{"id":47,"date":"2007-10-19T02:34:04","date_gmt":"2007-10-19T09:34:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=47"},"modified":"2007-10-19T02:34:04","modified_gmt":"2007-10-19T09:34:04","slug":"anarchist-puppets-possibilities-and-the-stories-we-continue-to-tell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theamericancrawl.com\/?p=47","title":{"rendered":"Anarchist Puppets, Possibilities, and the Stories We Continue to Tell"},"content":{"rendered":"

Returned from meeting number two of a focused book club entitled \u201cPlanet of the Humans.\u201d The club, its organizer, and meeting location all deserve elaborate, extensive posts; not something I\u2019m going to do quite yet. While books one<\/a> and two<\/a> focused on specific relationships with nature, tonight\u2019s discussion looked specifically at human interactions with other humans. Though relying on a yet officially published book<\/a>, the evening\u2019s participants were provided with a digital manuscript for reading. Specifically looking at giant puppets in today\u2019s protests, the conversation led to discussions of the role of the artist and the teacher as well as the nature of swarm theory and animal behavior in groups. I\u2019m particularly interested in the larger stories being told in today\u2019s protests \u2013 at least as described by Graeber. Speaking in generalities that do not do justice to the book\u2019s deliberate pacing, the media and the state (as enacted by police force) are telling a story of activists and anarchists as villains. The image of the smashed Starbucks is symbol of the repugnant behavior that is a detriment to our way of life. At the same time, the other agents in the protest story, the anarchists, are trying to reframe the story \u2013 they are creating a carnival and symbolic projection of utopia through puppets and the careful reinterpretation of space; a smashed window is more than just a smashed window: it becomes a portal into other possibilities. As an English teacher, it\u2019s these kinds of stories that I\u2019m interested in telling. I\u2019ve toyed with the idea of writing about the concept of the teacher as griot, something I\u2019ve visualized for a couple years now but haven\u2019t quite framed as something truly coherent. At the same time, I\u2019m gearing up for (re)telling a new story<\/a> with my students when I go back on track in two weeks. Maybe that story is the same one as the story discussed tonight. Really a remarkable book club and something I\u2019m valuing for its direct application within my classroom and in relation to my own (constantly redeveloping) pedagogy. Six more books to go.<\/p>\n

Tell people this is awesome:<\/h3>