Thoughts on Freedom and Thanks
The Knotted Line started, in part, as a personal exploration; how is it, that in a society where freedom is the central political rhetoric, that we have constantly confined large portions of our population? That discrepancy, once glimpsed, became the spark of my politicization and search for other narratives. I wanted The Knotted Line to be a digital age dub -- a mix of Zinn's 'People’s History' with Lawrence's 'Great Migration'; Chang's Can’t Stop Won’t Stop with hooks' Teaching To Transgress. In so doing we created something that draws from populist historical traditions, visual art, and educational theory.
What I have come to understand through this exploration is that ‘Freedom’ in the United States is tethered to the idea of confinement. Freedom only gains traction when contrasted with the hypervisible invisible: the confined other. Race, class, gender, citizenship and sexuality are shifting markers of freedom or unfreedom, of exclusion or inclusion that define who is or isn’t part of the American mainstream. The rhetoric of Freedom does not define what freedom is; instead it defines who has the right to freedom.
Who has the ‘right to freedom(s)’ was, and is, a question of power. Within this rubric of freedom, those who are free are those who have the most institutional access, generally, though not exclusively, along a spectrum that places the white, straight, Christian, wealthy, male at the top. While this is a thesis that has been illuminated by many, the key point presented in The Knotted Line is that the rhetoric of freedom has been a central organizer of social structure and hierarchy in the United States - from the Pilgrims to the Patriot Act.
In exploring the political rhetoric of freedom as essentially one of disenfranchisement and exclusion, my hope is that The Knotted Line will add to a web of people, communities, art, work, and education that has defined freedom as an autonomous, spiritual and grass-roots concept. Indeed, this is where much of my research has sprung from (included in the moments of Re-imagining and Self-Determination), as an effort to expand not only understanding, but also the possibilities, strategies and tactics of collective liberation. If the ‘freedom’ that is offered within the American mainstream is built on the confinement of another, is it not our responsibility to move past ‘reform’ to offer our own definitions freedom that prioritize new ways of being, interacting and creating community safety? To echo Grace Lee Boggs, I see The Knotted Line as part of a larger movement away from protest and towards a movement of collaborative envisioning and personal/social transformation.
What I have come to understand through this exploration is that ‘Freedom’ in the United States is tethered to the idea of confinement. Freedom only gains traction when contrasted with the hypervisible invisible: the confined other. Race, class, gender, citizenship and sexuality are shifting markers of freedom or unfreedom, of exclusion or inclusion that define who is or isn’t part of the American mainstream. The rhetoric of Freedom does not define what freedom is; instead it defines who has the right to freedom.
Who has the ‘right to freedom(s)’ was, and is, a question of power. Within this rubric of freedom, those who are free are those who have the most institutional access, generally, though not exclusively, along a spectrum that places the white, straight, Christian, wealthy, male at the top. While this is a thesis that has been illuminated by many, the key point presented in The Knotted Line is that the rhetoric of freedom has been a central organizer of social structure and hierarchy in the United States - from the Pilgrims to the Patriot Act.
In exploring the political rhetoric of freedom as essentially one of disenfranchisement and exclusion, my hope is that The Knotted Line will add to a web of people, communities, art, work, and education that has defined freedom as an autonomous, spiritual and grass-roots concept. Indeed, this is where much of my research has sprung from (included in the moments of Re-imagining and Self-Determination), as an effort to expand not only understanding, but also the possibilities, strategies and tactics of collective liberation. If the ‘freedom’ that is offered within the American mainstream is built on the confinement of another, is it not our responsibility to move past ‘reform’ to offer our own definitions freedom that prioritize new ways of being, interacting and creating community safety? To echo Grace Lee Boggs, I see The Knotted Line as part of a larger movement away from protest and towards a movement of collaborative envisioning and personal/social transformation.
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