Running Barefoot on Rocks: Dissidently Speaking, Part II with Brent Hamachek

In the second of our two-part series, Jennifer Richmond and Winkfield Twyman, Jr. talk with Brent Hamachek about his book Dissidently Speaking. As self-proclaimed Dissidents in their own book, Letters in Black and White, Jen and Wink were excited to hear from Brent on how he defines “dissidently speaking.”  In this episode, we work to define labels like “left,” and “right,” examine how we’ve co-opted terms (e.g. communism and liberalism), explore the manipulation of slogan words (e.g. marginalization and woke), discuss a variety of ethics, including objective ethics, “Tootsie Roll” ethics, and the “Golden Rule,” and emphasize the power of metaphor.

Join us for a conversation on how we can “sober up” from our conflict addictions and just… do better.

Podcast Resources:

Dissidently Speaking, Brent Hamacheck

Letters in Black and White, Jennifer Richmond & Winkfield Twyman, Jr.

Yes, the Term “Far-Right” is Frequently Abused, Helen Pluckrose

Black Enterprise, Or, How I Became Black, Winkfield Twyman, Jr.

Matthew Henson, This Week in Black History, Institute for Liberal Values

The Prince, Niccolo Michiavelli

Common Ground Campus

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Join us for our upcoming Liberal Values Lab with

Rio Veradonir

: A Liberal Approach to Queer Diversity & Inclusion.

Thanks to a “short march through the institutions,” Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) is all the rage at universities, in corporations, and other organizations these days. Its stated aim is to reduce intergroup hostilities and foster healthy communities. The problem: it doesn’t work. In fact, it backfires and makes things worse wherever it is tried. As a consequence, tribalism, polarization, and anti-social rhetoric are increasing in the west. Critical “Queer Theory”, along with Critical Race Theory, and other forms of Critical Social Justice, is to blame. Fortunately, we have a tried-and-true alternative to this failed ideology: Liberalism. And it offers its own toolkit for genuine social progress on LGBT issues and civil rights in general. In this lab, we will explore why liberalism works, how it differs from CSJ, and how to apply liberal principles to queer (and other) D&I. This will be useful for anyone who works in academia, the corporate world, government, nonprofits, etc. But it is really a useful guide to help anybody peacefully coexist and collaborate with friends, family, and colleagues.