Patricia Hill Collins, unlike other texts she has written, was not reluctant to share some of her personal life stories and use first-person stances, as she opens with a story of the oppressive behavior and silencing she experienced as a high school student when asked to deliver a speech on her views on the American flag. The story of how silencing is perpetuated was explained in the beginning chapter and of course in subsequent chapters, as she explores the way different domains work independently and dependently in exploiting the overarching power dynamic.
Dr. Collins explained the way that lived experiences of the past and what we see today in an era of color-blind racism work within the structural, cultural, disciplinary, and interpersonal domains, and are ways that our society continues oppression and exclusion, and ties up the idea of democracy and fair practices. She examined the way social blackness and honorary whiteness play and discusses color-blind racism to show us that educational institutions are a place that most often hinder our individual and group ideas and advancement through the undemocratic and structural tactics that keep these in place -- places where we are often trained not to see it, while she emphasized through various forms of modern technology and critical analysis is a way to practice resistance in these same areas.
The way various system of oppression mutate is the way they are exposed and show in a way to allow the audience to have a thorough understanding of the way this works. Patricia Hill Collins let's each of us see that we can make outstanding changes to society in ways that are not far-fetched, but very tangible. ANOTHER KIND OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: Race, Schools, the Media, and Democratic Possibilities is a text that is a prize for anyone in any group.
I have officially read every text written by Patricia Hill Collins, and just like Black Feminist Thought and Black Sexual Politics, she has such a gift of being able to expose oppressive and silencing tactics that are too often hidden and overlooked, and every time I think I have something figured out, she writes another book.
I've talked to professors before, since my heart's desire is to become a professor of anthropolgy, and have been told when I do get to that point be careful not to 'rock the boat' too much. When I think of that statement and what Dr. Collins says here, I can't imagine but comparing what things universities would consider 'rocking the boat' or upsetting people by speaking up or disagreeing and other areas -- like the teacher Dr. Collins experienced in high school, who thought young Patricia's honest feelings of the U.S. flag would cause anxiety, and to cover her tracks by making it seemed as if there were not problems at all. This book almost gives sort of a gonzo-like projection that almost allows us to be directly in the center, experiencing the details in order to see how change is possible. I really admire Dr. Collins's work, and I am so glad I read this.
You can watch Patricia Hill Collins speaking on C-Span about this text here.
Author: Patricia Hill Collins
Publisher: Beacon Press
Year: 2009
Paperback: 21.00
Genre: Education/Sociology
Pages: 236
ISBN: 978-0807000250
Thank you, Beacon Press, for providing a copy of ANOTHER KIND OF PUBLIC EDUCATION: Race, Schools, the Media, and Democratic Possibilities, for this review, and I have an additional copy for giveaway. At this time, this giveaway is open only to participants in the United States due to shipping issues. Leave a comment on this post by next Tuesday and it will count as your entry. All names will be entered with a winner selected at random via random.org, and announced in next week's blog post. Leave your email address with your comment: yourname(at)emailserver{dot}com, net, etc. Winner please respond within three days or another will be selected.
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