In a recent Pre-Texts training session — part of the The Arts Teach (Everything) Series with the Harvard Cultural Agents Initiative, Marlon Forrester, art teacher in Boston Public Schools, was the facilitator for a group of Harvard students and faculty. The text he chose was Jean Paul Sartre’s preface to Franz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth. Here, Sartre challenges readers to recognize the violent consequences of their liberal but timid distaste for colonialism which continues to fracture the psychology of both oppressor and oppressed. Fanon’s intended readers, Sartre jabs, recognize that revolutionary violence, far from being senseless, becomes an act of reclaiming humanity. Art and a protocol transformed a difficult text into a shared space for critical and creative thinking.
The training series is held at 1730 Cambridge St. 4:30–6:30 p.m. Sessions: Feb. 25 · Mar. 4 · Mar. 11 · Mar. 25 · Apr. 1
