We need intellectuals and when I say we
need intellectuals I'm talking about
intellectuals of all kinds,
professionally trained intellectuals,
organic intellectuals because if we
are not in a position to reflect on what
we're doing then we will forever be
stuck in one place so the future depends
on our ability to think and to imagine.
And I've always discovered philosophy to
be important in its ability to help me
think the world and fortunately I was
trained in critical theory and the
whole point of critical theory at that
time at least was to transform the
world, social transformation, knowledge
that makes a difference,
knowledge that plays a role in the
transformation of society. And I think
that those of us who are within the
Academy have a responsibility to
constantly remind our colleagues that
not all knowledge gets produced within
the Academy, that a great deal of
knowledge gets produced in other venues,
many other venues, whether you're talking
about cultural venues and the
epistemological function of art and
music, whether you're talking about
struggle the knowledge that gets
produced in the process of trying to
achieve a goal. And of course you know if
one looks at
the campaign, the long historical
campaign against racism we see that
lessons have been learned.
There may have been those who assume
that civil rights would bring an end to
racism but it became very clear that
that was only one and perhaps a minor
element of this struggle. So yeah, I
think that movement
activists regardless of what their
background is, you know, whether they have
been in formal institutions of education
or not, that education, a kind of
political education has to be
incorporated into the process of
struggle.
