Episode 97: Bayo Akomolafe | On Whiteness, Monsters and More Than Human Openings

In deeply mysterious times I can think of no finer human to help us consider other ways of seeing, thinking and responding to the crises than Bayo Akomolafe who we welcome back for Episode 97.Bayo is a philosopher, writer, post-activist, professor of psychology and executive director of the Emergence Network.Bayo was guest in Episode 66 and this conversation was recorded live in a Becoming Crew online learning event in June this year .As we witness mythic scale events unfold almost weekly, this conversation feels more timely now than it did 5 months ago when it was recorded.Bayo’s words and thinking continue to ferment in such profound ways.Having sat on it for a few months, we’ve added some Spaceship Earth sonic love and I feel this is a really potent and helpful offering for this moment .Bayo is without doubt one of the most important thinkers, writers and speakers in these times of unravelling and one of the most humble, kind and funny humans with it.The rarest of combinations.He invites us to see and notice differently, to consider things which often feel invisible, beyond our individualised ways of seeing and yet perhaps, might be critical noticings for finding ways through our collective stuckness.But only if we’re prepared to venture into the cracks as Bayo might say.We invited Bayo to come to this conversation to help us explore and better understand the terrain of ‘whiteness’  - whiteness not as skin colour but perhaps as the invisible controlling logic of the systems, structures and deeply engrained ways we act out everyday enmeshed in the pervasiveness of capitalist modernity.We cover :- The terrain of whiteness- Desensitisation and grief- Moving towards cracks and openings- The limits of systems theory- Post-Activism- Cultivating different ways of responding to these times- How alternative solutions often continue to serve dominant systems and infrastructure- Learning to live well with loss and uncertaintyThis is a deep, rich, creative and vulnerable conversation about the trouble we are in as a species, brimming with provocation and insight to sit with in this moment.I’d suggest this is essential fertiliser for heading off the highway of modernity and making new moves.This was a live online session with our community and includes some beautiful questions towards the end which Bayo responds to.We play out with a new song from Natalie Fee called Winter. Get full access to Becoming Crew at becomingcrew.substack.com/subscribe