4.27.2012

ayers

so far, dr. ayers has founded schools,
taught kindergarten, picketed for civil rights
and bombed the pentagon.
i saw education theorist and anti-war activist bill ayers in the bathroom. he was peeing.

i didn't say hello, and we we both walked to a lecture hall jam-packed with enthusiastically aspiring (and de facto) educators. dr. ayers addressed the topic of education.

you may recognize the name bill ayers from television of from history. he was the co-founder of the weather underground, an orgaization the protested the vietnam war by 'bringing the war home.'

the weathermen later claimed the non-violent bombings of several government targets including the bombing of the pentagon in 1972.

democracy and social justice were sub-themes of the two-hour chat this enigmatic activist, teacher and learning enthusiast engaged with in eugene last night. ayers, who has been a major figure in the chicago educational community for years, defined democracy as "the idea that every human being is of incalculable value."

from there, he says, education becomes about communicating the message of an enormous intrinsic value to everyone, both adults and children. we are empowered to do such things, says ayers, when we are exposed to a history of what their people has been and possibilities for who they can become.

now this is the sort of nonsense that you can't just write a philosophical proof for. it's exactly the kind of nonsense i want to practice.