The link is missing–the link that leads to the document that so eloquently states the reasons we should be transforming the Amerikan universities from institutions whose mission is the search for truth into institutions that train social justice warriors:
Historically, white supremacy has venerated the idea of objectivity, and wielded a dichotomy of ‘subjectivity vs. objectivity’ as a means of silencing oppressed peoples. The idea that there is a single truth–’the Truth’–is a construct of the Euro-West that is deeply rooted in the Enlightenment, which was a movement that also described Black and Brown people as both subhuman and impervious to pain. This construction is a myth and white supremacy, imperialism, colonization, capitalism, and the United States of America are all of its progeny. The idea that the truth is an entity for which we must search, in matters that endanger our abilities to exist in open spaces, is an attempt to silence oppressed peoples.
Nobody has said it better! Nobody could say it better! And probably nobody will say it better!
Where are the twenty virtuous freedom fighters who eloquently wrote this document?
The Bear is looking for a copy of or a link to the original document so that we can nail a printout of it on every tree on every campus. We will call each of those trees liberty trees, after the famous elm in Boston where, in 1765, the colonists staged the first act of defiance against the British government.
While, isolated quotes and tweets from the original document can be found online, the entire document has suspiciously disappeared–probably a result of the politically motivated vast right wing conspiracy. If you, dear reader, find a link to the original, please post it in the comments section.
As a thank you in advance, I leave you with the words of Thomas Paine, who wrote an ode to the Liberty Tree in 1775, after it was chopped down by a loyalist:
IN a chariot of light from the regions of day,
The Goddess of Liberty came;
Ten thousand celestials directed the way,
And hither conducted the dame.
A fair budding branch from the gardens above,
Where millions with millions agree,
She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,
And the plant she named Liberty Tree.
The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground,
Like a native it flourished and bore;
The fame of its fruit drew the nations around,
To seek out this peaceable shore.
Unmindful of names or distinctions they came,
For freemen like brothers agree;
With one spirit endued, they one friendship pursued,
And their temple was Liberty Tree.
Beneath this fair tree, like the patriarchs of old,
Their bread in contentment they ate
Unvexed with the troubles of silver and gold,
The cares of the grand and the great.
With timber and tar they Old England supplied,
And supported her power on the sea;
Her battles they fought, without getting a groat,
For the honor of Liberty Tree.
But hear, O ye swains, ’tis a tale most profane,
How all the tyrannical powers,
Kings, Commons and Lords, are uniting amain,
To cut down this guardian of ours;
From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms,
Through the land let the sound of it flee,
Let the far and the near, all unite with a cheer,
In defence of our Liberty Tree.
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