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contents
Praxis: question, think, act.
editor's note
I was sitting in one of my rhetoric classes when a word popped up that I thought was extremely interesting: praxis. Praxis is word referring to the theoretical loops between theory and practice. Why would I be so interested in this one word that I only found out about in my classical rhetoric class? Does it have any meaning to our lives?Praxis has relevance to all of our lives. Every single day we learn about various theories in our classes. Yet part of the educational experience is going outside the classroom and getting involved with the community. Finding the connection between both theory and practice is a difficult one; nevertheless it must be consistent. Evaluating one’s work in the community is part of a healthy process of recognizing broad social change.
Educator and activist Glenn Omatsu examined the term praxis at a recent 2000 speech given to college and high school students in Southern California. In this speech he challenged Asian/Pacific Islander youth to execute the theme of praxis through building leadership where we consistently begin to question, think, and act—and encourage others to do the same. He brought up a very clear distinction between the mainstream model of leadership and the grassroots model of leadership developed by community activists. Glenn distinguished the grassroots model of leadership differently because it emphasizes that EVERYONE CAN BE A LEADER. Leadership isn’t defined by the acts people do on “special occasions” but rather through how they live everyday. It encourages those in the community that the process of questioning, thinking, and acting (praxis) is an “inseparable process” that must be done simultaneously. Through this process we can envision a world we want to see.
So, what do we do? Glenn says it best:
“If we understand leadership as responding to the challenges facing us in everyday life, then we need to use every opportunity to speak out against racism, to defend the rights of immigrants, to oppose sexism and homophobia, to promote environmental justice, to build support for political prisoners, to oppose police brutality, to uphold human rights, to support struggles for sovereignty and against colonialism particularly the efforts of native Hawaiians for self-determination, and to promote a spirit of international solidarity for peoples’ struggles around the world.”
In a time where going to war with Iraq is the main priority of our current political administration, where students of color continue to struggle on campus to have our voices heard, in the midst of the vast labor and human rights violations of the United States, from not having the 1999 Third World Liberation Front demands met, and an increasingly lack of diversity amongst students and faculty—we have our work cut out for us. And while there are so many important problems we face we must remember how connected a lot of the issues are. It’s one thing to be aware about all the stuff happening in the community; it’s another thing to actually get up and start building empowerment in our communities. Tomorrow is our world to build, and it’s going to take a lot of time and energy. It’s not going to change by all of us working on one singular issue and then throwing up our hands saying, “We did our part!” We’re going to need to figure out a way to bridge the gap and make our community activism last and extend far beyond our college years. In the end, the inequality and injustice will continue to exist in our society. It’s up to all of us to not only keep folks oppressing us in check, but also those in our own community. The biggest challenge we face is ourselves.
Praxis: question, think, and act.
peter tadao gee [hb story editor]