Lewis R. Gordon – "The African Graveyard" by Yusef Komunyakaa
Lewis R. Gordon is an Afro-Jewish philosopher, political thinker, educator, and musician (drums, other percussion instruments, and piano), born on the island of Jamaica and raised in the Bronx, New York, where he studied. Evander Child's High School, played jazz in New York nightclubs and went to Lehman College through the Lehman Scholars Program (LSP) where he graduated cum laude in philosophy and political science as member of the Chi Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. His undergraduate mentor and lifelong friend, Gary Schwartz, with whom he also studied Greek and ancient literature, was director of LSP. Gordon went on to teach social studies at Lehman High School, where he founded the Second Chance Program for students truant at school, and then studied for his doctorate at Yale University, where he met his graduate mentor, the great Maurice Natanson, a phenomenologist and existentialist who was also a child of the Yiddish theater of Brooklyn, New York, and whose mentor was Alfred Schütz, the great Austrian Jewish phenomenologist of the social sciences. His doctoral committee also included the late John E. Smith and M. Shawn Copeland (now teaching at Boston College).
Gordon's research in philosophy includes African philosophy, philosophy of existence, phenomenology, social and political philosophy, philosophy of culture, aesthetics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of science. His philosophy and social theory have been the subject of numerous studies in various disciplines. Although he has written about problems of method and disciplinary training in the humanities, Gordon has more recently become interested in problems in the philosophy of physics, notably through a series of discussions and ongoing research projects with Stephon Alexander, who teaches physics at Brown University. In addition to theories of social transformation, decolonization, and liberation, Gordon's research in social and political philosophy also addresses issues of normative political concerns beyond justice.
As a public intellectual, Gordon has written for various political forums, newspapers and magazines such as Truthout (of which he is now a board member), the Pambazuka News, the Johannesburg Salon and The Mail & Guardian, and has given lectures around the world, founded and co-founded several book series, journals and organizations, including, with Paget Henry, the earlier Routledge Africana Thought series and, with Jane Anna Gordon and Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Rowman & Littlefield. Global Critical Caribbean Thought international series, the Radical Philosophy Review and the Caribbean Philosophical Association, of which he was the first president (2003 to 2008) and is now chairman of the awards committee. He also participates in several international research groups. He is a professor of philosophy with affiliations in Judaic Studies, Caribbean and Latin American Studies, and Asian and Asian American Studies at UCONN-Storrs, and his guest appointments include the European Union Visiting Chair in Philosophy at Toulouse Jean Jaurès University, France (since 2013), holder of the Nelson Mandela Distinguished Visiting Chair in Political and International Studies at the university currently known as Rhodes in South Africa (2014, 2015), visiting professor in philosophy and government at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica (since 1998) and writer-in-residence at the Birkbeck School of Law, University of London (2016). He is now also an Honorary Professor at the Humanities Unit (UHURU) at the University currently known as Rhodes in South Africa.
Gordon is married to the political theorist Jane Anna Gordon, with whom he has collaborated on various intellectual projects. He continues to play music: jazz with Matthew K. Holmes in the Hartford area, Blues without Borders (a group of UCONN colleagues), and, with his son Elijah Gordon and student Greg Doukas, ThreeGenerations (a alternative rock band). Their debut EP, Now!, is available on music sites around the world.
Gordon's research in philosophy includes African philosophy, philosophy of existence, phenomenology, social and political philosophy, philosophy of culture, aesthetics, philosophy of education, and philosophy of science. His philosophy and social theory have been the subject of numerous studies in various disciplines. Although he has written about problems of method and disciplinary training in the humanities, Gordon has more recently become interested in problems in the philosophy of physics, notably through a series of discussions and ongoing research projects with Stephon Alexander, who teaches physics at Brown University. In addition to theories of social transformation, decolonization, and liberation, Gordon's research in social and political philosophy also addresses issues of normative political concerns beyond justice.
As a public intellectual, Gordon has written for various political forums, newspapers and magazines such as Truthout (of which he is now a board member), the Pambazuka News, the Johannesburg Salon and The Mail & Guardian, and has given lectures around the world, founded and co-founded several book series, journals and organizations, including, with Paget Henry, the earlier Routledge Africana Thought series and, with Jane Anna Gordon and Nelson Maldonado-Torres, Rowman & Littlefield. Global Critical Caribbean Thought international series, the Radical Philosophy Review and the Caribbean Philosophical Association, of which he was the first president (2003 to 2008) and is now chairman of the awards committee. He also participates in several international research groups. He is a professor of philosophy with affiliations in Judaic Studies, Caribbean and Latin American Studies, and Asian and Asian American Studies at UCONN-Storrs, and his guest appointments include the European Union Visiting Chair in Philosophy at Toulouse Jean Jaurès University, France (since 2013), holder of the Nelson Mandela Distinguished Visiting Chair in Political and International Studies at the university currently known as Rhodes in South Africa (2014, 2015), visiting professor in philosophy and government at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica (since 1998) and writer-in-residence at the Birkbeck School of Law, University of London (2016). He is now also an Honorary Professor at the Humanities Unit (UHURU) at the University currently known as Rhodes in South Africa.
Gordon is married to the political theorist Jane Anna Gordon, with whom he has collaborated on various intellectual projects. He continues to play music: jazz with Matthew K. Holmes in the Hartford area, Blues without Borders (a group of UCONN colleagues), and, with his son Elijah Gordon and student Greg Doukas, ThreeGenerations (a alternative rock band). Their debut EP, Now!, is available on music sites around the world.
Please take the opportunity to connect and share this video with your friends and family if you find it useful.
