointment to the presidency of Harvard. And according to the news article I read,

"Some Harvard professors, particularly women, greeted the decision with euphoria. 'Harvard’s waited a long time — since 1636,' said Patricia Albjerg Graham, an emeritus professor of the history of education at Harvard, recalling that when she was a postdoctoral fellow in 1972, she was not allowed to enter the main door of the faculty club or eat in the main dining room."

So, Harvard has been waiting since long before Goethe and his Faust (1808) for women, and for one particular woman, to tempt fate and take the helm. Holy cow, this is like walking on the moon. One small step for a human, one giant leap for humankind.

It's not that we feminists should go overboard, making distinctions. That, I suppose is what got us into the mess of oppression in the first place. What we are looking for is fine folk of all types, folk with special talents to offer. And from what "they" are saying you are a "special folk." I read that,

"Faculty members and officials familiar with the search said Dr. Faust’s leadership style — her collaborative approach and considerable people skills — would be vital for soothing a campus ripped apart by the battles over Dr. Summers, whom many accused of having an abrasive, confrontational style. 'She combines outstanding scholarship with an uncanny ability to administer both well and with a heart,' said Judith Rodin, the president of the Rockefeller Foundation.

"In the end, some Harvard professors said, Dr. Faust’s management style might have been more important to the nine members of the presidential search committee than any desire to name a woman. 'My own sense is that it’s a new template for leadership, and that probably is not unrelated to gender, but it ought not get eclipsed by it,' said Richard P. Chait, a professor of higher education at Harvard. Dr. Chait, who studies university management, noted that in several recent changes of leadership of major American corporations, tough, even bullying leaders were replaced by more mild-mannered consensus builders."

Now, I'm not one who believes there is no difference between men and women. And I think that it has taken some time in the progress of gender relations in the West for women to rise to leadership who did not tend toward what might be termed "the masculine" in their leadership style. And thank goodness for those leaders. But now, are we ready for women to bring to the table what women have to offer, to lead in a way that women are especially skilled? And then, without distinction, but fully appreciating what you and other women have to offer, we can better appreciate all things, and we can better find our kindred selves in others, men and women. As Goethe would say,

"[Words] must flow out from the heart.
And, when the soul is touched with passion's flame,
We look around and ask - Who burns the same?"

So this week, news of Dr. Faust’s selection was greeted warmly by Harvard students and particularly because you are a woman who represents well the passions that enflame many of us who are women and many who are men. "It’s about time," said Elisa Olivieri, a junior. "Talent is no longer ‘single, male, childless.’ It’s an excellent acknowledgement that the face of talent has changed.”

Congratulations!

Betsy