Quarantine Session #89: Myisha Cherry + Jacqueline Woodson

Summary

In The Case for Rage, philosopher Myisha Cherry turns popular prejudices about anger on their head and argues for anger’s utility—and importance—in the fight against injustice. Anger has a bad reputation; s a “negative emotion”, it’s seen by many as counterproductive, distracting, and destructive. But Cherry argues that in fact the transformative and liberatory power of anger—what she terms “Lordean rage”—is crucial to the anti-racist struggle and challenging the status quo. Cherry joined us virtually for a searching, mutually inspiring conversation with celebrated novelist Jacqueline Woodson (Red at the Bone) that paid homage to Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and Ida B. Wells, and made a strong case not just for rage, but for the power of philosophy and asking critical questions. (Recorded December 6, 2021)