In the closing lines of Stan Grant’s essay, On Identity, he says, we find no liberation behind walls.
I would like to recommend Grant’s poetic, challenging personal reflections on the notion of identity. I think some of what he says encourages us to reflect on our language & thinking in education. I was reminded of Bron Dolling’s reflections at LPAQ, we start from the place of the dignity of all and our shared humanity. Here are a few more quotes to whet your appetite:
Enough of hate—it has too great a hold on the world already. Enough of the toxic, political imperative of identity—the identity warriors can have that; I am done with it. Identity, even with the best of intentions, falls too easily into the hands of petty tyrants—those identity police who monitor our words and actions, trolling social media to keep people in their lanes, telling us who qualifies to write or read—or monstrous despots who crush love under their boots. Identity carves us up and sets us against each other. There are other words we could use: heritage, ancestry, culture, genetics—words that are far more accurate, words that live in the space between us but do not divide us….
I don’t know what word my mother’s people the Kamilaroi have for love, but I hope it is like the Greek word: agape—the love of God in our hearts. We love because God loves. Here’s another secret about love: despots know it will beat them in the end. When they have crushed the identity of the conquered and imposed their own, they know it is only a matter of time before love returns… Grant, Stan. On Identity
May our Identity be in God’s Love!
Stephanie Maher
Director – Identity & Formation
On Identity, On Series by Stan Grant | 9780733644238 | Booktopia
