Trevor Almeida, Aussie eco movie maker

Trevor Almeida's Film, Secrets of the Kimberley, Winner of the 2018 Best Ecosystem Film

Trevor Almeida is the son of Alfreida (Class of 55) and Bona Almeida (ex Nairobi), Melbourne, Australia

Abstract: Scientists and artists attempt to explore the isolated Kimberley marine region through some innovative photographic techniques and randomly discover a new natural world. The Kimberley is one of the most ecologically diverse areas of the world. Its marine ecosystems are amongst the world’s most pristine. At 424500 square kilometres, the Kimberley is bigger than Italy or Germany and it has over 3000 uninhabited islands. This documentary takes you on an expedition into this remote region with a team made up of an artist and scientists. What they find redefines their values and how they view the natural world. It showcases one of the last great wilderness areas through incredible wildlife-great and small.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lP5tkF0O60

Trevor has been producing films, video and interactive media for several 20 years. He is committed to films on the Environment and has produced over 15 films covering subjects from Climate to Biodiscovery. His recent documentary commissions include “The Secrets Of the Kimberley, Western Australia’s Ocean Environment, and CO2 and our Coral Reefs. In 2010 his independent film My Home the Block was selected for the F4 program at the Australian International Documentary Conference and has been broadcast national. His latest work on the Kimberley has had theatrical screenings through festivals such as the Environmental Film Festival Melbourne and has been invited to festivals internationally. In the past he worked as an editor for 100meter films in Japan on the award winning feature film Firefly Dreams.

He currently runs Geonewmedia, a production company focusing on sharing science and environment communication through the power of online video. In his spare time he runs small events for the Melbourne Sustainability Professionals and TEDxStKilda.

THE SECRETS OF THE KIMBERLEY

Making the invisible Visible

Synopsis 1

Scientists and artists attempt to explore the isolated Kimberley marine region through some innovative photographic techniques and randomly discover a new natural world.

The Kimberley is one of the most ecologically diverse areas of the world. Its marine ecosystems are amongst the world's most pristine. At 424500 square kilometres the Kimberley is bigger than Italy or Germany and it has over 3000 uninhabited islands.

This documentary takes you on an expedition into this remote region with a team made up of an artist and scientists. What they find redefines their values and how they view the natural world. It showcases one of the last great wilderness areas through incredible wildlife-great and small.

Synopsis 2

On board the “Olivia J” under the command of a veteran fisherman a group of scientists and a photographer embark on a journey into one of Australia's least explored marine frontiers-The Kimberley. What they find redefines their values and how they view the natural world. It showcases one of the last great wilderness areas through incredible wildlife-great and small.

This is a look at a wild space from an angle rarely seen. The Kimberley is a place lost in time. No towns, no roads, no people. At times it has a chilling sense of loneliness and silence. A world without humans. In a strange paradox, if you look, it is teaming with life. All you need to do is get there and wait. From the mighty blow of a giant humpback whale to the crackles of armies of micro crabs feeding, this is a showcase of life great and small.This film highlights the rare species in this region through some amazing photography and describes the marine science being undertaken to improve our understanding of this incredible part of Western Australia.

Tags

Kimberley, Western Australia, Wildlife, Marine Science, Photography, Anthropomorphic, expeditions adventure, corals discovery channel, NGC, National Geographic, Geo, Nature, Wildlife photography, Humpback Whales, Whales calf, whale birthing waters, coral reefs, discovery, hyperspectral surveys, geonewmedia. Palace, Environmental Film Festival Melbourne, EFFM, Trevor Almeida.

Biography

Trevor Almeida-Producer

Trevor has been producing films, video and interactive media for over 18 years. His past documentary commissions include Western Australia’s Marine Environment, Carbon Dioxide and Our Coral Reefs. In 2010 his independent film My Home the Block was selected for the F4 program at the AIDC and has screened on the cable network through NITV. He worked as an  editor for 100meter films in Japan on their award winning feature film Firefly Dreams. He currently runs Geonewmedia, a production company focusing on science, innovation and technology digital media.

FAQ of Trevor Almeida during the making of Secrets Of The Kimberley.

How did the Secrets of the Kimberley come about and how was it financed?

This is not the kind of film we at Geonewmedia usually make.

We usually make environmental films, training films, business profiles promoting science, environment and innovation. We usually work with scientists, Indigenous communities and sustainability industries to promote their vision or products.

The Secrets of The Kimberley however was basically an independent production unsupported by any government funds or industry yet we realise it is a privilege to visit this country and make this film. The expedition and film was funded by research, a private investor and Geonewmedia. Our challenge was to reveal the values of The Kimberley Marine Region - in Art , Science and Indigenous Knowledge.

What motivated you to make this film.

I was born in Kenya and as a child loved watching wild animals in their natural environment. But when I got to the Kimberley I was totally moved with how remote and vast this region is. As we flew over we literally saw the road end.

Scientists believe the Kimberley is one of the most ecologically diverse areas of the world and its marine ecosystems are amongst the world’s most pristine. Surveys of a mere 3 islands have recorded 280 species of coral.

We have only just begun to understand its true value. I just wanted to bring this amazing region to people who cannot afford to reach it .

What did you discover from the experience of shooting the film

It still gives me shivers!

Shooting this film in the Kimberley made me realise that a lot of Australians will never experience the unique and outstanding wildlife they have in their own back yard.

Unfortunately the Kimberley is " out of reach " for most of us. This means out of sight, out of mind and that it a real shame. Getting to the Kimberley is only available to a privileged few. It can cost us $10000 just to get on a special vessel to take you there. There are no roads, the nearest air strip is on a private mine site. You need a special vessel and an experienced captain to navigate there through the unsurveyed waters and giant tides. This is indigenous country and remains one of the planets most uninhabited regions.

I was lucky to spend some time there while on the Olivia J. What we found was a unique wild world of creatures great and small.

What were the challenges in making such a film

Actually you need to be always ready when making an expedition documentary.

The biggest challenge was the giant tides. Because there vary so dramatically twice a day up to 12 meters it made getting in and out of reefs precarious and dangerous. As a result the schedule of the scientists would change all the time and we would need to re plan our sequences on the fly. Several time we would set up our time lapse cameras or shots and we would need to escape on short notice because of ruff weather or the tide was approaching too fast. A lot of the areas are unsurveyed so we had no maps to help us. Generally the camera crew had to be up before light and end after dusk so there was no time for sleep. We did most of our preparation in the afternoon when the sun was too hot for photography.

How did you manage safety

Thank goodness we had no heroes. Safety came first because if you had an accident it would be a nightmare. Helicopter would be the only viable rescue and that would take time. The rocks faces are jagged and sharp, so it would be easy to slip and slice your self. That said we did have some injuries. The second camera twisted his leg but thankfully nothing serious.

Reviews-The Secrets of the Kimberley

“ Amazing extremely well done.. very emotive” S Jackson- Innate Ecology. “Really powerful. I was moved by it! ” S Young.

“The confluence of art and science looking at an issue as important as the Kimberley….a brilliant piece of work” - R Wyatt-Think Impact.

“I loved the photography. The interplay of science and photography…Skillfully told story.” C Tafford -Alpha Green.

“People have to see it . The Kimberley is awesome!” A Foran -Hagar Australia.

Production stills.

As they begin to farewell Lewis De Souza ... tributes

NELSON DIAS: So sad to hear about the demise of Lewis, a friendship that started in primary school.

Lewis lived just off Forest Road, nearly opposite the Sikh Union club, and our family home was on Forest Road just a short distance away. We were constantly in each other's homes or venturing into City Park, constantly playing and enjoying the thrills of that forested park. It was not at all dangerous in those days.

As time moved on and changes came to the country and I departed for the UK in 1965, not quite sure what I would find in this new land.

In 1985 I was working in Saudi Arabia and we got a lot of overseas leaves in the job. I decided to pay Kenya a visit.

At that time I was working in northern Saudi, near the Jordanian border, at a place called Tabuk.

I drove down to Jeddah, a few hundred kilometres away, and paid a visit to a travel agent. I explained what I wanted and he came up with a proposal, a stay in the Ambassador hotel and flights etc. I paid him a retainer for his services.

I returned to Tabuk and a couple of days before my scheduled departure I was back in Jeddah. I went to my travel agent and to get my ticket. He informed me that my ticket was fine but my hotel booking was cancelled. Apparently somebody (Lewis) came into the agent’s office and looked at the list of prospective visitors to Kenya.

Having checked the list and seeing my name he immediately cancelled my hotel booking, and informed the agent that I would be staying with him!

When I got to Embakasi and got through immigration and customs formalities I walked out of the terminal and there to greet me was Lewis, beaming with a welcoming smile.

When we got to his home I met the charming Antoinette and the lovely, 8 or 9 years old, Heather-Gail.

I thoroughly enjoyed my self with the de Souzas’ and it was an unforgettable trip to Kenya. The game parks, the night clubs and G.I. visits, all brought happy memories of Nairobi.

I will always remember Lewis, larger than life, with that constant smile on his beaming face, a memory I will cherish forever.

R.I.P. Lewis, a really great man who loved his family, his community and his country. I shall miss you.

Lewis De Souza...
#Visit_Africa_Limited

"#Mshumaa_mkali_huwaka_nje"

SAVIO RIBEIRO: A pioneering spirit has passed on to the Heavens, and now a brilliant Star shines in the dark African Sky....

Kenya has lost an entrepreneurial, passionate and pioneering leader in the  Safari and Tourism sector with his passing on 23rd April 2019.

Nairobi based Lewis of Goan origin and roots, with his enterprising spirit, had started his now well established and reputed Tourism & Wild Life Safari firm "#Visit_Africa" over three decades ago. He was a firm believer in supporting sustainable tourism and keenly followed wild life conservation practices...

I had the priveledge of meeting Lewis at one of the Tourism trade exhibitions - the Arabian Travel Mart #(ATM) in Dubai over a decade ago and he clearly came across and was seen as an affable and friendly man  - he was there promoting Kenyan Tourism & Safaris...

We exchanged a few phrases in Kshwahili, connected on common Goan acquaintances (me having lived in neighboring Uganda in the sixties) and had some happy laughs...

Definately, #Lewis will very dearly & fondly be missed by all who knew him... He has left behind a true legacy.

My heartfelt condolences to his very enthusiastic & enterprising daughter Heather-Gail who has since a few years, been at the helm of affairs at #Visit_Africa and Antoinette - his beloved wife and  'the rock' behind him.

#Kwaheri_rafiki_yangu👋🌿🛐
#Furahia_pamoja_na_malaika_mbinguni.. 🙏

Farewell My Brother Lewis
Today you are a picture in my memory.
God has you in his keeping and we have you in our hearts.
Before our eyes, you grew weaker every day.
We did all we could to comfort and save you.
I hate to think that you had to endure such silent suffering but you did not complain.
Your sad eyes have left a stain in my mind.
I want to know what crossed your mind the silent words and looks while you listen to what we said and sometimes looked at us with a smile.
Now God has taken you away from us all and memories are all that we have.
We shared a unique relationship of conflict and love at the same time - But no one dares to hurt you - But it was OK if I do.
I will wear your memory proudly. Rest in peace with the angels above my beloved brother Lewis.
Brothers can never be parted - and I say Goodbye now till we meet someday again.
Your loving brother
Simon

Cyprian Fernandes: Since April 23, Chief Joker Steve Fernandes has been joined by an equally famous Joker Lewis De Souza. In life, both got up to lots, lots and lots of laughs, after all, they were natural born jokers. There were others waiting to greet Lewis: Xavier Almeida, Tony "Fats" Pereira, Ben and Julie Pereira, Ivy Fernandes ... and thousands and thousands of other who he counted amongst his friends on earth.

Those of us who remain behind, temporarily, mourn his passing, our loss and the emptiness he leaves behind for the two people he loved most in the world: Antoinette and Heather. Each night we will offer our prayers that they continue with courage in the ways that the pact they made with Lewis demands of them. I know that their love and help from Lewis above will see them through.

His friends (both near and far), employees, business associates and Goan at large bow their heads in silent prayer because Lewis was a good man ... he was a generous man and he showered us all with his goodness ... he was a kind man ... he shrouded us with help (in kind, in care and by doing whatever was needed) ... he was a loving man ... there was no hate, no violence, no anger ... he was a visionary in business ... he showed others the way ... he was many things to many people ... he was also the guardian and saviour of flora and fauna ... as soon as he mended his ways, he learned to care and nature the wildlife and flora of his birth country which he loved so much.

We are in mourning because we have lost such a treasure.

Have no fear though, Heather wears his mantle and she will continue his legacy with pride and courage because His wish is her wish.

I hear you in the roar of a lion

I see you kicking up dust in the company of a head of elephants

I hear your purring in the gentle moans of a leopard

I hear your name as I watch the Cheetah racing through the Savannah

I see you pulling funny faces as the buffalo shakes its mighty head

The birds dance in the sky, filling it with the song of your name

Everywhere, the country you love, shouts your name.

You live, my friend, always.

Olaf Kenneth Ribeiro, grandson of the greatest Kenya Goan legend

Olaf Kenneth Ribeiro, an extraordinary man

Olaf next to one of the oldest trees in his neck of the woods

Olaf Kenneth Ribeiro was born in Nairobi Kenya, the son of Dr Manuel & Angel Ribeiro de Santana.  His siblings include the late Dr Gerry Ribeiro – Cancer researcher at the Christie Holt Radium Hospital in Manchester, UK, the late Hubert de Santana – writer and poet, Toronto, Canada and sister Teresa Quadros presently living in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

His grandfather Dr Rosendo Ribeiro was the first medical doctor in Kenya arriving on a Dhow in 1900. He made his medical rounds on a zebra. The only person to have ever tamed a zebra!

THIS IS HIS STORY

I went to the Doctor Ribeiro Goan School in Nairobi and later transferred to the Technical High School to finish my secondary education. I then went to Britain to finish my pre-college curriculum. Then received a scholarship from the Kenya Government to attend Egerton Agricultural College, Njoro, Kenya where I also managed the 1500 acre farm splitting the animal husbandry duties with a colleague while I managed the agronomy aspects of the farm.

After graduation, I worked at the Grasslands Research Station in Kitale.  I then received an AID scholarship to attend West Virginia University to study Plant Pathology and returned to the Plant Breeding Station, Njoro the after obtaining my Master’s degree. After a year of working at this location decided to go back to the US to obtain my PhD degree in Plant Pathology. I was then hired by the University of California Riverside to work on a particular disease of Citrus and Avocado.  I became a world authority on this pathogen –Phytophthora. This pathogen originally caused the potato blight in Ireland in the 1850s.  Because of the importance of this pathogen to agriculture worldwide, wrote two textbooks on this pathogen.

I got involved with plants through the influence of my mother who was an avid gardener and taught me much about growing plants. However, I was always curious about trees and how they managed to go so big and survive so many years. I so realized that just about everybody I met loved trees and the calming effect they had on people. However, everyone took them for granted. It was much later that I realized no one knew how to diagnose tree problem – or how to treat diseased trees. I decided that with my background in plant pathology I should develop techniques to save trees. This has been successful resulting in my being asked to give seminars across the US and in Britain and Hungary.

Meanwhile, I realized that saving trees also clashed with developers who wanted to remove trees for their developments. This resulted in many contentious exchanges with developers and the city. In a couple of cases resulting in taking the city to court to save trees! Also arranged for demonstrations to save trees! My campaign to save trees continues. After some 20 years of campaigning, finally got the city to pass a tree ordinance to protect important and historic trees.

Also, I give tree walks to show people the importance of trees. Last year with the help of a computer specialist, tagged the trees downtown with an IT address that people could scan and get information on their cell phone about that particular tree.

Presently completing a book on “The Historic, Champion & Unique trees of Bainbridge Island”.

Salute to a tree legend

History's Heroes Feb 2019 Speech for Olaf

I am so honoured to be here tonight to honour a very special islander.  Dr Ribeiro has been active in our community in meaningful ways that restore and protect our island's most vital natural resources. In my opinion, Dr Ribeiro is a genuine example of Bainbridge Island's 'old guard.' These engaged citizens, like Olaf, stand watch as sentinels for our quality of life, and as advocates for systems-thinking which is the gateway towards ecological health for all.

Dr Ribeiro was born in East Kenya and had an international career in plant pathology before he arrived on our island in August of 1981. His life-long passion as a plant pathologist and horticulturist are highly valued among islanders, and our city government as well. Dr Ribeiro has been able to use his vast experience as a scientist, steward and educator to inform and rescue many heritage trees on our island.

We oft regard Dr Ribeiro as Bainbridge Island's real-life Lorax. In this wildly popular Dr Seuss children's story, the passionate creature called The Lorax "speaks for the trees." In all the years many of us have had the honour to know Dr. Ribeiro, or as we call him, Olaf, he certainly embodies the spirit of giving voice to the voiceless, much like the whiskered creature that rises from the stump to question and halt an act of deforestation.

Here on Bainbridge Island, we don't have any native Truffula trees, but we do have trees — and lots of them! Environmental, educational and cultural organizations such as IslandWood, the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum, and Sustainable Bainbridge have for several years collaborated with Dr Ribeiro on many community events.  You might be familiar with Olaf’s wildly popular Historic Tree Walks of Downtown Winslow, and I gather – a tree walks to Crystal Springs soon too?  Olaf was instrumental in organizing our island's first-ever Earth Month Bainbridge Island, now an annual event, that serves as an umbrella for much non-profit organization’s programs about Arbor Day and Earth Day.   

Our island needs advocates and a citizenry that is informed and engaged in the protection of our natural resources. Dr Ribeiro walks his own talk every day as he collaborates with groups and individuals to think about intentional growth, lobbies City Hall for stronger protections for trees, plants saplings in our public parks, and like a mad-scientist, mixes up microbe-mycelial cocktails to save heritage trees in Downtown Winslow by healing their root systems. His generosity is bar-none. He gives from his heart, he's tenacious, and most importantly he loves Bainbridge Island.

Dr Ribeiro is certainly one of History’s Heroes.  I’m also proud he is my mentor and my friend.

His expertise, generosity of spirit and humour inspire us every day.

Thank you, Olaf!

Christina Doherty

Olaf K. Ribeiro

B.S. (Agr.), M.S. (Plant Pathology), PhD (Plant Pathology & Genetics). Diploma in Tropical Agriculture.

Certification - Community College Teaching Credentials, State of California (Biological and Botanical Sciences.

Certification of Achievement: U. S. Department of State, Agency for International Development.

Personnel Training Certificate: EPA Good Laboratory Practice Standards.

Over 30 years experience in diagnosing plant & tree health problems both, in the U.S and overseas.

Published a “Sourcebook of the genus Phytophthora (1978) 420 pp. Presently used in over 70 countries.

Co-author with Dr Don Erwin (University of California), of the book Phytophthora Diseases Worldwide published by APS Press (1996). 592 pp. 2^nd. Edition 2005. Presently used in over 80 countries.

Published the book  “Composts, Amendments and Nutrient in relation to Increasing or Decreasing Plant Pathogens” 2018. 208 pages. Available on Amazon.com.

Published over 50 scientific papers in refereed international journals. Also published several popular articles on Plant Diseases and on the Dynamic Interactions between Microbes, Soil and Roots.  

Invited speaker at numerous National & International meetings and conferences.

Presented seminars to Arborists nationally and internationally on Tree Health.

Recognition:

History Hero Award presented by the Bainbridge Historical Museum.

Hometown Hero Award presented by the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra.

Environmentalist Award – Assoc. of Bainbridge Communities 2015

Education Award from the International Society of Arboriculture, PNW Chapter. 2010

Wall Street Journal Front Page – Oct. 13, 2006. God Can Make Tree, But Olaf Ribeiro Can Save its Life.

NBC Today Show- July 17, 2007. Tree Doc –  An American Story. Bob Dotson.

Featured on Channel 5 Evening Magazine for saving historic cherry trees. October 2007. 

Cherry Blossom Award by the Consul General of Japan for work in saving historic cherry trees. April 18, 2008

Featured as one of the Island Stewards in,  In Praise of Island Stewards  by Joel Sackett. 1998.                    

Former owner of Ribeiro Plant Lab, Inc. an Agr/Horticultural/ Arboricultural Consulting & Plant Disease Diagnostic Company based on Bainbridge Island, WA and of Ribeiro Tree Evaluations, Inc. Now owner of Ribeiro Consultants.

Member of the:
American Phytopathological Society, International Society of Plant Pathology, International Society of Arboriculture, Sigma XI (Research Honorary), Former Member of the Certifying Board of the American Registry of Certified Professionals in Agronomy, Crops & Soils. Murden Cove Preservation Association (President) 

Asange: to disagree, or not to disagree///

APRIL 24, 2019

Disdain and Dignity: An Old (Anti-Imperialist) Story

by SUSAN BABBITT (From Counterpunch)

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Photograph by Joshua Frank

One good comes from Assange’s arrest, as many have noted: Wikileaks revelations are in the news. We hear the sneering at “dead bastards”. We hear the disdain.

There are truths which, if understood intellectually, are not understood fully. Imperialism is one. We know it intellectually without knowing it. In the Wikileaks video (2010), we feel it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0

Death is another such truth. Everyone knows everyone will die but no one believes they will. If they did, they’d live differently.

It happens to Pierre in War and Peace. He is lined up to be shot and is spared. The young man before him dies. Pierre wanted meaning but now “this sought-for purpose of life … did not and could not exist.” Its absence gave him “awareness of freedom which … constituted happiness”.

He’s Napoleon’s prisoner, a rich intellectual, walking with bloodied broken feet. The freedom Tolstoy refers to is known in many traditions. It’s about thinking. You don’t think clearly, about the world, driven by self-importance.

Or disdain. It’s why José Martí, in his famous “Our America” (1892), warned Latin Americans not to respond to US disdain with “futile hatreds”.  He knew that disdain. So did others: independistas.   They wrote about it.  It wasn’t merely intellectual.

“The disdain of the formidable neighbour”, Martí wrote, is “our America’s greatest danger”. But the response is for “our America to show herself as she is”. He urged Cubans toward “a discreet and unswerving pride, for its dignity as a republic”.

Dignity is valuing oneself as human. It is another idea – like death – that needs experiential, not just intellectual understanding. Some truths must be felt. The reason is: What is felt transforms, and when that happens, we see differently. Perspective changes. We see what we didn’t see before.

North American feminists know this. Audre Lorde describes “how acutely and fully we can feel in the doing”.[i] Through the body, we can go “beyond the encouraged mediocrity” limiting imagination.

It just won’t do, Lorde insists, for feminism to offer “a shift of characters in the same weary drama”.

Lorde convinced me, in the 80s, of feminism’s radicality. Poets Adrienne Rich and Audre Lorde aimed for re-envisioning what it means to be human, not just what it means to be a woman.

That vision is elusive. A new book by radical feminist, Eve Ensler, shows “how to be free”.[ii]  It is an account of abuse: shocking and moving. About healing, though, it is a “shift of characters in the same weary drama”.

It is a letter from Ensler’s father, dead 31 years.  In imagination, Ensler gives him “the will and the words to cross the boundary … so that I can finally be free”. It is a “most thorough accounting” of abuse.

The abuser tells his victim her “trust, her force of light, her goodness, her beauty, were too much for me and so I violated, invaded, smashed and disfigured”. It is true that confessing, as Raskolnikov does in Crime and Punishment, is ultimately freeing. But Raskolnikov confesses his own deeds.

Stories about abuse must be told. However, there is also a story about freedom that involves control. We control adversity like Ahab tried to control the whale: The individual stands tall, against the wind. Brecht found that image everywhere in European theatre. It’s seductive. But it’s not the only way.

Martí knew this story of individual freedom. He warned Latin Americans not to be “slaves of Liberty!”. He didn’t reject it for moral reasons. He rejected it because it’s not a way to know the world. He likened it to an oyster in its shell, mistaking the shell for the world. You build a story about yourself for an entire lifetime and when the story coheres, and fits your expectations, it’s called healing.

It doesn’t work for “dead bastards” sneered at from sophisticated helicopters. The abusers’ “most thorough accounting” can’t be imagined by the disdained because the abusers have no words for the disdained. They’re non-persons.

But that’s not the point. It is, instead, that such a view of individual freedom promotes ignorance. Ironically, from the realm of death, Ensler’s father has “nothing but the reflection of what lives inside me. What is hell? Hell is oneself”. So said countless philosophers, who cared about freedom, including Sartre, whose existentialism convinced many they only need to choose – whatever– to be free.

It doesn’t work, not even for the powerful. “Everything is outside, everything, including ourselves: outside, in the world, together with others. It is not in I don’t know what kind of retreat that we discover ourselves”.[iii] And it is not by looking inside finding words we want to hear, giving them to others.

It feels good. Philosopher, Charles Taylor, describes human flourishing as fullness: Life feels “fuller, richer, deeper … more what it should be’’. But Victor Hugo described the same feeling as “darkly radiant”. Hugo cared about freedom. He knew we feel “fuller, richer” etc. by ignoring truths: about ourselves and the society that makes us.

“Whoever doesn’t weep doesn’t see”, wrote Hugo. He and Martí shared a commitment: truth.  So, when the father apologizes: “Let me risk fragility. Let me be rendered vulnerable. Let me be lost. Let me be still”, he might speak for all. Martí urged Latin Americans in such a direction: Truth about the human condition and what that means for how we know others.

It is not by imagining words we want them to say.  We want truth, not dreams, said Martí. For freedom: of Tolstoy’s sort. And Adrienne Rich urged activists to “imagine and claim wider horizons . . . rather than rehearse the land-locked details of personal quandaries or the price for which the house next door just sold”.

Maybe North American feminism can get back to that. Maybe Assange will help.

Notes.

[i] “Uses of the erotic”, Sister Outsider (Crossing Press, 1984).

[ii] The Apology (Bloomsbury, 2019). Review (May 9)

[iii] Cited in Mészáros, István, The work of Sartre(Monthly Review Press, 2012) 98.

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More articles by:SUSAN BABBITT

Susan Babbitt is author of Humanism and Embodiment (Bloomsbury 2014).