I couldn't find space in the post, but want to name other white men who have influenced me, even though they don’t meet all my criteria. I think it’s important to reclaim our lineages and hold up more positive examples of how we might be in the world:
Ralph Waldo Emerson (with whom I share a birthday :-), Wendell Berry, Parker Palmer, Peter Block, Reinhold Niebuhr, Father Richard Rohr, Marshall Rosenberg, Elie Wiesel, Noam Chomsky, Gene Sharp, Marshall Ganz, and Fred Rogers (I recognize that several on this list are Jewish, a source of marginalization and identity that distinguishes them from white non-Jews).
And of course there are many others who appeal to me in certain respects, but whose behavior in other domains I can’t countenance: Abraham Lincoln, RFK, Jimmy Carter, etc. Outside the United States I also draw inspiration from Bram Fischer, the South African anti-apartheid lawyer, and Paulo Freire, the Brazilian educator. I also deeply respect Vaclav Havel, but I think there is something unique about trying to navigate large multiracial “democracies” that distinguishes the struggles of Freire and Fischer from those of Havel and others in Europe.
I couldn't find space in the post, but want to name other white men who have influenced me, even though they don’t meet all my criteria. I think it’s important to reclaim our lineages and hold up more positive examples of how we might be in the world:
Ralph Waldo Emerson (with whom I share a birthday :-), Wendell Berry, Parker Palmer, Peter Block, Reinhold Niebuhr, Father Richard Rohr, Marshall Rosenberg, Elie Wiesel, Noam Chomsky, Gene Sharp, Marshall Ganz, and Fred Rogers (I recognize that several on this list are Jewish, a source of marginalization and identity that distinguishes them from white non-Jews).
And of course there are many others who appeal to me in certain respects, but whose behavior in other domains I can’t countenance: Abraham Lincoln, RFK, Jimmy Carter, etc. Outside the United States I also draw inspiration from Bram Fischer, the South African anti-apartheid lawyer, and Paulo Freire, the Brazilian educator. I also deeply respect Vaclav Havel, but I think there is something unique about trying to navigate large multiracial “democracies” that distinguishes the struggles of Freire and Fischer from those of Havel and others in Europe.
Would love to know who others look to, and why!
What an incredible article. A total gift, thank you Brian ❤️ Looking forward to gifting this to others.