\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cOur struggles are not only external, against laws and institution, but internal, against our own malformed habits, feelings, and values. In this sense, we all participate in dignity because we all struggle against domination.\u201d[1]<\/p>\n
We all struggle. We struggle externally or internally, but we are struggling against something that seeks to dominate us. This is the argument set forth by Vincent W. Lloyd in his book, Black Dignity: The Struggle Against Domination<\/i>. In this work, Llyod unpacks the philosophy underlying the Black Lives movement, while also offering the central philosophy all are engaged – the struggle against domination. Llyon argues that this is the basis of Black philosophy, which is the basis of all philosophy. There is dignity in struggle when one chooses to participate in the struggle.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Black Dignity<\/b><\/p>\n What is dignity? Many consider dignity an inherited trait; something that a person is born with and posses in their personhood. The struggle is to have this dignity realized and affirmed by other people, institutions and culture, yet Black Dignity is different – dignity is performance. As Lloyd eloquently argues, \u201c\u2026dignity is to be found in bodies moving in rhythm.\u201d[2] He goes on to say, \u201cWhen we turn from dignity as status to dignity as performance, as struggle, we find it easier to state clearly what dignity is not then what it is.\u201d[3]\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Similar to the struggle for status, Black Dignity is concerned with elevating equality for all people. As Lloyd stats on the Yale University Press Podcast<\/i>, \u201cdignity that is manifest in struggle. We all have the capacity to exercise because we all struggle in some ways. Those of us in positions privilege exercise it is less. Those who are subject to domination exercise it more because they struggle more\u2026.There is a kind of nobility that goes along with this struggle.\u201d We all struggle against domination. Some are more practiced in the way of struggle than those who have more privilege.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This is not unique to the struggle that the current racial justice movement is engaged. This is the point that all people can relate and find their own story of struggle within the common story. Interestedly, Lloyd makes the observation that all people have a story of struggle. \u201cThis is the human condition: we are at once master and slave, enjoying some benefits of privilege and struggling against some who have privilege.\u201d[5] \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Answer is Collective Struggle<\/b><\/p>\n This is the place where Lloyd is most inclusive and most persuasive drawing all people into recognizing their own struggle, thereby relating to the struggle of others. \u201cRacial Domination may seem like a special problem but in another sense is a universal problem.\u201d[6] Everyone is struggling against some form of domination, whether external or internal.<\/p>\n This is the place where I connected to the argument that Lloyd is presenting. I often feel reluctant to engage in conversations concerning racial discrimination. I can simply own the ways I have participated tacitly while trying to avoid actively contributing to the problem being addressed. Yet, I can relate to the ways I have experienced domination, both internally and externally. Further, I can empathize with other groups that vocalize their own struggles by being aware of the struggles I have. While I may still lack adequate experience of the struggle being named, I receive the invitation to the collective struggle and join with the hope of a better future that is worth working toward. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u200c1. Vincent W Lloyd, Black Dignity<\/i> (Yale University Press, 2023), 17-18.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 2. Ibid., 4.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 3. Ibid., 5.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 4. Jessica Holahan \u201cEp. 93 \u2013 Vincent W. Lloyd on Black Dignity,\u201d Yale University Press, November 22, 2022, 3:40-4:26.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 5. Lloyd, 17.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 6. Holahan, 13:15-13:23.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u201cOur struggles are not only external, against laws and institution, but internal, against our own malformed habits, feelings, and values. In this sense, we all participate in dignity because we all struggle against domination.\u201d[1] We all struggle. We struggle externally or internally, but we are struggling against something that seeks to dominate us. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":163,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2877],"class_list":["post-33581","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-vincentlloyd-dlgp01","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33581","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/163"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33581"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33581\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33583,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33581\/revisions\/33583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33581"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33581"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33581"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}