The Brotherwise Dispatch VOL.2, ISSUE#2, MARCH-MAY/2010
This, our second issue since we reloaded, almost got scrapped out of my initial annoyance that our ‘culture jamming’ reformist allies at ADBUSTERS have also put together an issue of their magazine focused on what they term the ‘birth of the altermodern’. Rather than focus on how our magazines serve noticeably different audiences or how we have very distinct visions of radical change; I’m just going to give them their props for being on point and encourage the apparent intellectual solidarity which seems to be surfacing between us. We all have different roles to play in the struggle, so it's all good.
Here at the BROTHERWISE DISPATCH, we find ourselves concerned with whether the lasting cultural and discursive residue of postmodern theory is still relevant as a source of critique, if it ever was, against the ongoing march of western imperialist globalization and advanced neo-liberal capitalism which has continued unabated, even in spite of the recent global politico-economic crisis. It is our understanding that among other ‘grand narratives’ which have been displaced and challenged, the ‘grand narrative’ of the nation-state as the ultimate horizon of the common social good and human well-being has yet to be transcended and until this socio-historical unity is surpassed, the specter of postmodernity will remain dominant.
In this issue we’ll be exclusively publishing one of my philosophical essays ,[[KEEPIN' IT HYPERREAL N*GGA!!]], which tackles some postmodern concerns from an ‘existential liberationist’ perspective, about the whole NIGGER/N-WORD controversy which erupted in 2007 after Michael Richards went on a racist tirade. A rant which then inspired the NAACP and other respectable organizations and socially responsible activists who claim to behave in the best interests of Black people to ‘Abolish the N-Word’.
We’ll also be revisiting some rich theoretical work from [[bell hooks]], [[STEVEN BEST and DOUGLAS KELLNER]] dealing with and examining the ‘Postmodern turn’ and a critical essay by [[SLAVOJ ZIZEK]] which focuses on Haiti and sheds some light on the socio-political conditions and historical context which still informs the current Haitian tragedy.
Also for this issue, our INTERVIEWS & EXCLUSIVES section features an [[interview of JEAN BAUDRILLARD]].
Peace,
-A. Shahid Stover – Editor-in-Chief