“Radical Humility”
Tune in to “Be Bold America!” Sunday, March 14, 2021 at 5:00pm
What does humility mean and why does it matter in age of golden escalators and billionaire entrepreneurs? How can the cultivation of humility empower us to see success in failure, to fight against injustice, to stretch beyond our usual ways of thinking, and foster a culture of listening in an era of digital shouting. Listen to the Editors of Radical Humility: Essays on Ordinary Acts explore what we can learn from psychologists, artists, and renowned scholars.
Included in this anthology are Charles M. Blow, Op Ed columnist for The New York Times who examines the corrosive effect of Donald Trump’s self-aggrandizing lies on our democracy. Another essayist, is artist Ruth Nicole Brown who describes lessons learned from her aunt about living a life of “you before me” and how this informed her work celebrating black girls. Also, included is journalist Lynette Clemence, who discusses the conflicts for journalists trained to recede into the background but now are urged to be social media presences.
These and other writers consider humility as a valuable process – a state of being – with the power to impact institutions, systems, families, and individuals and give voice to the ways in which humility is practiced in many ordinary but extraordinary actions.
Interview Guests:
Rebekah Modrak is a writer and interventionist artist whose artworks resist consumer culture. Re Made Co. (remadeco.org) poses as an online “company” promoting ($350) artisanal toilet plungers to parody an actual company Best Made Co., seller of $350 luxury hand-painted axes. RETHINK SHINOLA (rethinkshinola.com; guides viewers through the Shinola company’s past and present of marketing white supremacy. She is a Professor in the Stamps School of Art & Design at the University of Michigan.
Jamie Vander Broek is a Librarian for Art & Design at the University of Michigan. This summer, she bought a book made of cheese for her library. You can read about it on saveur.com. She holds a tailored Master’s degree from the U-M School of Information in Art and Art Museum Librarianship, and received a B.A. in Art History with a minor in Italian Studies from Wellesley College. Since arriving in Ann Arbor, she has been active in the local art and book communities, and is currently on the board of the Ann Arbor District Library.
