Oakland, CA

so, for the past two days i've been visiting my friend Angel here in Oakland, Cali. he's attending graduate school here pursuing his Ph.D. in education. yesterday he invited me to sit in on his research group where folks come to present what they are working on and to get criticism and suggestions. in a lot of ways it was a demystifying experience. i got to see that the intellectual work that i do outside the academy is just as rigorous as what's being done in grad schools (and sometimes more so).

what i did see that i felt was a particular advantage for academic intellectuals was an environment of criticism. folks took turns presenting their ideas and having other people really push them to be clear and to take firm intellectual positions.

after going to Angel's school i sat with one of his friends, Ronald, and had one of the best intellectual conversations i've had in a long time. it wasn't so much that i haven't had powerful discussions, just that it's been a very long time since i've sat with two or more people and really hashed out important thoughts and questions.

hanging here with Angel and his friends has given me hope about the possibilities for engaging conversations between organic intellectuals (those of us who making our living doing 'non-intellectual' work but who love working on ideas) and popular intellectuals (those who make their living from doing academic work but who do it in the interests of revolution). and it reminds me how much i love a good discussion.