The Line Between a Witness and an Actor:
Reviving the Black Testimonial Tradition as a Way of Life
led by, Paul Cato
email info@kibbitznest.org to reserve your place
Given the violent efforts to prevent Black literacy, oral communication has always held a special place in Black cultural and political spaces. This is particularly true of testimony – a discourse that communicates universal truths by drawing upon the ambiguities of concrete, contextual experience. By testifying, Black Americans have always been able to assert their humanity, experience, and beliefs without external approval or inaccessible evidence. This workshop emerges from the similarities between the existential obstacles overcome by Black testifiers and those facing us in a post-COVID world. Although the social, material, and political differences are vast, there is something analogous between the need for expression within oppressed Black communities and the need to be heard fostered by quarantine and social distancing. After a short introduction to testimony, we will engage in a guided testimonial discussion of the pandemic and its lessons. We will share personal stories and insights and we will use these insights to reimagine how one can live despite the difficulties of the current moment. Following the Black testimonial tradition, we will intersperse our conversation by listening to several historical testimonies from Black figures, including James Baldwin, Audre Lorde, Maya Angelou, and Frederick Douglass; we will keep one of Baldwin’s testimonial truths in mind: “The line between a witness and an actor [is] a thin one indeed.”
BIO:
Paul Cato is a Ph.D. Candidate in the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought and a Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Notre Dame. His research examines Black Americans’ contributions to the practice and theorization of love – particularly those of African American author James Baldwin. His dissertation outlines the discourse on “active love” – a decades-long conversation on political love comprised of Baldwin’s discussions with several 20th-century American intellectuals. In addition to studying Baldwin, he has spent much time studying the definition, conceptualization, and expression of “black love,” as well as philosophies of love in the work of Audre Lorde, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Emanuel Levinas, and Plato. He has published work in The Los Angeles Review of Books and The Point.
The Kibbitznest Liberal Arts Discussion Series is a collaboration primarily with the University of Chicago Graham School where we invite faculty and instructors to present and discuss their original research. In keeping with the mission to promote face to face communication, we encourage the audience to ask questions as prompted by the instructor. The discussion will end at approximately 7:15-7:30 at which point you are free to leave. You can also go ahead and gather at a table if you would like to discuss the topic further.
Kibbitznest, Inc is so proud to be able to bring you scholarly discussions on various liberal arts disciplines. We welcome all over the age of 18 to enjoy the discussions and to also support the nonprofit with beverage and/or food purchases and also in tipping the hardworking servers, bartenders and food preparers; your presence and support is greatly appreciated!