I think this engagement with @jatella is interesting & one I’m all too familiar with. I want to give credence to the fact that engaging him can be “uncomfortable as I’ve been there.” Not just bc of how y’all claim he engages, but bc we are forced to confront our own limitations.

I think this is why he is constantly saying “just say you don’t understand.” Because often we want to assert an authority like we are equals in conversations that we really don’t know enough about. This is why I don’t believe real study and engagement can happen on twitter.

Study requires vulnerability to not only say “I don’t understand that” but to also say “I did read it, and it didn’t make sense to me.” Your hope is that someone would respond to that with care and intention, as a teacher should. But here’s the thing—

Nobody on Twitter is your teacher or has to commit to your transformation. Therefore, when you challenge someone’s thought on this app and the individual exposes your limitation on the topic, it seems harsh. But it’s not because you asked to be engaged not taught.

This doesn’t mean Jatella’s posts are always “right.” But, he does have full reign to assert that you’re not engaging what he’s actually saying because you don’t have the tools to. We understand why people don’t just have those tools. What is unclear though is why—

More people won’t just commit to developing them. Learning presumes that you don’t know. That way you don’t have to mask the shame of not knowing, you can just learn. I think many folks engage Jatella as a way to “finally” prove him wrong. But who told you to give him —

Epistemic authority. I learn from him everyday. I also have my points of departures. To the extent that I can name those departures requires me to commit to study. There are times when he freely passes on knowledge. My problem is that folks on this app think they’re owed that.

All in all, No real transformation can happen on twitter because it requires everyone to act in care, be vulnerable enough to be taught, and pushed to study. Just name dropping books doesn’t help literary gaps. Twitter has no way to mediate or regulate this kind of engagement.

So yes, I am definitely saying do no jump into peoples mentions complaining about how they engage you. When you jump into peoples mentions be ready to battle rap. Because that’s the best we can do in a space like Twitter.