I grew up in traditional black patriarchal culture and there is no doubt that I’m going to take a great many unconscious, but present, patriarchal complicities to the grave because it so deeply ensconced in how I look at the world. Therefore, very much like alcoholism, drug addiction, or racism patriarchy is a disease and we are in perennial recovery and relapse. So you have to get up every morning and struggle against it.
Interpretation
Patriarchy is a deeply ingrained issue that requires constant effort to overcome.
In this quote, Cornel West asserts that patriarchy is akin to a pervasive disease that affects one's worldview and needs continual vigilance and effort to confront and overcome. He draws parallels to addiction, emphasizing that just as individuals in recovery must grapple with their challenges daily, so too must society actively resist and dismantle patriarchal norms ingrained in culture.
In practice
In a discussion about gender equality, this quote can emphasize the importance of recognizing and challenging ingrained societal norms.
King's response to our crisis can be put in one word: revolution. A revolution in our priorities, a reevaluation of our values, a reinvigoration of our public life and a fundamental transformation of our way of thinking and living that promotes a transfer of power from oligarchs and plutocrats to everyday people and ordinary citizens.
You've got to love yourself enough, not only so that others will be able to love you, but that you'll be able to love others.
Profound music leads us beyond language...to the dark roots of our scream and the celestial heights of our silence.
And when I talk about love, I'm talking about something that's great, though, brother. I'm talking about something that will sustain you.
Clever gimmicks of mass distraction yield a cheap soulcraft of addicted and self-medicated narcissists.
I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'
One day, it was suddenly revealed to me that everything is pure spirit.
A tree may always be known by its fruit, and a true Christian may always be discovered by their habits, tastes & affections.
I think we live in a culture that is actually hedging all of it towards comfort and immediacy, things that scare me. All the things that they sell us as a way of life scare me.
In truth, you are spirit. The body has been projected by the mind, which itself originates from Spirit.
Liberty is a word which, according as it is used, comprehends the most good and the most evil of any in the world.
If freedom is a requisite for human happiness, then all that’s necessary is to provide the illusion of freedom.
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