The prophetic counter to denial rooted in the ideology of exceptionalism is the practice of grief that acknowledges loss — an acknowledgement that summons the city to be fully, deeply, and knowingly engaged in its actual life experience. The urban elite, of course, do not weep. Their ideology requires that they “suck it up” and move on. But their sense of loss lingers beneath what is acknowledged; it has, however, no compelling power to transform as long as it remains unacknowledged. For that reason, the prophetic counter of grief expressed may be an antidote to denial.
