Why Fearing Black Consciousness is a Form of Bad Faith

Lewis R. Gordon

Summary

Bad faith is a flight into a pleasing falsehood to avoid or evade a displeasing truth. Antiblack racism, historically and presently, is one of those displeasing truths. It takes more than violence to prop up the imagined superiority of one group and maintain the degradation of another. It also requires an edifice of lies across disciplines ranging from anthropology to history to economics to psychology and philosophy to the everyday practice of institutions and images of society from popular culture. Exposing these lies often stimulate narcissistic rage on the part of those who refuse to address the contradictions of their societies and themselves. This will outline some of these themes as discussed in the speaker's recent book, Fear of Black Consciousness (Penguin UK) alongside a brief outline of the problem of how talking about race and racism, especially antiblack racism, faces neurotic and personalized challenges that obscure what truth and reality offer. The talk will conclude with a reflection on political commitment premised on radical love.

Recording

Why Fearing Black Consciousness is a Form of Bad Faith

Biography

Lewis R. Gordon is an Afro-Jewish public intellectual, academic, and musician (jazz, blues, rock, reggae, hip hop, etc.). He teaches at UCONN, where he is Professor and Head of the Philosophy Department, with affiliations in many academic units, including Caribbean Studies and Jewish Studies. He lectures and is involved in political and artistic projects across the globe and holds appointments in South Africa, Jamaica, India, and France. He is the author of many books for which he has received accolades, which include the Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award for Outstanding Work on Human Rights in North America. His most recent books are Freedom, Justice, and Decolonization (Routledge, 2021) and Fear of Black Consciousness (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022; London: Penguin Books , 2022) and as a Macmillan Audiobook (read by Landon Woodson and Lewis R. Gordon), which was listed on Literary Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2022 . He is this year’s recipient of the Eminent Scholar Award from the Global Development Studies division of the International Studies Association.

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Organiser: World Philosophies & SOAS Centre of African Studies

Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk