Statement in Response

June 18, 2020

Statement in Response



The Maxine Greene Institute, in its mission to pursue Dr. Greene's vision of the Social Imagination, grieves with and stands in support of the protesters on the streets of America and offer these words, Maxine’s own--a light in dark times:
 
Democracy, we realize, means a community that is always in the making. Marked by an emerging solidarity, a sharing of certain beliefs, and a dialogue about others, it must remain open to newcomers, those too long thrust aside…Again, it ought to be a space infused by the kind of imaginative awareness that enables those involved to imagine alternative possibilities for their own becoming and their group’s becoming.
 
Community cannot be produced simply through rational formulation nor through edict. Like freedom, it has to be achieved by persons offered the space in which to discover what they recognize together and appreciate in common. *

 
Although Maxine Greene wrote those words decades ago and, while they do not address the events of the past few years specifically, they, continue to echo with powerful resonance today.
We believe Maxine would insist upon our living with steadfast humanity and embrace not only respect, wide-awakeness, humility, and inclusion but also each other. We imagine she would urge that this fight does not end when the protests end. Instead, we recommit ourselves together and each in our own way to creating a more humane, just world. We are tasked to act against racism, to imagine "alternative possibilities" and to actively support all black lives that at this moment are yet struggling to be free. 
 

 

Back to Conversations


Upcoming Events

Maxine's 107 Birthday Celebration
More info

MGI National Consortium-Seminar Series #1
More info

View calendar of events

Our Community

 Become a part of our community:

  • Access the Maxine Greene Library and be alerted to new additions and highlights.
  • Receive announcements on upcoming events, workshops and seminars.
  • Enter our conversations or start your own.
  • Receive  MGI Newsletter.

Click on the links below to subscribe to our community.
 

Join Now   Donate

Join the Conversation

Statement in Response

Statement in Response
Read more

Encounters with works of art

Encounters with works of art
Read more

View more conversations