August Blog Post

“One of the simplest, most profound, and yet consistently difficult practices that disrupts the automatic entitlement to hegemonic speech is active listening.” – Ann Russo

            Early in the Russo reading, she points out that in our culture, speaking up, showing your knowledge of a topic, and making your name standout are all signs of power in leadership roles (Russo). In America, having a voice and being loud is what shows power whereas weakness lies in staying silent. There have been many examples of this in our latest political campaign for the presidency (e.g. Donald Trump’s active Twitter updates). According to CNN, this latest race divided the people of America more than ever before (Agiesta, 2016). I have never been one to address politics because I am completely aware of my lack of knowledge but this election I did try to gather information from both sides to better understand why people were so invested and heated. The more I listened, the more I became aware of how others were so reluctant to listen to anyone of an opposite party or view. I found myself getting caught in multiple arguments, being yelled at for asking someone to acknowledge another point of view. It truly made me realize how our culture in America is extremely proud of talking, and not of listening.

            More recently, Charlottesville, Virginia, was widely spread throughout the news because of the white nationalist rally that was held and yielded violent results. Not many days after that was an interview with the imperial wizard of the North Carolina KKK, Christopher Barker, and a Colombian reporter, Ilia Calderon (Noticias, 2017). I only watched a few minutes (“highlights” rather) of the interview in which Barker, interrupted, interjected, and cut-off Calderon to give his own opinions and beliefs every few seconds. He allowed only a few words from her before he erupted in a tangent about how he was following the word of the bible. It did not take any effort to realize that no matter what any reporter, book, or loved one said to him, he had his stance and it is the only stance he will hold for the rest of his life. He could not even bare to hear three words from someone else, let alone try listening.

Although these two issues are not related, they are evidence of the absence of active listening in our culture. Russo defines active listening as a practice of open-mindedness to allow for change, modification, and transformation to take place. It requires empathy and the willingness to share and learn from others. Throughout the election and throughout this recent rally, power has been exerted through use of words. The hate speeches, the stories, and the slander are all used to divide people against each other. It removes empathy from conversations and turns debates into rants. Perhaps if our culture embraced active listening, fights could move towards resolutions.

Active listening is an important concept to study because it can contribute

humility, empathy, and create a larger knowledge and awareness of issues from different viewpoints. Whereas it is something that our culture lacks and sees as a weakness, it can help to create a better power structure of openness and change. Although speech is especially effective and a great tool of power exertion, active listening can be as well.

References

Agiesta, J. (2016, November 27). CNN/ORC poll: A nation divided, and is it ever. Retrieved from CNN Politics: http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/27/politics/cnn-poll-division-donald-trump/index.html

Noticias, U. (2017, August 21). "People were just proud that finally a white man (Trump) took back the office". Retrieved from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCAXE_78chM

Russo, A. (n.d.). Between Speech and Silence.