LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Friday, February 5, 2010

Fun in Durham -- er, Derm

Onda Carolinaabre kuta güiri mambo ... plena ... jazz.

Ned Sublette may be my favorite living author and public intellectual. His knowledge of Afro-Atlantic culture is so deep and so connected, and the way he expresses it so fluid and untroubled. Rare. His books on the musics of Cuba and New Orleans, and the historical contexts that shaped them, are both rich, great reads.

2 comments:

K. said...

Hear, hear! I agree completely! He makes good music, too.

Foxessa said...

O, baby, you should have been present yesterday when he ROCKED the Haiti Teach-In at Baruch. The students were mesmerized. They didn't text, doze, whisper, fidget, or leave. Their focus was so great I could feel my shoulders prickle.

But then, all of the presenters were great. He was classified as 'media critic, 'f for this, and he was, well, the best, with the mostest, and the fastest. His graphics were perfect, a point, rather than an ornamentation.

I knew everything that was in his presentation -- in fact I found a lot of the stuff. But I was as breathless as everyone else.

And then we had to go and teach for 1 3/4 -- well, there were 3 of us, at least.