As one of the “younger” generation working closely with a trailblazer (though on the other side of the Atlantic – we are in London), I have most appreciated your ongoing conversation. I hope very much you will pursue this dialogue through CAN – I, for one, am listening and eager to learn from your astute observations!

Best to you both,

Ann-Sophie

I appreciate your kind words and also your thoughts on these “generation gap” issues.

Once again, our take on points of substance differs. In some cases, I’d like to look harder at the facts (e.g., I’ve never done a tally of race in the community arts field, but my subjective impression is that people of color are recognized leaders, at least in proportion to their representation in the population; that could be wrong, skewed by my personal connections and outlook). Others suggest something to talk about. When you write “No one can deny that there is some self sevice in remaining in an Executive Dirctor position for over 20 years; it’s no different than a long running CEO, right?” I find myself questioning. There’s self-service in everything, but the difference in scale (and perks) seems significant. To me, it’s more like staying in a marriage for 20 years: you could move over and let someone else be the spouse for a while, but what you’d be abandoning isn’t necessarily economic benefit or other forms of material self-interest. You might be abandoning your true love and destiny.

What would you think of asking CAN to do a dialogue between the two of us on generation gaps? We could do it as a phone interview, transcribed and edited, which would give us some space to bat ideas around.

I actually wrote the CAN essay from a longer paper last fall. (Again, another class where we focused on one of your books.) So many issues that propel our work deal with isms–class, gender, age, race, etc. We look at ways to combat these through art and activism, to empower ourselves, communities, individuals…create solutions, try them out, try them again, try something else. What I really wanted to get at in my paper and its condensed version was that even within our own field, we succomb to the all of the isms and systems of power that we fight so hard against. Maybe my generation is expressing something that IS more about power and privilege, and access. No one can deny that there is some self sevice in remaining in an Executive Dirctor position for over 20 years; it’s no different than a long running CEO, right? Titles give people certain access to certain things, opportunities. I think many of us feel this as our egos bump up against those of our elders. It’s a tough negotiation. I think it’s important for all of us to remember that we’ve been given access, that we are allowed to attain certain standing, or position because of (or sometimes in spite of) our actual deeds. It also keeps certain people out, on the fringes, in the margins. It’s why decision makers look a certain way–our field is still overwhelmingly white and female. It’s the elephant in the room that we continue to talk around.