By: Jana Dluehosh on March 2, 2024
Sankofa is an African word from the Akan tribe in Ghana. The literal translation of the word and the symbol is “it is not taboo to fetch what is at risk of being left behind.” The word is derived from the words: SAN (return) KO (go) FA (look, seek and take)[1] In my early career, at North Park University in Chicago, IL,…
By: Mathieu Yuill on March 2, 2024
As I sat down with a steaming cup of Joe this morning, the sun barely peeking over the horizon, I found myself deep-diving into the mesmerizing world where neuroscience meets leadership. Picture this: David Rock, with his groundbreaking exploration into the neural pathways of leadership[1], Jim Wilder and Marcus Warner, who seem to have cracked…
By: Dinka Utomo on March 1, 2024
“To believe in social transformation is to be an optimist. It has to have an element of utopianism about it. I live in hope that we can create such a movement again.” -Kenan Malik- (cited from https://tribunemag.co.uk/2023/05/not-so-black-and-white) To be honest, I have never directly experienced racism regarding my ethnic or racial identity. However, I had…
By: Jenny Dooley on February 29, 2024
“To tell the story of one, we also must tell the story of the other.”[1] I began reading Kenan Malik’s book, Not so Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics as a fascinating history and social science text tracing the invention of equality, race, and white identity. I immediately…
By: Russell Chun on February 29, 2024
龍爭虎鬥” (Lung jing fu dau) Cantonese = Enter the Dragon Introduction Part 1 How Malik defines the debate Part 2 What my peers are saying Epilogue – Enter the Dragon Introduction About three hours of Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives (DEI) training are required every semester for teachers at Pikes Peak State College. DEI…
By: Adam Harris on February 29, 2024
The person I’m about to talk about I’ve mentioned before, but this subject of identity politics calls for another mention. A little over ten years ago I sat at Skyline Chili, which is a chain restaurant in Ohio, and listened to one of the most fascinating stories I had ever heard. I had a notebook,…
By: Kally Elliott on February 29, 2024
During our syntopical meetings we were asked if we had more time into what we might dig more deeply (I am paraphrasing the question). To answer, I would like to spend more time with this book, Not So Black and White by Kenan Malik. I am intrigued by the history he provides about how the…
By: Todd E Henley on February 28, 2024
History is not the past, it is the present. We carry our history with us. We are our history.1 ~ James Baldwin 1 How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2 How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart?…
By: Cathy Glei on February 28, 2024
“It is not racial differences that have led to unequal treatment but the persistence of social inequalities in societies with a commitment to equality that has led many to view such inequalities as eradicable, and hence natural, and to place people into different racial categories. Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth…
By: Scott Dickie on February 28, 2024
“Race did not give birth to racism. Racism gave birth to race” (1). This is quite likely the statement that will be most often quoted from Malik’s comprehensive examination of the history and politics of race over the last two centuries. The pithy and memorable statement challenges the current notion of race as ‘fixed’ and…
By: Mathieu Yuill on February 28, 2024
Have you ever found yourself puzzled by discussions on race feeling like they’re going nowhere? It’s a sentiment many share, and Kenan Malik, a prominent thinker who delves into society’s complex issues, sheds light on a crucial aspect often overlooked. He suggests that our conversations about race are incomplete without also addressing class[1]. Imagine them…
By: Esther Edwards on February 27, 2024
In 2022, our family took a long-awaited trip to Germany, the country where my father and mother grew up. As my uncle, now in his 80s, gave us a tour of Hameln, where my mother’s family originated from, we came across garbage lining the fencing of a well-traveled park which also was not kept up.…
By: Pam Lau on February 27, 2024
“Anyone who sets [themselves] up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless…
By: Kim Sanford on February 26, 2024
Kenan Malik, writing from a distinctly British perspective, seeks to put our current social and political issues into their historical context. He effectively takes his readers on a journey to understand the history of racism and how it has gotten us to where we are.[1] In his own words, “One theme of this book is…
By: John Fehlen on February 26, 2024
I have been to the Holy Land of Israel nine times. I started touring there when I was in my mid-20’s and my most recent trip was leading 40+ people on what was called “Moses to The Messiah” – a journey beginning in Egypt, then crossing the Sinai desert, up into the Wadi Rum of…
By: Tim Clark on February 26, 2024
This week we read Not So Black and White: A History of Race from White Supremacy to Identity Politics[1] by Kenan Malik; this book was about how our society has come to think about race and the growing acceptance of race-based and identity-based ideology. We also explored the tension between diversity and equality, and pondered…
By: Jennifer Vernam on February 26, 2024
In his book Not So Black and White, Kenan Malik is preaching a message of “universalism”- an idea that a lot of us can relate to, even if we are not familiar with the term. Universalism is the belief that everyone should be treated equally, regardless of their race. The first part of the book…
By: Travis Vaughn on February 26, 2024
In Not So Black and White: A History of Race From White Supremacy to Identity Politics, Kenan Malik wants to “turn the common sense argument” around racism “on its head.”[1] Instead of the commonly held perspective of racial inequality as treating people “unequally because they belong to, or are seen as belonging to, distinct races,”[2]…
By: Jana Dluehosh on February 23, 2024
Our brains, a territory yet to be fully discovered, and underutilized. I came face to face with truly understanding how very little we actually know about our own brains as a parent who has had to journey with all three of my children having some sort of neural divergence. My oldest having…
By: Jonita Fair-Payton on February 23, 2024
I started this Doctoral journey being very intentional about connecting the assigned readings to my NPO. There were a few books where it was a bit challenging to relate them to my research but in most cases I was able to find a point of connection. Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow was one of…
