The Pseudo Event I attended was the We Speak! lecture. The purpose of this Pseudo Event was to focus on how literature is used as a traditional tool for collective empowerment of African American people. The presenters were David Shakes, a playwright and artistic public intellectual. The other was Dr. Gaya Shakes, a cultural critic. I went to this event for another class, African American Literature but the event possessed the characteristics of a Pseudo event that Boorstin outlined. The first part that Boorstin talks about is how the events aren’t spontaneous, they are planned. The pseudo event I went to was in fact planned for several weeks. It also had a flyer that came with it.2011 GATHERING OF GRIOTS LECTURE in African American Culture – flyer
The second characteristic is that the event is planted primarily for the immediate purpose of being reported or reproduced. Therefore its occurrence is arranged for the convenience of the reporting or reproducing media. At the even I went to I don’t see it being on any news, be in the newspaper, or on any radio show. It was held primarily to help students gain a greater understanding of African American Literature. There wasn’t any cameras or reporters. The only “reporters” were those in the audience, and those that took notes. Another characteristic of a pseudo event has to do with if its relation to the underlying reality of the situation is ambiguous. Its interests arise largely from this very ambiguity. This event was ambiguous. I had no idea of what to expect. On the flyer it says “there is power in the word”. What word? That was what I wondered before I went to the event. It didn’t talk so much about a word, as it talked about the fact that to be human you need to know how to read and write. This was interesting, it grabbed my attention. What did that mean, to be human? It meant that in order to really understand a persons background, and where they came from, they need to be able to learn about it. They need to be able to read and write, so they can write about whatever their interested in. The last characteristic is that it is intended to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The whole flyer is about speaking, and how it is a huge part of African American Culture. I didn’t eve think about it until I looked at the flyer, then I really thought to myself how literature is used to help people express what their feeling.
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