SHACKLED TO THE SYSTEM

[julie gosling]

False Arguments: A Three-Part Story - Sera Davidow. January 15, 2013

http://www.madinamerica.com/2013/01/false-arguments-a-three-part-st...

PART 1 of Sara Davidow's excellent blog offers a humorous, passionate and deeply incisive perspective on defining and colonising of human experience and finishes with the moving and insightful poem 'Tools are Shackles'

Extracts:
'... the reality of the system is that many people spend days, months, or years contained within its stark white and green-tiled walls, and so those labels become identities. And, once those labels become identities, we don invisible shackles to the system and the cloak of invisibility makes them that much harder to break ...'

'... Imagine for a moment that you had to spend the next year being called primarily one thing. Are you a parent? A teacher? A friend? A spouse? An artist? Which of these would you choose, and which would you be prepared to give up? Now, what if someone else was choosing for you? And, what if that same person decided he or she was going to switch out that strengths-based label and choose a deficit based one on your behalf? One year later, how might you think of yourself differently? Introduce yourself differently? See your future differently? There is tremendous privilege in being able to walk so freely between different parts of who we are, and deep loss when we cannot ...'

'... I agree I needed structure. That I don’t dispute,
But I didn’t need to be made agentially mute.
I guess when you think about it, a shackle is a tool,
But anyone who would try to free someone with a shackle
Has got to be a fool ...'

[Jill Anderson]

Thanks for posting this Julie.  The second extract above would be a powerful exercise for use in teaching. . .

[julie gosling]

I am reminded of something Tessa Harding said in the 90s about being so many separate identities hung out as items along a washing line - and yes Jill - I agree that any focus on imagining a restriction or loss of identity has got to be a powerful learning tool in encouraging us to reflect on freedom, opportunity and power