"Think of the work as water that contains some dirt. Because you are thirsty you are not too proud to extract the dirt and be nourished by the water." p. 50
Watkins uses an interview-style to create a dialogue between herself and her writing voice hooks. She reflects on the importance of Freire's work in her formation of a scholar, as well as examines and challenges herself to answer questions frequent critiques of his work.
hooks discusses the importance of theory and how it can inform praxis. It is not an end in and of itself, but it is essential in developing a philosophy of action. Many people try to separate the two, and academia is very good at creating gatekeepers who prevent people from accessing theory in a meaningful way. Good theory draws on our experience and is accessible to many.
Children make the best theorists, since they have not been educated into accepting our routine social practices as 'natural,' and so insist on posing to those practices the most embarrassingly and generally fundamental questions, regarding them with a wondering estrangement which we adults have long forgotten." p. 59
What is the difference between theory and imagination?
hooks mentions that "the possession of a term does not bring a process or a practice into being; concurrently one may practice theorizing without ever knowing/possessing the term." (p. 61-62) To what extent does naming something take or give a concept power?
hooks mentions the commodification feminist thinking as a way for capitalist society to divorce theory from practice. Do you think the current BLM movement is in danger of a similar fate? How do we work to avoid this outcome?
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