In The Politics, Aristotle suggests political knowledge is sovereign knowledge: In all the branches of knowledge and in every kind of craft the end in view is some good. In the most sovereign of these, the capacity for [leadership in] political matters, the end in view is the greatest good and the good which is [...]
Posts under ‘BROWN/Citizen’
Cicero’s View from 100,000 Miles
How is the first picture of Earth from space the most powerful political picture ever published? Marking the 40th anniversary of the famous picture, a British newspaper, The Independent, remarked that the three astronauts of the Apollo 8 mission “went to the moon, but ended up discovering the Earth.” The British cosmologist, Sir Fred Hoyle, [...]
Civic “Bad Boys” and “Astro-turf”: This isn’t new.
Recently I have been reading a lot about disruptions at “town-hall” style meetings, non-factual twitter postings, and “astro-turf” movements. Most of the editorials and backlash from the polity has been decidedly negative, and decrying the imminent collapse of our democratic civilization. Let me start this blog-post with the simple and obvious, then hopefully give some [...]
Your Face on the Next Ten Dollar Bill
One group accepted the challenge of creating constitutional currency this year. Matt, Stacy, Linda, Christina and Gerald focused on representing the primacy of the people in our constitutional system and borrowed a couple of ideas from Cicero to map out their scheme. From an image of the night sky on the back of their proposed [...]
2009 National Academy: Taking it Home
The “dance party” finally pulled the plug at nearly 1:00 the next morning. Others had already said their goodbyes in order to pack the last of their things or to sleep before an early morning departure. The National Academy had reach its final destination. The last day’s presentations included two Creedal Affirmations, Constitutional Currency, Light [...]
Taking Art to the Streets in East L.A.
This year’s National Academy experienced the potency of color and politics through a mural tour of east L.A. Ben Weber, a participant this year, arranged for us to meet Carlos Callejo at the corner of Cesar Chavez and Soto in Boyle Heights. Carlos’s enthusiasm for taking art to the street, “where the people are,” was [...]
Obama to NAACP: Our Work is Not Over
In a recent lecture, Will pointed to the constitutional nature of the speech President Barack Obama gave to the NAACP to mark their centennial convention. Obama marks the occasion as an opportunity to celebrate “not simply the journey the NAACP has traveled, but the journey that we have, as Americans, have traveled over the past [...]
Ubuntu and the Birthplace of Cool
I’ve been recently reminded that my own activism has roots in the campaigns for Africa in the 80′s. I convinced my mother to make a donation so I could order a Live Aid t-shirt. I’m sure she hoped the purchase would buy her some quiet time but it wasn’t about the t-shirt for me. I [...]
What the King of Pop did with Politics
As a music fanatic, I am contemplating what pop music would be today without Michael Jackson. Cable news is busy retelling 1,000 sordid details of his tragic life, but I urge you to turn to MTV instead and consider what he contributed to the world of music. One of those contributions is harnessing the power [...]
My Wish for You: A Letter to My Students Past, Present and Future
Katie Reen graciously shared a copy of her oral exam paper incorporating her insighhts from the National Academy at Occidental College last summer. Katie’s students are 11 and 12 years old and she explains, “The concept of my paper is a letter to my students, past, present and future about what I wish for them [...]
