(Meeting of North American and Cuban Philosophers and Social Scientists)
By Peggy Rivage-Seul

THE GREAT HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HAVANA
June 28, 2002

September 11 provided a teachable moment for both the Left and the Right in the United States. And this pedagogical moment has been seized by the Right with a vengeance. Most professors in university departments and government officials have taken this opportunity to deliver a simplistic answer to the question raised by the American public: Why do they hate us? President Bush answered the question by saying that "America is a beacon of freedom and democracy, and that is why they attacked our centers of free trade and national security." This message is carrying the day.

Those on the Left have experienced the same teachable moment. Our message has been an appeal to history, along the lines that Cliff has explained. We have disseminated this information in our classrooms, in university Teach-Ins, and in rallies like the march in Washington on April 20, which drew 75,000-100,000 people. Still our message is not hear. George Bush enjoys approval ratings of 80%. This is the bad news.

The good news is that Cliff's interpretation, which I assume most of us share, is much stronger than that given in the "Official Story." It is historical; it has internal coherence, external coherence, and above all, explanatory value. For this reason, our story is more compelling. If Philip Agee is correct that the social project in the United States is to develop critical consciousness, then we are in the right time and place to facilitate a change in the national consensus. Moreover, the numbers of those sharing our explanation on a worldwide scale far exceeds the numbers of those who endorse President Bush's story. They represent the Group of 7 or 8. We represent the Group of 6 billion.

Despite the overwhelming numbers on our side, the task before us is daunting. This is because the Group of 7 or 8 controls the microphone, to a large extent. They are successfully broadcasting their message through a servile global media, and through mainstream education. In the face of such communication power, our task as teachers is to wrest the microphone from their hands and replace them at the podium.

How do we do that? Coming together on this beautiful island, so generative of insight and new thought, we are in a position to answer that question. We are, after all, a group of radical scholars.

It seems clear to me that we have a golden opportunity to organize and network to develop strategies for making a difference in a sustained way when we return to the United States. In the post September 11 process, we have wide experience of effective organizational responses. My hope is that we will share these experiences and planning strategies in this group so that we can get the microphone in our hands and assume our rightful place at podium. If we don't take this opportunity, I'm afraid we will have missed the boat.

As I walk the streets of Havana, I am reminded of Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." Here in socialist Cuba, we are like the escapee. We are undoing the lies they have told us about the lack of democracy in Cuba. We see for ourselves the devastating effects of U.S. policy towards our fellow human beings. And like that prisoner, when we return to the United States, we will re-enter the darkness of the shadow world projected by our government, the media, and our educational system. And if we go back individualistically, we will suffer the same fate as Plato's protagonist. That is, we won't be listened to, and we will be under threat by those whose chains are formed by links of consumerism, patriotism and fear.

So, for my part, I want to suggest that we put our heads together about this crisis which presents us with both danger and opportunity. We need to seize it and as they say-organize, organize, organize.