Need to get out of town...

For the first time this semester, I'm going out of town for a couple days. I can't wait! I'm not going to Paris or Florence or New York or San Francisco, but at least I'm getting out of town. My partner and I are going to Chukchansi with our best friend to play blackjack and roulette. Our first choice of camping in Big Sur fell through because of the rain. I don't know what it is about the prospect and reality of going somewhere else for a day or two that is so exciting, but I'm thrilled even to being going gambling up in the foothills of the Sierras! It comes down to the little things, doesn't it.

Testing Free Speech

In class yesterday, we talked extensively about the role of free speech in abolitionism. We also discussed the importance of being heard and the willingness to listen to viewpoints other than our own.

A true challenge to the notion of free speech is the right of those whose opinions are offensive in our view to freely express those views. On the ACLU of Florida Website, this point is adeptly made:

"The First Amendment exists precisely to protect the most offensive and controversial speech from government suppression. The best way to counter obnoxious speech is with more speech. Persuasion, not coercion, is the solution."

Later, the ACLU defended the right of Ku Klux Klan members to be heard, regardless of the content of their message. As a lesbian, I hear many offensive, hurtful comments directed toward my brothers and sisters in the gay/bisexual/transgender community. However, as an unwavering believer in free speech (and its implied expression), I would have to defend the right of others to protest against my lifestyle, as hateful as the tone may be, or for the Ku Klux Klan to gather to express their views. This is the true challenge. Free speech is only as strong as our ability to defend the right of people to express views most in opposition to our own. Free speech which is only spoken/heard by those with whom we agree does not test the depths and profundity of this freedom.

Missing My Samurais

No class today! Although I was grateful to get home from school a couple hours earlier, I missed seeing my seminar mates today. I was looking forward to seeing everyone, as meeting for the first time last Thursday showed that we have similar goals for working together as a group.

Furthermore, the discussion we had in class on Tuesday about the colonial history of free speech and expression (and all that these terms encompass) got my juices flowing. Free speech and expression involve so many aspects of our lives. Clearly, I would have been burned at the stake or dragged behind a boat up and down some river. More specifically, I would love to delve deeper into the history of the government legislating sexuality and/or gender roles in the United States. Apparently, sex has been legislated from the earliest days of our nation, long before there was a nation.

I look forward to class next Tuesday. I love the fact that the class focuses on free speech and appropriately balances it with ethical responsibility.

First seminar meeting...and first post

Here goes....This is my first blog post ever, anywhere.

Today in class we met in our seminar groups. I am pleasantly surprised, as we seem to have a positive, collaborative group. We spent a bit of time breaking the ice, naming our group (Seminar Samurais), and talking about parameters and aspirations we have as a semester-long seminar group.

We all agreed that everyone in the group should pull their weight, share ideas and responsibilities, and talked for a little while about past negative and positive group experiences/projects with which we have been involved. I've never before been in a group where all of us have had to pull a majority of the weight and do most of the work in previous classes (actually, last semester's Ways of Knowing group was terrific, a positive experience all around, where work was more or less evenly distributed).

We also agreed that it is difficult and stressful to have one's grade dependent upon all team members in dysfunctional teams. All that said, after the first meeting, we all seem to be on the same page.

I'm excited to work with my seminar team (a few of them classmates from previous classes) and look forward to Thursdays! On first impression, we seem to have a good rapport.