Empathy begins the process of connecting us with others, as we share their emotions. Our own life experience enables us to understand something of the life experience of others. That emotional understanding is the distinction we call empathy: “. . . the capacity to share the feelings of others . . .” “Empathy is a complex capability enabling individuals to…
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Value for Thursday of Week 41 in the season of Assessing
Taking Pride
One kind of pride lifts us up; the other brings us down.
- If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards. [attributed to Paul “Bear” Bryant]
- I’m a black American, I am proud of my race. I am proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity. [Michael Jackson]
- I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. [Colin Kaepernick]
“Pride is an interesting emotion because it simultaneously focuses on the self and on others.” The essential difference between healthy and unhealthy pride is related to whether it transcends ego. “. . . pride might be likened to a fantastical double-edged sword, with a harmless rubber tip on one end and a destructive, razor-sharp blade on the other.” “Pride is the opposite of shame (I feel rejected). We can’t get along without it as a part of love.”
Here are some examples of healthy pride:
- Taking pride in hard work that has resulted in good;
- Taking pride in trying as hard as you could;
- Taking proud in generously serving others;
- Taking pride in surprising yourself, in how well you did;
- Taking pride in overcoming an obstacle;
- Taking pride in doing something remarkable.
Here are some examples of unhealthy pride:
- Considering yourself better than others;
- Feeling the need to dominate conversations and teach people things (arrogance);
- Being unwilling to acknowledge error or apologize.
Real
True Narratives
True narratives:
- Seth Stern and Stephen Wermiel, Justice Brennan: Liberal Champion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2010), a biography of Justice William Brennan, who seems to have been more interested in his accomplishments than in the story behind them.
- Howard W. French, Born in Blackness: Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World, 1471 to the Second World War (Liveright, 2021), “is filled with pain, but also with pride: pride at the endurance of oppressed millions, at the many slave uprisings and rebellions culminating in the Haitian revolution, which defeated “the idea of Black slavery itself,” and in the cultural riches of the African diaspora.”
- Barbara A. Hall, Gifts of Pride and Love: Kiowa and Comanche Cradles (University of Oklahoma Press, 2001): “With such words, Kiowa and Comanche people express their deep connection to their traditional lattice cradles. Prevalent from 1870 to 1930, these cradles represented a unique, yet extremely practical, art form. . . This book, a beautiful homage to the artisans who crafted cradleboards, includes a history of the origins of lattice cradles as well as essays by eleven descendants of cradle makers.”
- Richard Schneirov, Pride and Solidarity: A History of the Plumbers and Pipefitters of Columbus, Ohio, 1889-1989 (Cornell University Press, 1993).
Over the top and out of bounds:
- Rich Cohen, Pee Wees: Confessions of a Hockey Parent (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2021): “At the book’s center is the development of Micah as a hockey player, and Cohen’s identity as a type of parent he describes as 'the crazies, the control freaks, the hyperinvolved.'”
From the dark side:
- Arlie Russell Hochschild, Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right (The New Press): “What differentiates ‘Stolen Pride’ from the glut of other commentary on Trump voters is Hochschild’s sustained attention to the economic and cultural factors influencing their emotions — especially their pride and shame. As Hochschild sees it, the residents of Pikeville are trapped in a ‘pride paradox.’”
Technical and Analytical Readings
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Novels:
- Alison Fairbrother, The Catch: A Novel (Random House, 2022): a “depiction of a smart, talented and sexual young woman who is in the process of learning, as adults must, to balance pride with humility, pain with pleasure, and acceptable fictions with uncomfortable truths.”
Poetry
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Pride at its best is not boastful or ostentatious; it reflects confidence, self-assurance and respect. Gene Harris was an African-American jazz pianist who played in several styles, including funk, soul and blues. Some of his work sounds like mainstream, straight-ahead jazz. Jazz has its roots in black culture. Harris played like a man who was comfortable in his own skin, conveying a sense that he was proud of his blackness, in a deeply humane way. Some of his albums are solo, others in a small ensemble. They are grouped below, by style:
- Blues: “Black and Blue” (1991) (62’), “Down Home Blues” (1996) (60’), “Blues & Ballads: The Best of Gene Harris on Resonance” (2020) (120’), “Ballad Essentials” (compilation) (2003) (67’)
- Funk: “Nexus” (1975) (44’), “Funky Gene’s” (1994) (57’), “Instant Party” (compilation) (2004). (67’)
- Soul: “It’s the Real Soul” (1995) (64’)
- Distinctly African-American: “Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow” (1973) (82’), “Astral Signal” (1974) (40’), “In a Special Way” (1976) (41’), “Tribute to Count Basie” (1988) (47’), “Alley Cats” (1998) (68’)
- Straight-ahead: “The Gene Harris Trio Plus One” (1984) (48’), “Live at Maybeck Recital Hall, Vol. 23” (1992) (64’), “A Little Piece of Heaven” (1992) (70’), “Live in London” (1996) (62’), “Another Night in London” (1996) (61’)
All of Frédéric Chopin’s Polonaises (approx. 60-125’, depending on whether early polonaises are included) (list of recorded performances) “are connected by the supreme idea of the polonaise-the most important Polish national dance. The polonaise developed in Poland long before Chopin's time, and since the Baroque era it had been a fashionable society dance at many European courts.” “The polonaise (also known as the polacca) had its origins as a Polish folk dance, but it was taken up by composers in western and central Europe, who often employed it as a mild form of exoticism, sometimes in suites with dance forms that stemmed from a variety of countries.” “The Polish people, who suffered triple occupation by Prussia, Russia and Austria, who were deprived of their independence, who suffered terribly under the pressure of the Holy Alliance, whose national culture was being suppressed – this people proved through its art that it was alive and fighting. The genius of a Mickiewicz in poetry, the genius of a Chopin in music, reflect this struggle in their art.” Recordings of some or all of the pieces on disc are by Rubinstein in 1934-35, Rubinstein in 1950-51 ***, Halina in 1959-60, Brailowsky in 1962, Pollini in 1976, Ashkenazy in 1981, Katsaris in 1994, Blechaz in 2013, Nauta in 2018.
Arnold Bax, Tintagel (1919) (approx. 12-15’) (list of recorded performances): This fifteen-minute symphonic poem has generated extensive analysis. Tintagel castle inspired the work. By legend, it was King Arthur's castle. Best recorded performances are conducted by Goossens in 1928, Boult in 1954, Barbirolli in 1967, Boult in 1972, Thomson in 1983, Handley in 2002 ***, and Lloyd-Jones in 2002.
Constructive and empowering pride is a part of self-worth. This is apparent in these albums by the aboriginal group Yothu Yindi, whose name means “child – mother”:
- “Tribal Voice” (1991) is informed by a “firm belief that Indigenous cultural knowledge, songs and instruments have a vital place in guiding and enriching future generations”;
- “Birrkuta – Wild Honey” (1996);
- “One Blood” (1998);
- “Garma” (2000): “Garma (or ganma) is a place from which cultural meanings flow.”
The Master Musicians of Jajouka “are an all-male group from Jajouka, a small village in the foothills of the Rif Mountains about a hundred kilometers from the major Moroccan port city of Tangier”. They “play a variety of folk, ancient and newly written musical pieces on traditional, locally made instruments.” The music, which is said to be thousands of years old, is from the Sufi tradition. It evokes pride in tradition and location. “The Attar clan of Jajouka is the founding family of Jajouka and keepers of one of the world’s oldest and most unique surviving musical traditions. The music and secrets of Jajouka have been passed down through generations from father to son, by some accounts for as long as 1,300 years. The musicians of Jajouka are taught from early childhood a complex music which is unique to Jajouka, until they finally become malims or masters. They possess baraka, (good luck) or the blessing of Allah, which gives them the power to heal, and the endurance required to play some of the most intense and complex music around.” Here are links to their playlists, and to their “Mulhouse” concert in France in 1980.
Bombino, is a musical artist from Niger who says: “In the Sahara, music unites everyone and we feel proud through music.” “. . . Bombino gives his proud people a voice for the whole world to hear.” Here are links to his releases. playlists, live performances, interviews, and some videos.
Compositions:
- Ralph Vaughan Williams, In the Fen Country (1904) (approx. 15’) (list of recorded performances)
- Vaughan Williams, On Wenlock Edge (1909) (approx. 20’) (list of recorded performances)
- Hugo Alfvén, Three Swedish Rhapsodies: Midsummer Vigil, Op. 19 (1903) (approx. 14’) (list of recorded performances); Upsala Rhapsody, Op. 24 (approx. 11’) (list of recorded performances); Dalecarlian Rhapsody (Dalarapsodie), Op. 47 (approx. 22-25’) (list of recorded performances)
- Johannes Brahms, Hungarian Dances (1879) (approx. 49-55’) (list of recorded performances)
- Markus Heinrich Grauel, Cello Concerto in A Major (approx. 14’)
- Claudio Santoro, Symphony No. 7, “Brasilia” (1960) (approx. 38’)
- Aram Khachaturian, Symphony No. 3 “Symphony-Poem” (1947) (approx. 24-26’) (list of recorded performances) “was intended ‘to express the Soviet people's joy and pride in their great and mighty country’ on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Revolution.”
Albums:
- Jim Gustin & Truth Jones, “Lessons Learned” (2020) (43’), “Can’t Shed a Tear” and “Memphis” (2017) (44’) albums: disparate voices, proudly showcased and displayed.
- Black Art Jazz Collective, “Armor of Pride” (2018) (45’)
- Denman Maroney, “Solo @ 70” (2019) (167’)
- Rhiannon Giddens, Anythyst Kiahm, Leyla McCalla & Allison Russell, “Songs of Our Native Daughters” (2019) (52’): “They've not only been called upon to deliver compelling performances, but also to explain their connection to string-band lineages falsely presumed to be the historic domain of white men.”
- Rebolu, Mi Herencia (My Heritage) (2022) (39’): “Combining the Afrocentric rhythms and salsa-inspired music of Colombia’s Caribbean coast with the urban energy and multiculturalism of NYC, the Colombian and Colombian-American musicians of Rebolu created Mi Herencia to explore the rich traditions of their community.”
- Mari Boine, “Alva” (2024) (68’): “This is the music of her people, interpreted in her way . . .”
- Atanda, “Ọ̀mọ̀nílẹ̀ Son of the Soil” (2024) (42’) “is a (high-energy) conscious concept album geared towards reawakening the young and the old Africans in the diaspora about their culture and heritage. The great body of work is deeply rooted in Afrobeat, Afrojazz, Blues and Folk music, with strong rhythmical structures and sophisticated African harmonic idioms.”
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Diana Ross, “I’m Coming Out” (lyrics)
- Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, “Can’t Hold Us” (lyrics)
Visual Arts
- Susan Clinard, A Woman's Pride
