Our Class: A Unification of Purpose [Updated 2021-10-24]
A Unification of Purpose
Publication date: 2021-10-17
Updated: 2021-10-22, new source, an excerpt from the book.
Updated: 2021-10-24, new source, a “sermon” from Hedges about the book’s topic. New title image is from the video source, after Hedges completes the recital of Timmy’s story. Plus a little musical culture.
Chris Hedges' father was defrocked for standing up for the rights, or perhaps respect, of homosexuals before the term "gay rights" even existed. Chris lived "out of town" in poor areas while he commuted to and from Harvard Divinity school, ministered to that poor community and followed in his father's footsteps. But, he discontinued his training. He went to Latin America during the CIA funded and coordinated wars of the 1980's to pay witness and build his craft as a journalist.
He speaks often of the addictive adrenaline of war reporting, but is brutally honest about war's brutality. There is something about war reporters. The sheen of polite discourse which covers the horror of the outcomes of "international relations" is stripped for them. The contrast between the scripted political speeches and the daily reality on the ground on the "outer edges of empire" is starkly revealed.
Hedges has seen and reported on war and revolution from the 80's to the early 00's abroad in Latin America, the Middle East, and in Central and Eastern Europe. One of his most moving stories is of a crowd of tens of thousands in Czechoslovakia. A popular musician's works were confiscated and banned from being broadcast. But, more than a decade later as the Soviet supported government fell during the sweep of reformist movements in Europe, she stands on a balcony and sings the words of "A Prayer to Marta" and in unison the thousands strong crowd sing with her, word for word. He has seen parachute regiments refuse to fire on protesters days before the collapse of a government. Hedges, like Burchett and Pilger is of the old school of non-embedded war reporters. He, like other non-embedded journalists, praise the bravery of photo-journalists. You cant write a photograph from a hotel room.
His stand against the warmongering rhetoric for the 2003 Iraq invasion by the coalition of the coerced cornered the Times into forcing his removal.
Amongst other endeavours, including writing for Truthdig, until they tried to sack their Editor Bob Scheer at which point he left with Scheer to Scheer's new site, he had begun teaching in a prison. Contemporaneously, he returned to complete his divinity studies, was ordained, and was studying the "internal colonies" of the USA. His book "Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt", with graphic artist Joe Sacco, is the result of that study. Preceding this is a long career studying changes in USA's intellectual life and social cohesion, including books such as "Death of the Liberal Class". In one of his prison classes, not so much by accident as by evolution, the play Caged is co-written by his class, with their voices, and his guide. The play was put on stage to sold out performances night after night.
The just published "Our Class, Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison" documents that experience and may be a union of his journalistic and ministerial paths. Was that gaol the church in which his goals were unified? The narrative gives voice to the brilliance of the all too often falsely imprisoned, and asks a plethora of questions. Why is such talent being not wasted but destroyed?
To give a video voice to the book he switches sides of the desk to interviewee on the program he usually hosts, On Contact. See below for the two part interview.
Hedges' is likely too modest to write an autobiography or "memoir". Nonetheless, there is a wealth of material in his life for a talented biographer to plumb and narrate.
Any takers?
There’s a thing about Hedges. Its on his sleeve. Raw.
Sources
Our Class, Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison, Chris Hedges, Simon and Schuster, 2021
Trauma & Transformation in an American Prison, Part 1, Hugh Hamilton and Chris Hedges, "On Contact", 2021-10-15
Trauma & Transformation in an American Prison, Part 2, Hugh Hamilton and Chris Hedges, "On Contact", 2021-10-17
Chris Hedges' Commencement Address: Integrity Forged in Cages, Chris Hedges, Nigrotime 'youtube channel', 2019-05-10 (the date the speech is delivered)
Chris Hedges: The Call, Chris Hedges, ConsortiumNews, 2021-10-22
This excerpt from Our Class includes auto-biographical information relating to Hedges’ time at Harvard Divinity school and his journey to be “ordained to write”.
"Our Class: Trauma and Transformation in an American Prison" w/ Chris Hedges, Chris Hedges, Media Sanctuary (their youtube channel), 2021-10-19
Wynton Marsalis & Eric Clapton Joe Turner's Blues, Danny de Zeeman youtube channel, 2018-02-18
Clapton is God, and Marsalis is the Archangel.
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