I am still curious about the irony– or at least the disconnect—in Jennings’s use of academic, abstruse language to convey his message. I know that gives him credibility within the academy, giving his work a definite gravitas, but it also prolongs the use of language that itself colonizes, partitioning off those people on the street who may earnestly want to shake off the inheritance of whiteness and learn about how to reappropriate the Gospel in their own language. While his demeanor is folksy and friendly, his syntax and supercilious attitude toward the writings of others communicate a distancing from the very joining he advocates.
Does anyone else feel this dissonance?
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Hi Laura – what an interesting point! I was feeling ‘something’ as I was watching the video, but couldn’t put my finger on it at the time – but perhaps your insight helps put a name to the ‘something’, at least in part…
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I’d love to think out loud with you about this some more, because I constantly find myself in institutions having to use the language of the institution to try and crack open space there. Maybe it’s Audre Lorde’s question — “can the master’s tools dismantle the master’s house?” I have to hope that at least partially the answer is yes, but maybe not…
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