(NAME-MCE) keynote

[Garcia Jr, Antonio]

What are we looking for in a keynote speaker?  Are we looking for 
someone to tell us about the best practice or what we should do 
according to research?  Are we seeking someone to illuminate the 
political and ideological struggle?  Or are we looking for someone with 
something to say?  Keynote speakers should be passionate, invigorating, 
and speakers who evoke emotion about the state of education in all 
areas (urban, rural, and suburban) and demographics (race, sex, 
language, SES, etc
).   Does a keynote have to be published, popular, 
or charge outrageous fees?  Moreover, a true speaker for the “cause” of 
social justice and egalitarian idealism should command only the ears 
and not the money of the individuals to whom they speak.  Our politics 
and emotions surrounding the world must be understood that the cause is 
bigger than one’s self.  We must look to someone with a Freirean idea 
of dialog and emancipation.  The keynote speaker I want to see is an 
individual who understands what is needed and is willing to put the 
needs of the oppressed, marginalized, and essentially all those outside 
the hegemonic machine of whiteness before him/herself.  The missionary 
zeal that surrounds movies depicting inner city education like 
“Dangerous Minds” and “Freedom Writers” still leaves audiences with a 
notion of white people saving the world.  Even if we were to get Jaime 
Escalante as a Keynote speaker and applaud the movie “Stand and 
Deliver” we would be making the same error in judgment because he is 
known to be politically conservative, for English only, and so on.  
Popular culture paints a picture of what is presumed to be real with 
such popular movies.  We have been cautioned by Henry Giroux, Richard 
Dyer, Stuart Hall, Peter McLaren, and others about the manifestation of 
whiteness on the big screen and its hallucinatory representation to the 
masses.
So find me the person who no one knows except the students they teach.  
Find the person who is the quiet hero of a small school.  Find the 
person who may never have a movie made about them, but will live 
forever in the memories of his/her students.  Most importantly, find 
someone who generates hope in the hearts of educators and academics.  I 
want to be inspired not star-struck.
De la gente pa’la gente! “From the people for the people!”
Antonio Garcia
Indiana University