Tenille Jensen Blog 9

I belive that what affects the community directly should be public knowledge within that community. It is their right. This is an interesting question and one that I specifically addressed in my “Imagine Me Teaching My Community” project. I won’t go into the full details (because I haven’t presented yet) but my documentary surrounds the story of communist China and the struggle to obtain public knowledge that has subsequently become private knowledge based on the government’s ability to mold the way information is provided to the public. The government also has the power to invade the private lives of citizens based solely on their discretion. Through strict forms of censorship, much of China’s global image, it’s history, its societal structure, and collective ideologies are strictly defined and regulated through the government’s power. As Spivak explains in her article, knowledge is never innocent and tends to depict the interest of its producers who are the power holders in society. When the intentions aren’t selfless and for the good of all, it can lead to corrunption. This can be a very dangerous recipie when public knowledge becomes manipulated in order to shape the way people think, feel, and imagine. The community then becomes fundamentally based on deceitful relationships and are colonized mentally.

We are fortunate enough to live in a nation where we have the right to knowledge, the ability to express ourselves freely and the right to openly state our beliefs and opinions. Although there is plenty of knowledge that might not be disclosed by the government for the safety and security of the nation, I situate myself within the realm of freedom – I do believe I am free. I am free to live a private life and I am also free to public knowledge that directly affects me as a citizen of this nation. Many people in this world do not have either of these priveledges: the ability to live a private life and the ability to public knowledge without bias and manipulation from the government and other powerful sources. I don’t believe a community can be a true community without either priveldge – it becomes a prison.