The Edges in the Middle, I: Báyò Akómoláfé and john a. powell

03/29/23 • 58 min

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For The Wild is honored to present a series of conversations entitled, “The Edges in the Middle,” in collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Othering and Belonging Institute. In the first of these conversations, Báyò Akómoláfé speaks with john a. powell, Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute.

Speaking on the theme “When ‘just getting along’ isn't enough: Is belonging possible in a world rooted in othering?,” Báyò and john contemplate the ontological weight of our desire for belonging. How might we learn how to belong together ? Articulating both the harsh realities of modern day division and the simultaneous reality of our connection to each other and to the earth, Báyò and john examine what it means to be “other” and to invite in the “monstrous” and the “strange.”

“The Edges in the Middle” is a series of conversations between Báyò Akómoláfé and thought companions like john a. powell, V, Naomi Klein, and more. These limited episodes have been adapted from Báyò’s work as the Global Senior Fellow at UC Berkeley's Othering & Belonging Institute. In this role, Báyò has been holding a series of public conversations on issues of justice and belonging for the Institute's Democracy & Belonging Forum, which connects and resources civic leaders in Europe and the US who are committed to bridging across difference to strengthen democracy and advance belonging in both regions and around the world. Báyò's conversations encourage us to rethink justice, hope, and belonging by sitting amidst the noise, not trying to cover it up with pleasant rhythms. To learn more about the Democracy & Belonging Forum, visit democracyandbelongingforum.org.

Music by Sitka Sun, generously provided by The Long Road Society Record Label. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

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Music by Sitka Sun, generously provided by The Long Road Society Record Label. Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

Support the show

Previous Episode

TYSON YUNKAPORTA on Unbranding Our Mind [ENCORE] /328

This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with Tyson Yunkaporta originally aired in May of 2021. Struggling to change actual conditions, many have settled for changing the perceptions of the world around us. Tyson Yunkaporta begins by sharing the connections between perception, the branding of our identities, and the many forms of capital that become available and valuable in a perception-obsessed society. As we welcome the call to change our conditions and participate in the great “thousand-year clean-up”, we explore hybridized insight, the ramifications of clinging to dichotomous identities, and how genuine diversity is tangible preparedness and emotional resilience in motion. With this in mind, it becomes our task to figure out how we can sustain genuine diversity in our lives so we may work alongside folks with different capacities, worldviews, solutions, and thought processes in devotion to dismantling a system that necessitates abuse. Tyson Yunkaporta is an academic, an arts critic, and a researcher who belongs to the Apalech Clan in far north Queensland. He carves traditional tools and weapons and also works as a senior lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges at Deakin University in Melbourne.

Music by 40 Million Feet, Marty O’Reilly & the Old Soul Orchestra, and Violet Bell.

Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

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Next Episode

john a. powell on Institutions of Othering and Radical Belonging [ENCORE] /329

This week we are rebroadcasting our interview with john a. powell, originally aired in May 2019. If you enjoy this week’s episode, make sure you listen to the first episode in our special series The Edges in the Middle , which features a conversation between john a. powell and Báyò Akómoláfé .

Now more than ever, we are reminded of the vital importance of creating practices that strengthen and recognize our shared humanity. However, in order to do so, we must examine the systems, ideologies, and actions that have emboldened us to deny humanity in the first place. At the beginning of this week’s episode, john a. powell defines any practice which denies someone’s humanity as an act of “othering.” Both at home and abroad it seems we are witnessing a surge of "othering," whether it is reflected in election cycles, the rise of ethnonationalism, or the pervasiveness of violent acts. We must wonder, how and why do societies rely on the process of othering? And more importantly, how do we move into engagement, organizing, and “bridging?”

john a. powell (who spells his name in lowercase in the belief that we should be "part of the universe, not over it, as capitals signify") is an internationally recognized expert in the areas of civil rights, civil liberties, structural racism, housing, poverty, and democracy. He is the Director of the Othering & Belonging Institute at the University of California, Berkeley, a research institute that brings together scholars, community advocates, communicators, and policymakers to identify and eliminate the barriers to an inclusive, just, and sustainable society and to create transformative change toward a more equitable world.

Music by Ani DiFranco.

Visit our website at forthewild.world for the full episode description, references, and action points.

Support the show

For The Wild - The Edges in the Middle, I: Báyò Akómoláfé and john a. powell

Transcript

The Edges in the Middle, I: Bayo Akomolafe and john a. powell Transcript

john a. powell And yet, we have no choice except learn how to, as you say, get along or belong to each other.

Ayana Young For The Wild is honored to present “the edges in the middle”, a series of conversations between Báyò Akómoláfé and thought companions like john a. powell, V, Naomi Klein, and more. These limited episodes have been adapted from Báy