We have a running joke in my family that when my hair turns grey, I’ll take up birding. In the mean time, my kids make a point of reminding me that I’m aging by periodically giving me bird books, feeders, and bird song CDs.
So I’ve begun learning to identify a few birds. I was walking through the woods one day with my husband, feeling pretty good about myself for recognizing the call of a blue jay, when he suddenly clamped his hands over his ears in a playful but intense response. “No! Don’t tell me! Then I’ll have to think about birds all the time and never shut it off!”
My students tell me they feel the same way in anthropology classes. Once you learn about social problems, your brain can’t unsee them.
|
|
I like the Spanish word for this process: concientización—being made conscious. Sometimes my kids give me classic teen eye rolls when I comment on social issues I can’t stop seeing. “Mom,” they jibe me with a healthy mix of love, “Of course you would notice that everyone in that room was white and the leaders were all men.” But I do notice these things, and now they are noticing them, too.
I’m not here to convince you (or my husband) to start birding. But I do think birders have something to teach us about learning to identify social issues.
One of my favorite bird books says: “When we stand at attention before trumpeting cranes, we are compelled by an especially poignant and human impulse: Because birdsong is one of the most powerful and moving of all natural phenomena.” In other words, paying attention to birds brings delight.
Learning about injustice sometimes sucks. You’d rather fill your thoughts with ice cream and giggles. But learning to see injustice also equips us to recognize justice, and to actively make it happen. Until we can see what goes wrong, we can’t really celebrate what goes right. In the end, our goal here too is delight—for listeners, those listened to, and all of us together.
Keep your eyes and ears open this week—where do you find yourself wanting to shut out learning, and are you ready to go there for the sake the delight on the other side?
|
|