♪♪ Bauman: So, y'all, thank you for being here.

This really is a rehearsal, but it's our last rehearsal together.

This piece that I want to share is part of a larger project, initiative around that started around black wealth.

And one of those kinds of black wealth that's been important to me is mentorship.

And that funneled down to thinking about a particular mentor of mine, Dr. William R. Jones.

He was a black-liberation scholar, a theologian, a philosopher, and he really was preoccupied with equity and also with creative problem-solving and repair.

You know, this is the world that we've got.

How do we make it better?

He used to always say, "Fuss, cuss, and discuss."

In other words, "Don't take my word for it."

But he would say, "Well, give me an example."

And so, in this piece, we're trying to do a bit of fuss, cussing, and discussing and also missing him.

I'm thinking about, what does it mean to have a mentor, and what does it mean to be the person left?

So, this thing has been growing and changing, and it's not done yet.

But I really honor where it is.

Are you all ready to take it in?

Woman: Yes.

Okay, here we go.

♪♪ ♪♪ Dr. Jones: Camus' response to political murder is fastidious itself.

Sartre's response to political... Sartre's response is... Dr. Jones: Dirty hands.

Dirty hands.

Dr. Jones: What Sartre argues is that that approach doesn't change the institution of structural oppression or systematic murder.

...or systematic murder.

Dr. Jones: In fact, if you carry that activity...

If you carry that activity... Dr. Jones: ...the end result would be the elimination of the revolution itself.

...the revolution itself.

Dr. Jones: His argument is... His argument is... Dr. Jones: ...more in line with... ...more in line with... Dr. Jones: It is permissible to use at least the same amount of force against the oppressor as the oppressor uses to keep people oppressed.

And that, to me, puts it in a somewhat different kind of structure than what... ...against the oppressor... Dr. Jones: Camus to me comes a little closer to Martin.

If I were to make a distinction, if I had to make a comparison in terms of, for instance, black revolutionaries, Camus to me comes closer to Martin Luther King, and Sartre comes closer to Malcolm.

So, give me what Malcolm X is...

But if you understand violence, I don't think you can define violence except contextually.

I don't think we can define violence... Dr. Jones: What do we mean by violence?

Violence is, first, an ideological concept.

I have to say it.

♪♪ All I'm saying, you can't define violence a priori, and I think that was the primary problem, the key.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Applause ] ♪♪ ♪♪