Article Title
From Tensions in the American Dream to “As the World Turns”: Lessons from Rod Bush’s Last Projects
Abstract
This essay authored by Melanie E. L. Bush, titled “From Tensions in the American Dream to “As the World Turns”: Lessons from Rod Bush’s last projects,” 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). The chapter engages an examination of the principles and lessons embedded in Rod Bush’s last two research and writing projects. The first is a co-authored book titled Tensions in the American Dream: Rhetoric, Reverie or Reality (with Melanie E. L. Bush) which explored the meaning of nation, race and the United States both from an analytic perspective and one drawn from ethnographic research conducted with over 100 people. The second project was designed in response to the findings from Tensions, as was seeking an understanding of efforts underway to build a better world. Unfortunately, Rod Bush took ill and passed before actually being able to start that research. The lessons outlined here speak to how love and liberation were embedded in the very questions being asked, the methodology and ultimately the analysis.