Article Title
Rod Bush: Passing the Torch for Love, Liberation, and Freedom
Abstract
This essay authored by Loretta Chin, titled “Rod Bush: Passing the Torch for Love, Liberation, and Freedom,” is a chapter in the anthology Rod Bush: Lessons from a Radical Black Scholar on Liberation, Love, and Justice, edited by Melanie E. L. Bush, and co-edited by Rose M. Brewer, Daniel Douglas, Loretta Chin, and Robert Newby (2019). Chin reflects on Rod Bush as an exemplar of how kindness, compassion, humility, and love for one’s fellow human being can manifest in thoughts, words, and actions that can change the world for the better, one person or deed at a time; not just in large shows of grandiose demonstrations, but in the everyday decisions that each one of us must make in how we conduct our lives. In Chin’s view, it is about how those decisions have the power to transform not just ourselves, but the world around us, and how each and every one of us has a responsibility to stand up for what is right as a declaration of who we are and what we stand for as a liberatory and just process for all. This is a part of Rod Bush’s story, but it is also a lesson and story that can be adapted by us all.