RADICAL VISION

ABOUT

Live Ideas 2018: Radical Vision was a five-day interdisciplinary humanities festival that examined strategies for making the open society bolder and stronger. Liberal Democracy has always been tested, but today the threats seem especially serious and the stakes higher than before. Can America’s system of government withstand the postmodern pressures of relentless media, unmoored political ambition, corporate greed, and a purposefully divided electorate? Or is the Democratic Ideal itself too fragile to survive without fundamental change? 

Through conversations, performances, readings, and workshops, Radical Vision appraised four contemporary pillars of democracy: the press, big tech, the criminal justice system, and the electoral process. What was their condition and potential? Bringing together artists, activists, scholars, and philanthropists, the festival investigated new ways to make those institutions and democracy itself bolder and stronger. 

The festival asked audiences: What is your radical vision of democracy and what would you give up to make it real? The question was given breath through a series of public readings that reenacted major speeches by Radical Visionaries from throughout history, to deepen the understanding of American democracy through the lens of lynching, world affairs, and electoral politics. 

PROGRAM: RADICAL VISIONARIES PUBLIC READINGS 

Day 1: Democracy and Lynching 
Tamar-kali reading as Ida B. Wells: “Lynch Law In All Its Phases”
Aisha Tandiwe-Bell reading as Mamie Till-Mobley: “I Had a Son“
Russell Frederick reading as Medgar Evers: “Freedom Has Never Been Free” 
Queen GodIs reading as Sandra Bland: “At First They Used a Noose, Now All They Do Is Shoot” 

Day 2: Democracy and World Affairs  
Huiying B. Chan reading as Grace Lee Boggs: “From Marx to Malcolm and Martin”
Moustafa Bayoumi reading as Edward Said: “The Essential Terrorist”
Greg Tate reading as Muhammad Ali: “The Enemy of My People Is Right Here”
Sonia Guiñansaca reading as Gloria E. Anzaldúa: “La Frontera”

Day 3: Democracy and Electoral Politics  
Madeline Sayet reading as Wilma Mankiller: “Rebuilding the Cherokee Nation”
Liz Abzug reading as Bella Abzug: “The March for Women’s Lives”
Andrew Lippa reading as Harvey Milk: “You’ve Got to Have Hope”
Shola Lynch reading as Shirley Chisholm: “I Am the Candidate of the People”