op-ed by austin zhuang.
From childhood, I used to be a big hater of reading any kind of book, except if it was for school. This past December, however, a lot changed for the future of my college career and potentially for the rest of my life. I started having a fond love for reading books.
This may come as a surprise to many, but it definitely did not for me. I knew this “hidden interest of mine” was going to manifest at one point, and begin expressing its potential. I ended up buying three books: The Actor’s Life by Jenna Fischer, Pleasure Activism AND Emergent Strategy by the lovely adrienne maree brown herself.
I want to give a big props to my good friend, Aiden, who is from the Bay! He currently resides in Philadelphia doing some big things over there, helping the local Philadelphia school district come up with ideas for their community programs! I am forever grateful because he was the first person that introduced adrienne maree brown’s books to me.
So what is an emergent strategy?
Also called realized strategy, an emergent strategy is a “pattern of action that is created over a certain period” to make up for the absence in running for the mission and vision set behind a specific goal. In other words, emergent strategy is a type of strategy in which organizations utilize the method of taking a series of actions that with time turn into a consistent pattern of behavior, regardless of what specific intentions are behind an entire change. The problem with many of our communities today is that we don’t have this well-formed concept in our social circles.
However, amb’s book proved nothing but wholesome concepts, advice, and understanding. Emergent Strategy is a lyrical, explorative, non-linear journey of the book’s title, a concept she defines as “how we intentionally change in ways that grow our capacity to embody the just and liberated worlds we long for.” Brown breaks it down at the most for us to learn, from her perspective of things: the book is meant to be perused, returned to, and jumped around in more than once. I liked the way she included examples like essays, poems, exercises, dialogues, assessments, facilitations—even a playlist. As a matter of fact, it is even a book for people interested in radical social change, who want to think expansively about what the future could look like, or are in need of assistance to do that kind of thinking. CL Author Miriam Perez highlighted three very important things in her op-ed that I thought served as a great example for change and reform: collaboration is the cornerstone, embracing change is non-negotiable, and last, but not least, letting go of the status quo.
Collaboration is truly the cornerstone. As a matter of fact, it is the cornerstone of most things, believe it or not. The socially distant concept is a very essential thing, especially since COVID-19 hit. We have been taught that this virus is contagious and is more deadly than any other virus we’ve experienced in our lifetime. Despite being socially distant in this very weird time, we each individually have the opportunity to expand our creations, and have the ability to stay informed, staying physically separate from each other as much as possible. “There is an art to flocking: staying separate enough not to crowd each other, aligned enough to maintain a shared direction, and cohesive enough to always move towards each other.”
I believe that embracing change is definitely non-negotiable. There has never been a time in which something has been negotiable, at least on many political and social levels. Black Lives Matter has been a prime example in the news and definitely throughout the social media outlets this past week alone (including this week as well). Many people have had to be applauded for the work they’ve done, but this isn’t the case at all. This is our job. We should be standing next to our Black brothers and sisters as allies, because we know that enough is enough. All lives matter, but especially Black lives. We can’t say all lives matter until Black lives matter too; this is a change that’s definitely non-negotiable. On page 161 to 163 of the book, she talks about the difference of non-linear and iterative, eventually bringing up the concept of afro-futurism to all our BIPOC individuals.
“It is the emphasis on tomorrow that centers the dignity of that seed, particularly in the face of extinction, that marks, for me, the afrofuturist.”
- adrienne maree brown, p.162
Change isn’t a bad thing. It may yield out different stuff that we may have never seen before, or better yet, something we haven’t conducted or executed yet. However, it is impossible to really fight against the fact that it is happening in our world right now.
Lastly, we need to release ourselves of the status quo and focus on what’s more as a community. Perez covers this part really well, and I think this quote deserves a lot of respect in terms of opinionated ideas. In many ways, this is why Brown's work is so appealing -- it is almost hopelessly optimistic. She does not give into despair; rather, she gives into the ability to dream wildly. This is the reason why she can maintain such variety and openness toward the idea of a better future. From Perez’s conclusion, she sees that “it is possible that this whole book is about love. My love of this planet, my love of human beings and creatures and the idea of there being a future in which this planet is still a home to living things. My love of the humans who have taught me to be awake and to feel the world around me, and clued me in to both caring more about life and being less attached to the outcomes of life.”
My favorite chapter out of this book so far is the non-linear and iterative chapter, for many reasons. She first starts off of the dictionary terms for both words, then aligning it with modern-day topics that every single one of us uses on a daily basis. Another thing that I really like about the whole book is that she has instilled a so-called “emergent strategy” journal for you to follow. It has an absolutely useful checklist, and it helps you keep yourself in check.
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