None of the folks who read David Shenk's "32 Million Word Gap" for class were pleased. Shenk's essay, which appeared on The Atlantic's website in 2010, presented research findings about the vastly different levels of language acquisition among children from welfare homes, working-class homes, and professionals' homes.
"Children in professionals' homes were exposed to an average of more than fifteen hundred more spoken words per hour than children in welfare homes," wrote Shenk. "Over one year, that amounted to a difference of nearly 8 million words, which, by age four, amounted to a total gap of 32 million words."
Later, Shenk notes that "the average child from a professional family receives 560,000 more instances of encouraging feedback than discouraging feedback; a working- class child receives merely 100,000 more encouragements than discouragements; a welfare child receives 125,000 more discouragements than encouragements."
If the findings that Shenk summarized were accurate and if the "direct correlation between the intensity of these early verbal experiences and later achievement" were also correct, then many of us must have been on the wrong side of that many millions word gap. And the large majority of the people we knew who were less well off than us were apparently at even more serious disadvantages.
Students in the class offered several personal anecdotes seeking to counter the findings of those studies Shenk presented. In their voices, I detected traces of defensiveness, frustration, hurt, and fear. The findings from the article were no doubt useful and fascinating. What I learned covering the piece with my students, though, was that the revelations could also be frightening or at least threatening to those whose family profiles more closely resembled working-class and lower-income homes as opposed to households of professionals.
What was especially far out for some was the realization that so much concerning our early knowledge and thus our current shortcomings and talents had in fact been beyond our control.
Related: A Notebook on Fear of Language
Sunday, March 31, 2013
How James Neal and my interest in DH prompted me to sign on to twitter
Then, on December 30, 2009, I published a post on my site about digital humanities at MLA. Shortly after that, I received an email from this guy James Neal. He thanked me for the write-up and then advised me to get on twitter if I was interested in participating in more conversations about DH.
Who was James Neal, I wondered at the time? And why was he encouraging me to sign up for twitter in order to keep up with the developing DH conversations? I was fascinated in what was unfolding with DH at MLA and the larger profession, so it turned out that Neal's suggestion was just the nudge I needed.
My first tweet, which appeared on January 7, 2010, went as follows: "We wish to tweet our own cause; too long have others tweeted for us. [remixing Freedom's Journal http://bit.ly/4xh417]"
Almost immediately, Neal, the first person I followed and the first to follow me, sent a tweet: "Welcome to Twitter @blackstudies. Black Studies Program at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Wish you success here. Share & learn."
I responded: "@james3neal 'preciate it. Can't begin to tell you how inspiring you've been for what we want to become. So thanks and thanks again."
So here we are.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
• How Alondra Nelson & Don Share helped transform an occasional poetry blogger into an active one
• One way blogging has shifted my engagements with poetry
How Alondra Nelson & Don Share helped transform an occasional poetry blogger into an active one
For nearly two years now, I've produced an average of 5 blog entries per week focusing on African American poetry. In some months, like September 2011 and September 2012, I produced at least one entry each day for 30 days. Over the last few months, I've slowed down just a bit, as I devoted more time to editing, posting about other genres, and working on my analog writing. In the meantime, it's worth pausing here for just a second and explaining how two folks on twitter -- one a sociologist and the other a poet & editor -- inspired me to blog more.
When I began my blog back in 2008, I blogged only occasionally about poetry. There needed to be a major event, or our black studies program was introducing a new activity. Aside from that, my posts were fairly infrequent. I had many ideas and had been studying African American poetry, especially the black arts era, for nearly 10 years, but doubted there was really an audience for poetry commentary.
Early in 2011, I became slightly more active on twitter and decided to post a few of my blog entries on the site. As it turned out, the initial and most consistent retweets came from Alondra Nelson, a good friend who first encouraged me to think about links between race and technology. Then, Don Share, an editor for Poetry magazine, began to retweet some of my posts.
That encouragement from Nelson and Share was just the nudge I needed to write, blog, and post more. From 2008 - 2010, prior to the retweets from Nelson and Share, I published 23 entries on poetry. By the end of July 2011, not a full 6 months into my developing practice of blogging regularly about poetry and posting the entries on twitter, I had already produced 100 entries.
The major lesson I gained was not simply about the value of twitter and blogging or even writing about poetry. Instead, what Nelson and Share really clarified for me was the high value of early support. They've led me to consider how early support might matter in the collegiate experience of my students as well as for the careers of experienced authors and scholars such as bell hooks and Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
In my own experience, early support from Alondra Nelson and Don Share helped transform an occasional poetry blogger into an active one.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
• How James Neal and my interest in DH prompted me to sign on to twitter
• One way blogging has shifted my engagements with poetry
One way blogging has shifted my engagements with poetry
Here's something. Blogging about poetry has prompted me to write about a larger number of poets than when I was only seeking to write about poets and poetry primarily for conference presentations and print publication. For those venues, the convention is to concentrate on one or two poets at a time.
At the conferences, people tend to present on a poet and a theme (i.e. Langston Hughes and the Blues Ethos; Phillis Wheatley and early America). Journal articles follow a similar path. By and large, the genre of literary academic discourse concentrates on relatively few authors.
In a way, that focus makes sense, especially since conference presentations are such a driving force in the profession. Effective 15 to 20 minute presentations are, it seems, primarily designed to expose listeners to information about one or two poets at a time, not 10 or 20. As a result, when scholars expand their conference presentations into scholarly articles, they are inclined to write more about a few individual writers, certainly not dozens.
Covering poets on my blog over the years inclined me to alter some of my practices. Granted, researching and writing a book about the Black Arts Movement gave me invaluable experience thinking about a range of literary figures and editors. Still, the serialized nature of blogging everyday about poets and following "news" items on poetry demanded that I cast a large net.
Writing about trends in poetry, producing timelines, and compiling poetry lists necessarily means that I'll need to reference a larger number of poets than I would, for instance, in a typical conference presentation. I'm slowly moving toward more concentrated work on my next book project, which means I'll shift toward a clearer focus and a treatment of a smaller number of writers. However, my blogging habits and experiences might lead me to place even individual writers in a larger context than I otherwise would.
Related:
• My work as a Blogger vs. my work as an Author
At the conferences, people tend to present on a poet and a theme (i.e. Langston Hughes and the Blues Ethos; Phillis Wheatley and early America). Journal articles follow a similar path. By and large, the genre of literary academic discourse concentrates on relatively few authors.
In a way, that focus makes sense, especially since conference presentations are such a driving force in the profession. Effective 15 to 20 minute presentations are, it seems, primarily designed to expose listeners to information about one or two poets at a time, not 10 or 20. As a result, when scholars expand their conference presentations into scholarly articles, they are inclined to write more about a few individual writers, certainly not dozens.
Covering poets on my blog over the years inclined me to alter some of my practices. Granted, researching and writing a book about the Black Arts Movement gave me invaluable experience thinking about a range of literary figures and editors. Still, the serialized nature of blogging everyday about poets and following "news" items on poetry demanded that I cast a large net.
Writing about trends in poetry, producing timelines, and compiling poetry lists necessarily means that I'll need to reference a larger number of poets than I would, for instance, in a typical conference presentation. I'm slowly moving toward more concentrated work on my next book project, which means I'll shift toward a clearer focus and a treatment of a smaller number of writers. However, my blogging habits and experiences might lead me to place even individual writers in a larger context than I otherwise would.
Related:
• My work as a Blogger vs. my work as an Author
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Mark Sample's annual DH @ MLA round-ups
In addition to following William Pannapacker's digital humanities coverage at MLA, I have also looked forward to the lists of MLA sessions focusing on new media and DH that Mark Sample provides. Leading to the conferences in 2009, 2011, 2012, and 2013, Sample posted the following entries:
• November 15, 2009: Digital Humanities Sessions at the 2009 MLA (27 sessions)
• November 9, 2010: Digital Humanities Sessions at the 2011 MLA (44 sessions)
• October 4, 2011: Digital Humanities Sessions at the 2012 MLA (58 sessions)
• October 17, 2012: Digital Humanities Sessions at the 2013 MLA (66 sessions)
Sample's list provides the title of the sessions, an overall description when one is available, the title of the individual papers, the names of presenters, and their institutional affiliations. Placing all of the DH sessions together in a single list enhances the idea of interconnectivity and a conversation among people in the field. The appearance of those lists months before the conference make it possible for a wider audience to consider some of the topics covered.
The shifts from 27 to 44 to 58 to 66 sessions also provide some evidence of DH's growing presence at MLA over the years. Looking back on the entries now also reveals the extent to which the round-up and identification of the sessions serves as useful organizational or institutional memory.
Along with Pannapacker's articles, Samples entries have been useful news items in the discourse on DH.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
• November 15, 2009: Digital Humanities Sessions at the 2009 MLA (27 sessions)
• November 9, 2010: Digital Humanities Sessions at the 2011 MLA (44 sessions)
• October 4, 2011: Digital Humanities Sessions at the 2012 MLA (58 sessions)
• October 17, 2012: Digital Humanities Sessions at the 2013 MLA (66 sessions)
Sample's list provides the title of the sessions, an overall description when one is available, the title of the individual papers, the names of presenters, and their institutional affiliations. Placing all of the DH sessions together in a single list enhances the idea of interconnectivity and a conversation among people in the field. The appearance of those lists months before the conference make it possible for a wider audience to consider some of the topics covered.
The shifts from 27 to 44 to 58 to 66 sessions also provide some evidence of DH's growing presence at MLA over the years. Looking back on the entries now also reveals the extent to which the round-up and identification of the sessions serves as useful organizational or institutional memory.
Along with Pannapacker's articles, Samples entries have been useful news items in the discourse on DH.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
African American Literary Studies @ SIUE
Toward a history
• 20 Years of African American Literary Studies at SIUE
• 20 Years of African American Literary Studies at SIUE
• Jean Kittrell, Barbara Schmidt & Af-Am literary studies at SIUE
• African American Literary Studies at SIUE, 2013-2014
• 10 Years of African American Literature at SIUE
• From Richard Wright to Toni Morrison
• African American Literature @ SIUE
• Ruth Ellen Kocher & the Growth of African American Literature at SIUE
• Our Underground Minor in African American Literature at SIUE
• Condoleezza Rice & African American literature at SIUE
• 10 Years of Poets Reading at SIUE
• The Redmond Effect
• From the EBR Collection to the Underground Reading Room
• African American Literary Studies at SIUE, 2013-2014
• 10 Years of African American Literature at SIUE
• From Richard Wright to Toni Morrison
• African American Literature @ SIUE
• Ruth Ellen Kocher & the Growth of African American Literature at SIUE
• Our Underground Minor in African American Literature at SIUE
• Condoleezza Rice & African American literature at SIUE
• 10 Years of Poets Reading at SIUE
• The Redmond Effect
• From the EBR Collection to the Underground Reading Room
• An African American literature course: Recordings of black women reading poetry (Fall 2016)
• An African American lit. course: "Hip Hop & Black Consciousness" (Fall 2016)
• An African American literature course on Ta-Nehisi Coates (Fall 2016)
• Descriptions of upcoming Fall 2016 courses
• Descriptions of upcoming Spring 2016 courses
• Covering Jay Z in African American literature courses at SIUE & UTA (Spring 2016)
• Description of upcoming Fall 2015 courses
• Description of upcoming Spring 2015 courses
• Elizabeth Cali’s upcoming (Spring 2015) Af-Am Lit courses
• Tisha Brooks’s upcoming (Spring 2015) Af-Am Lit. courses
• Howard Rambsy's upcoming (Spring 2015) Af-Am Lit. course
• Description of upcoming Fall 2014 courses
Lists and tallies of courses
• A List of African American Literature Courses at SIUE, Fall 2003 - Fall 2016
• A List of African American Literature Courses at SIUE, 2003-2015
• A List of African American Literature Courses at SIUE, 2003-2013
• A Tally of African American Literature Courses at SIUE, 2003-2013
Class Notes
• When a poetry scholar offers a class on Biggie, Jay Z & Nas
• April Reign as literary artist?
• Teaching an African American Literature course on Ta-Nehisi Coates in fall 2016
• Teaching an African American lit. course with audio recordings of black women reading poetry as the basis
• Beyond Electives: Rethinking African American literature courses
Resources
• A Reading List
• Keywords
• 25 poems by or about black men
• 25 poems by African American poets for a class
Programming
• Toni Morrison: Beyond Fiction
• Images from the Toni Morrison exhibit
• 10 Years of Poets Reading at SIUE
• Humanities grants and the Graham Effect
• Grant writing and the Teri/Patience Effect
Students and Colleagues
• Student rappers & poets in an African American Literature course
• Elizabeth Cali, African American literary studies & print culture
• The engaging reading practices of Tisha Brooks
• High-performing contributors in Af-Am Literary studies aren't accidental
• Reading The Big Smoke with Collegiate Black Men
• The value of cohorts
• The Redmond Effect
• Toward a Language and Literature Lab
• The Ward, Wright & Whiteside Connections
• College students have little exposure to African American poetry
• Candice Jackson Pulls a T. Harris
Related:
• Class notes
• Assorted Notebooks
• Collegiate Students
• Field of African American Literary Studies
Thursday, March 28, 2013
From Richard Wright to Toni Morrison
Although it's not widely known, the "major author" course on Toni Morrison that our department offers is linked to Richard Wright. During my second year as an undergrad at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, in the fall of 1996, I took a course that focused on Wright taught by Professor Jerry W. Ward, Jr. At the time, no one referred to the course as a "major author" class. Instead, I was simply taking a class on Wright.
For the course readng materials, Professor Ward decided to concentrate on Wright's less well-known works, including Lawd Today!, Black Power, The Color Curtain, Pagan Spain, Savage Holiday, Eight Men, and The Outsider. Ward had somehow put the word out that students in the class would not read Native Son, Black Boy, Uncle Tom's Children, and 12 Million Black Voices during the class, because we were "expected" to have already read those books prior to the course. The word on the street was that the first day of class would begin with an exam on Native Son.
The Wright course stuck with me for many years. I'm reluctant to identify that class or any class as my all-time favorite, as it seems to detract from the integrative, interrelated experiences of my liberal arts education. I can say this though: I made connections to Wright in every undergrad and grad school class that I took afterward that class with Ward.
Some years ago during departmental discussions about our course offerings, the ghost of Wright or that Wright course began to haunt me. Our department has "major author" courses on Shakespeare, Milton, and other European "great" writers, but what about an African American writer or any modern writer for that matter? Given the demographics of our department and university as well as my interest in recruiting a scholar to our department with a strong background in black women's writing, I made the decision to propose and advocate for the creation of a major author course focusing on Toni Morrison.
Over the last few years, the Toni Morrison course has become a mainstay in our course offerings. Along with several other folks here, I'm pleased with what the course now means to our department and university. Quiet as it's kept, the blueprint for the Morrison course was that course I took years ago on Richard Wright.
Related:
The Ward, Wright & Whiteside Connections
Toni Morrison, the Major Author Course, & Lovejoy Library
For the course readng materials, Professor Ward decided to concentrate on Wright's less well-known works, including Lawd Today!, Black Power, The Color Curtain, Pagan Spain, Savage Holiday, Eight Men, and The Outsider. Ward had somehow put the word out that students in the class would not read Native Son, Black Boy, Uncle Tom's Children, and 12 Million Black Voices during the class, because we were "expected" to have already read those books prior to the course. The word on the street was that the first day of class would begin with an exam on Native Son.
The Wright course stuck with me for many years. I'm reluctant to identify that class or any class as my all-time favorite, as it seems to detract from the integrative, interrelated experiences of my liberal arts education. I can say this though: I made connections to Wright in every undergrad and grad school class that I took afterward that class with Ward.
Some years ago during departmental discussions about our course offerings, the ghost of Wright or that Wright course began to haunt me. Our department has "major author" courses on Shakespeare, Milton, and other European "great" writers, but what about an African American writer or any modern writer for that matter? Given the demographics of our department and university as well as my interest in recruiting a scholar to our department with a strong background in black women's writing, I made the decision to propose and advocate for the creation of a major author course focusing on Toni Morrison.
Over the last few years, the Toni Morrison course has become a mainstay in our course offerings. Along with several other folks here, I'm pleased with what the course now means to our department and university. Quiet as it's kept, the blueprint for the Morrison course was that course I took years ago on Richard Wright.
Related:
The Ward, Wright & Whiteside Connections
Toni Morrison, the Major Author Course, & Lovejoy Library
The Ward, Wright & Whiteside Connections
In the fall of 1996, as a second-year student at Tougaloo College in Mississippi, I enrolled in a literature course taught by Professor Jerry W. Ward, Jr. that focused on Richard Wright. Professor Ward was my key Wright connection, and Wright connected me to more ideas and views of the world than I can easily count. And the Wright connections continue.
A year ago, our department received an application letter from a graduating senior at Tougaloo College named Briana Whiteside. In her application letter, she explained that she was interested in working with me on who else? Yes, of course, that writer from Mississippi, Richard Wright.
The Tougaloo, Ward, Wright & Whiteside connections have been fascinating to consider. At Tougaloo,Ward put me in touch with Wright's work, and it turns out that the writings I went on to produce about Wright's work were part of what brought me to the attention of Briana. There was also Candice Jackson, another student of Ward's, who had studied Wright with him and who had also been a professor of Briana.
Although Wright served as the basis, for Briana's first year, we have primarily concentrated on getting her acquainted with a range of African American literary works. In addition, she has produced several entries on uncanny black women for our site. Still, Wright has always been a part of our conversations as an important figure in our considerations of African American culture, literary history, and what it means to be thoughtful writers.
Briana just reached her 30th entry on our site. I look forward to reading her future writings and thus further developments associated with these Ward, Wright & Whiteside connections.
30 Entries Later
 |
| Briana Whiteside checking out comic books at black studies browsing session at Heroic Adventures |
With short writings about the benign neglect of government officials in regards to health care in black communities and The Black Panther Party, the creative domain of African American women writers and their uncanny black women characters, as well as literacy and the power words in adolescence, I have now arrived at my 30th blog entry.
The processes of writing about various texts in an average of fifteen sentences or less—which was initially quite difficult for a sometimes wordy person like myself—gave me an opportunity to honed my ability to compose complex ideas in succinct ways. This journey has taught me to focus on the central concerns of a text, and present concise arguments. The experience has definitely sharpened my writing skills.
I have also learned to appreciate the freedom to write on subjects that would seem outside the realm of typical classroom assignments. My recent post on The Bluest Eye, The Brady Bunch & “the 32 Million Word Gap” would have been less imaginable if I was writing a conventional essay for a course.
I regularly consult previous posts, which allow me to benefit from the accumulative or accumulated advantages of a catalogue of writings about African American literature. I am able to quickly access prior entries rather than having to reread an entire book.
When I first started writing for Black Studies, I did not immediately realize the benefits, but after a moment of reflection and 30 entries later, I can say with confidence that this has been a rewarding experience.
********
Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
The Power of Habit: Collaborative Work Reflection
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
Last week, one of our long-term contributors, Phillip L., noted that "Leaders of successful organizations are developing the un-tapped creative juices of once top-down organizations and encouraging collaborative peer-to-peer teams within the corporate structure." That comment relates to a recent discussion some of us were having about "group work."
What is one positive or noteworthy habit that you have recently noticed in academic contexts associated with "collaborative peer-to-peer teams" (or with group work)? That is to say, we have collected some responses about the negative habits of collaborative work, which necessarily read like short sketches of "when group work goes bad." So we're curious about processes or regular or habitual moments when group work goes well.
In particular, we are interested in what's one notable activity or element that seems to always be in place when the experience of working collaboratively goes well.
Last week, one of our long-term contributors, Phillip L., noted that "Leaders of successful organizations are developing the un-tapped creative juices of once top-down organizations and encouraging collaborative peer-to-peer teams within the corporate structure." That comment relates to a recent discussion some of us were having about "group work."
What is one positive or noteworthy habit that you have recently noticed in academic contexts associated with "collaborative peer-to-peer teams" (or with group work)? That is to say, we have collected some responses about the negative habits of collaborative work, which necessarily read like short sketches of "when group work goes bad." So we're curious about processes or regular or habitual moments when group work goes well.
In particular, we are interested in what's one notable activity or element that seems to always be in place when the experience of working collaboratively goes well.
A.O.C.: Creativity and Restrictive Choice
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
By Danielle Hall
In the second part of chapter 6 of The Art of Choosing, Sheena Iyengar discusses the advantages and disadvantages of “keeping doors open” (201). Iyengar makes some useful connections throughout this section. More notably is the link between creativity and the practice of restrictive choice where she concludes that “creative disciplines” are where we can look "for guidance” (214).
Iyengar discusses how inventors and artists now come to know the value of restrictive choice(s) and while some boundaries are broken, newer ones can still be defined. One concept that is useful to consider is Iyengar’s proposition that “to choose is to invent,” by which she means that "choosing is a creative process, one through which we construct our environment, our lives, our selves" (213).
Which idea -- "restrictive choice" or choosing as a creative process -- drew your attention most? Why?
By Danielle Hall
In the second part of chapter 6 of The Art of Choosing, Sheena Iyengar discusses the advantages and disadvantages of “keeping doors open” (201). Iyengar makes some useful connections throughout this section. More notably is the link between creativity and the practice of restrictive choice where she concludes that “creative disciplines” are where we can look "for guidance” (214).
Iyengar discusses how inventors and artists now come to know the value of restrictive choice(s) and while some boundaries are broken, newer ones can still be defined. One concept that is useful to consider is Iyengar’s proposition that “to choose is to invent,” by which she means that "choosing is a creative process, one through which we construct our environment, our lives, our selves" (213).
Which idea -- "restrictive choice" or choosing as a creative process -- drew your attention most? Why?
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Academically Adrift: Chapter 4, Pt. 2
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
By Chandra Alford
In the second of chapter 4, Arum and Roksa present data about the complexities faced by African American students when it comes to financing a higher education and focusing on aspects of their learning. Students’ characteristics and institutional resources greatly influenced the success rates for minority students to attain their degrees.
The achievement gap between African American and white students has many contributing factors, but according to Arum and Roksa, there are a few factors that influence the width of this gap: “The primary factors driving the increase in the gap between African-American and white students are hours spent in fraternities, percent of college cost covered by grants and scholarships, and college major" (112). The experiences students bring to college contribute, somewhat, to their degree attainment, but as Arum and Roksa highlighted in this chapter, what students do while they are in college greatly influences their academic, intellectual, and social development.
To what extent did the issues concerning the relationship between academic achievement and how time is spent in college confirm or unsettle your previous thinking on the subject?
By Chandra Alford
In the second of chapter 4, Arum and Roksa present data about the complexities faced by African American students when it comes to financing a higher education and focusing on aspects of their learning. Students’ characteristics and institutional resources greatly influenced the success rates for minority students to attain their degrees.
The achievement gap between African American and white students has many contributing factors, but according to Arum and Roksa, there are a few factors that influence the width of this gap: “The primary factors driving the increase in the gap between African-American and white students are hours spent in fraternities, percent of college cost covered by grants and scholarships, and college major" (112). The experiences students bring to college contribute, somewhat, to their degree attainment, but as Arum and Roksa highlighted in this chapter, what students do while they are in college greatly influences their academic, intellectual, and social development.
To what extent did the issues concerning the relationship between academic achievement and how time is spent in college confirm or unsettle your previous thinking on the subject?
WDS: Different Approaches to Creativity
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
By Cindy Lyles
In "Late Bloomers," Malcolm Gladwell focuses on the creative processes of contemporary fiction writer Ben Fountain and 19th century painter Cezanne. Gladwell establishes that it took both men a while to develop into the well-known artists they are today. Neither achieved acclaim in their twenties or thirties; their roads to fame were long and slow unlike some creative prodigies, like Orson Wells, Herman Melville, and Mozart whose careers peaked in their early lives.
“Conceptual” creativity and open-ended exploration are the two artistic processes Gladwell hones in on in the article. The former process entails little research but step-by-step execution that unfolds according to a preconceived plan; whereas the latter results from extensive research, as well as trial and error.
Picasso was so opposed to the open-ended process that he admitted, “I can hardly understand the importance given to the word research. In my opinion, to search means nothing in painting. To find is the thing” (301). On the other hand, Fountain and Cezanne both lean toward the research process to create.
How could a conceptual approach have benefited Fountain and Cezanne more? Or, how would open-ended exploration have benefited a prodigy artist like Picasso?
By Cindy Lyles
In "Late Bloomers," Malcolm Gladwell focuses on the creative processes of contemporary fiction writer Ben Fountain and 19th century painter Cezanne. Gladwell establishes that it took both men a while to develop into the well-known artists they are today. Neither achieved acclaim in their twenties or thirties; their roads to fame were long and slow unlike some creative prodigies, like Orson Wells, Herman Melville, and Mozart whose careers peaked in their early lives.
“Conceptual” creativity and open-ended exploration are the two artistic processes Gladwell hones in on in the article. The former process entails little research but step-by-step execution that unfolds according to a preconceived plan; whereas the latter results from extensive research, as well as trial and error.
Picasso was so opposed to the open-ended process that he admitted, “I can hardly understand the importance given to the word research. In my opinion, to search means nothing in painting. To find is the thing” (301). On the other hand, Fountain and Cezanne both lean toward the research process to create.
How could a conceptual approach have benefited Fountain and Cezanne more? Or, how would open-ended exploration have benefited a prodigy artist like Picasso?
Monday, March 25, 2013
Timelines
2019
• October 28: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 2000 - 2019
2017:
• October 13: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 1773 - 2017
2016
• December 26: The year in African American poetry, 2016
• November 28: African American literature: a timeline
• November 27: Black Short Stories: A timeline
• June 11: An Afrofuturism-based timeline, 1998 - 2016
• May 29: Black men writers and creativity, 1995 - 2016
• May 27: The greatest 25 years in African American women's writing?
2015
• December 26: The year in African American poetry, 2015
• October 17: Books on Hip Hop
• July 8: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 1854 - 2015
2014
• December 14: The year in African American poetry, 2014
• July 2: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 1854 - 2014
• July 1: A timeline of support & critique concerning My Brother's Keeper
• June 29: A partial timeline on Black South Literary Studies
• May 24: From Afrofuturism to Rap Genius: a timeline
2013
• December 16: The year in African American poetry, 2013
• December 5: A Timeline of African American Writers in Poetry Magazine
• July 21: A Black Arts Timeline, 1965 - 1976
• May 24: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 1854 - 2013
• March 25: An Afrofuturism-based timeline, 1998 - 2013
• March 14: African American poetry since 1976
• March 14: African American novels and novelists since 1975
• March 10: A Timeline of Select Inspiration for Black Males, 1977 - 1997
• February 15: A Timeline of achievements by black women poets, 2000 - 2012
• February 3: Popular Publications by Black Public Intellectuals, 1981 - 1999
2012
• December 31: The year in African American poetry, 2012
• August 26: A Timeline on Black Public Intellectuals, 1981 - 1994
• June 14: 1970: A defining year in black writing
• June 7: African American Poetry in 2012
• May 17: A Timeline of African American Poetry, 1854 - 2012
• May 17: Notes on the timeline
2011
• December 31: The Year in African American Poetry: 2011
Related:
• Assorted Notebooks
• Poetry lists
• October 28: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 2000 - 2019
2017:
• October 13: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 1773 - 2017
2016
• December 26: The year in African American poetry, 2016
• November 28: African American literature: a timeline
• November 27: Black Short Stories: A timeline
• June 11: An Afrofuturism-based timeline, 1998 - 2016
• May 29: Black men writers and creativity, 1995 - 2016
• May 27: The greatest 25 years in African American women's writing?
2015
• December 26: The year in African American poetry, 2015
• October 17: Books on Hip Hop
• July 8: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 1854 - 2015
2014
• December 14: The year in African American poetry, 2014
• July 2: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 1854 - 2014
• July 1: A timeline of support & critique concerning My Brother's Keeper
• June 29: A partial timeline on Black South Literary Studies
• May 24: From Afrofuturism to Rap Genius: a timeline
2013
• December 16: The year in African American poetry, 2013
• December 5: A Timeline of African American Writers in Poetry Magazine
• July 21: A Black Arts Timeline, 1965 - 1976
• May 24: Black Poetry: A Timeline, 1854 - 2013
• March 25: An Afrofuturism-based timeline, 1998 - 2013
• March 14: African American poetry since 1976
• March 14: African American novels and novelists since 1975
• March 10: A Timeline of Select Inspiration for Black Males, 1977 - 1997
• February 15: A Timeline of achievements by black women poets, 2000 - 2012
• February 3: Popular Publications by Black Public Intellectuals, 1981 - 1999
2012
• December 31: The year in African American poetry, 2012
• August 26: A Timeline on Black Public Intellectuals, 1981 - 1994
• June 14: 1970: A defining year in black writing
• June 7: African American Poetry in 2012
• May 17: A Timeline of African American Poetry, 1854 - 2012
• May 17: Notes on the timeline
2011
• December 31: The Year in African American Poetry: 2011
Related:
• Assorted Notebooks
• Poetry lists
Octavia Butler's Patternmaster
The last book in the sequential order of The Patternist series, but the first book written, Patternmaster is a remarkable story that ties together the stories of Anyanwu, Mary, and Eli. Butler’s second male protagonist Teray—an inexperienced telepath—defeats his more powerful and experienced brother Coransee to become the heir of the mental pattern once their father has died. Although Patternmaster is Teray’s story, the most admirable character is Amber—an independent healer who refuses to become the property of anyone, even if it means death.
Amber is an essential ally to Teray in his quest of defeating his brother’s enslavement. She can heal faster than any other healer, has the experience that Teray lacks, and teaches him how to kill hundreds of ClayArk’s in one mental sweep—which was the skill that he used to defeat his brother. Her desire to remain an independent woman ultimately drives her urge to help Teray stay alive.
As a child, before she reached transition, she killed an experienced Patternist by accident and was exiled from the group's protection. She travelled along the ClayArk’s path alone, and with much success—unlike other patternists. Her expertise in reading people also deemed her a valuable person. One scene in particular displays Amber's determination to remain a liberated woman.
In an attempt to take total control of her body Coransee labels her as his property. In reassurance to him that she would not submit -- just after “she had taken a bullet through the throat” -- she threatens him indirectly. Offended, Coransee slaps her and she remarks, “hit me again and you won’t have an undamaged organ left in your body!” Her cold remark lets Coransee know just how serious she was, and just how much he had underestimated her. From that moment, she became a threat to one brother and an ally to another. No other character besides Amber had the ability to pose such a threat to the powerful Coransee.
Amber’s candid attitude, healing capabilities, and expertise in mental telepathy places her alongside the other extraordinary women in Butler's Patternist series.
Related:
A Notebook on Octavia Butler
********
Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
The Kuumba Digital Literacy Collective
More on "study groups."
On November 27, 2012, Adam Banks, Associate Professor of Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
at the University of Kentucky, launched the Kuumba Digital Literacy Collective, a facebook, to discuss technology and literacy. On the day he launched the group, Banks wrote:
Welcome everybody! I'm using this group as a space to begin some broader community conversation (and build some events) about literacy and technology. If you have suggestions of people you think we should add, invite them or send me their name so I can add them."Over the last few months, he has posed questions related to technology, social media, and best practices to members of the group for feedback. Banks and participants have also posted news and resource links concerning technology and other issues.
The word "kuumba," which refers to creativity, is best known as one of the principles of Kwanzaa. The Kuumba Digital Literacy Collective serves as one model for what an online study or reading group focusing on African American subject matter might look like.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
An Afrofuturism-based timeline, 1998 - 2013
What follows is a partial timeline of activities, events, and publications related to afrofuturism.
1998: Alondra Nelson creates Afrofuturism listserv.
1998: Brown Girl in the Ring by science fiction writer Nalo Hopkinson published.
1998: The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead published on Dec. 29. Most bibliographies cite 1999 as pub date.
1998: Parable of the Talents by science writer Octavia Butler is published.
1998: Blue Light, a science fiction novel, by detective novelist Walter Mosley published.
1998: Aquemini by OutKast released.
1999: Octavia Butler receives Nebula Award for Best Novel for Parable of the Talents.
2000: Midnight Robber by N. Hopkinson published.
2000: Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora ed. by S. Thomas published.
2001: John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead published.
2001: BlackPlanet, an African American community web-site is launched, on September 1.
2002: Afrofuturism: A Special Issue of Social Text ed. by Alondra Nelson
2004: AfroGeeks (race and technology conference) organized by Anna Everett takes place May 7 - 8.
2004: Dark Matter: Reading the Bones ed. by Sheree R. Thomas published.
2004: Embodiment of Instrumentation by Scratch released.
2005: AfroGeeks conference by organized by Anna Everett takes place May 19 - 21.
2006: Octavia Butler dies on February 24.
2007: AfroGEEKS: Beyond the Digital Divide eds. Anna Everett and Amber Wallace published.
2008: Ta-Nehisi Coates begins blogging on The Atlantic site on August 4.
2009: Digital Diaspora: A Race for Cyberspace by Anna Everett published.
2010: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot published.
2011: Digital Griots: African American Rhetoric in a Multimedia Age by Adam J. Banks published.
2011: Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination by A. Nelson published.
2011: Zone One by Colson Whitehead published.
2012: "A Psychotronic Childhood Learning from B-movies" by Colson Whitehead appears in The New Yorker.
2012: Kuumba Digital Literacy Collective, facebook group to discuss technology, launched by Adam Banks Nov. 27.
2013: "Alien Bodies" conference, with Alondra Nelson as keynote speaker, is held at Emory Univ., Feb. 8 & 9.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
•Afrofuturism
1998: Alondra Nelson creates Afrofuturism listserv.
1998: Brown Girl in the Ring by science fiction writer Nalo Hopkinson published.
1998: The Intuitionist by Colson Whitehead published on Dec. 29. Most bibliographies cite 1999 as pub date.
1998: Parable of the Talents by science writer Octavia Butler is published.
1998: Blue Light, a science fiction novel, by detective novelist Walter Mosley published.
1998: Aquemini by OutKast released.
1999: Octavia Butler receives Nebula Award for Best Novel for Parable of the Talents.
2000: Midnight Robber by N. Hopkinson published.
2000: Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora ed. by S. Thomas published.
2001: John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead published.
2001: BlackPlanet, an African American community web-site is launched, on September 1.
2002: Afrofuturism: A Special Issue of Social Text ed. by Alondra Nelson
2004: AfroGeeks (race and technology conference) organized by Anna Everett takes place May 7 - 8.
2004: Dark Matter: Reading the Bones ed. by Sheree R. Thomas published.
2004: Embodiment of Instrumentation by Scratch released.
2005: AfroGeeks conference by organized by Anna Everett takes place May 19 - 21.
2006: Octavia Butler dies on February 24.
2007: AfroGEEKS: Beyond the Digital Divide eds. Anna Everett and Amber Wallace published.
2008: Ta-Nehisi Coates begins blogging on The Atlantic site on August 4.
2009: Digital Diaspora: A Race for Cyberspace by Anna Everett published.
2010: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot published.
2011: Digital Griots: African American Rhetoric in a Multimedia Age by Adam J. Banks published.
2011: Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination by A. Nelson published.
2011: Zone One by Colson Whitehead published.
2012: "A Psychotronic Childhood Learning from B-movies" by Colson Whitehead appears in The New Yorker.
2012: Kuumba Digital Literacy Collective, facebook group to discuss technology, launched by Adam Banks Nov. 27.
2013: "Alien Bodies" conference, with Alondra Nelson as keynote speaker, is held at Emory Univ., Feb. 8 & 9.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
•Afrofuturism
Sunday, March 24, 2013
The value of earlier social media: Notes on Afrofuturism's yahoo group
Here's something to consider when it comes to study groups: the development of the "Afrofuturism listserv" (the list) and by extension the development of projects and ways of thinking among list participants there were linked to the use of a large, wide-ranging, yet virtually situated group. I enjoy facebook and twitter today, but it's my contention, at the moment at least, that an older model social media group like the AF list on yahoo was better suited for the development of a structured sense of community than some of these formations with popular social media.
Alondra Nelson created the list in the fall of 1998. She re-defined afrofuturism as "African American voices with other stories to tell about culture, technology, and things to come." The "other stories" reflected, in part, Nelson's and the group members' beliefs that black folks were not merely those have-nots on the wrong side of the so-called "digital divide." [More on afrofuturism here, here, and here.]
Nelson once explained that the listserv was responsible for forming and sustaining a "community of thinkers, artists, and writers." And, she went on to note, "perhaps [the listserv's] most meaningful function has been as an incubator of ideas." There are many options and possibilities that our current, more popular social media platforms offer us, but I'm not convinced, not yet, that the more popular modes and formats can provide that "incubator" function to the degree that yahoo group did for AF.
There are many other things, though, that social media like facebook and twitter can achieve that's not possible with a yahoo group. I was a grad student when I was most involved with the AF list. The community and incubator functions of that space stand out to me as I consider where my own graduate students might go to witness and participate in vibrant, up-to-date conversations on topics in their areas.
I also wonder about such communities and incubators as I consider more sustained and fixed virtual spaces for conversations on broad topics like black studies, digital humanities/afrofuturism, poetry, and African American literature.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
•Afrofuturism
• Digital Humanities
Alondra Nelson created the list in the fall of 1998. She re-defined afrofuturism as "African American voices with other stories to tell about culture, technology, and things to come." The "other stories" reflected, in part, Nelson's and the group members' beliefs that black folks were not merely those have-nots on the wrong side of the so-called "digital divide." [More on afrofuturism here, here, and here.]
Nelson once explained that the listserv was responsible for forming and sustaining a "community of thinkers, artists, and writers." And, she went on to note, "perhaps [the listserv's] most meaningful function has been as an incubator of ideas." There are many options and possibilities that our current, more popular social media platforms offer us, but I'm not convinced, not yet, that the more popular modes and formats can provide that "incubator" function to the degree that yahoo group did for AF.
There are many other things, though, that social media like facebook and twitter can achieve that's not possible with a yahoo group. I was a grad student when I was most involved with the AF list. The community and incubator functions of that space stand out to me as I consider where my own graduate students might go to witness and participate in vibrant, up-to-date conversations on topics in their areas.
I also wonder about such communities and incubators as I consider more sustained and fixed virtual spaces for conversations on broad topics like black studies, digital humanities/afrofuturism, poetry, and African American literature.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
•Afrofuturism
• Digital Humanities
Reporting on developments in the field; or, using the William Pannapacker model
My focus on news gathering as one focal point for my upcoming CLA presentation on digital humanities and African American literature owes much to my feelings reading William Pannapacker's writings related to annual MLA conferences over the last four years. Pannapacker's series of articles, which appeared on The Chronicle of Higher Education site/blog, have provided me with useful overviews of DH panels and activities.
I read the following five articles by Pannapacker when they were first published during the MLA conferences:
2009 - The MLA and the Digital Humanities
2011 - Digital Humanities Triumphant?
2012 - The Come-to-DH Moment
2012 - Twitter Is Scholarship
2013 - On ‘The Dark Side of the Digital Humanities’
Back in 2009, I wrote about that first article in the series.
Pannapacker, as far as I can tell, began his career as a scholar of 19th century American literature; however, that has not prevented him from making contributions as a commentator concerning the profession. His approaches as a scholar-journalist and academic reporter offer good models for what we might do more of in our field(s).
Imagine, for example, if we had brief write-ups on African American literature panels and presentations at the last four MLA conferences. What if someone or a few people had offered their takes on the future of the field? I've produced a few entries here and there concerning my experiences at the annual conference such as my coverage of the "Silence in the Digital Humanities." But I'll need to do more, we'll need to do more in order to provide up-to-date and really useful coverage for the fields of Black Studies or African American literary study.
We could start by composing, publishing, and circulating notes on some of what we witness at the annual conferences of our professional organizations.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
I read the following five articles by Pannapacker when they were first published during the MLA conferences:
2009 - The MLA and the Digital Humanities
2011 - Digital Humanities Triumphant?
2012 - The Come-to-DH Moment
2012 - Twitter Is Scholarship
2013 - On ‘The Dark Side of the Digital Humanities’
Back in 2009, I wrote about that first article in the series.
Pannapacker, as far as I can tell, began his career as a scholar of 19th century American literature; however, that has not prevented him from making contributions as a commentator concerning the profession. His approaches as a scholar-journalist and academic reporter offer good models for what we might do more of in our field(s).
Imagine, for example, if we had brief write-ups on African American literature panels and presentations at the last four MLA conferences. What if someone or a few people had offered their takes on the future of the field? I've produced a few entries here and there concerning my experiences at the annual conference such as my coverage of the "Silence in the Digital Humanities." But I'll need to do more, we'll need to do more in order to provide up-to-date and really useful coverage for the fields of Black Studies or African American literary study.
We could start by composing, publishing, and circulating notes on some of what we witness at the annual conferences of our professional organizations.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
News-gathering and study groups: DH Presentation Focus
I've been thinking and writing about technology and computing in the arts for some time now, though not always under the phrase "digital humanities" (DH). Still, I've produced several entries on the topic of DH on this site. Thus, I have many things I'd want to discuss for this upcoming presentation at the College Language Association conference.
However, given the limits of time, I'm going to focus my concerns. For the presentation, here's my initial main claim:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
However, given the limits of time, I'm going to focus my concerns. For the presentation, here's my initial main claim:
In order to ensure more active and effective engagements with digital humanities among African American literature scholars in the coming years, we should create and nurture news-gathering initiatives and study groups that concentrate on technology, DH in general, and skill development.Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Creative domain
A creative domain refers to the accepted and generally well-known body of knowledge, practices, texts, and key figures in a given field. R. Keith Sawyer, in his book Explaining Creativity, notes that creative domains consist "of all the
created products that have been accepted by the field in the past, and
all of the conventions that are shared by members of the field—the
languages, symbols, and notations.”
Related:
• Keywords
Related:
• Keywords
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Considering Charles Johnson's Middle Passage
Charles Johnson’s Middle Passage (1990) tells the story of Rutherford Calhoun—an ex-slave who in an attempt to escape a blackmailed marriage arrangement, hides on a ships as a stowaway. It is not until hours later, that he discovers that the ship is not any regular ship leaving New Orleans, but the Republic—a slave ship. As the only Negro in the crew, Calhoun struggles between his alliance with his shipmates and the enslaved members of the African tribe the Allmuseri.
Although Johnson’s book is slow to unravel, his novel proves to be an important work in African American literature. It explores the complexities of well-known black men owning slaves—which seems to be the ultimate betrayal—while uncovering the tensions between American and African, as well as the relationship of power and vulnerability. Calhoun had been freed by his former master as a teen, only to become a slave to the revolted Allmuseri tribe after they overthrew the captain and his crew. His situation is further complicated as he plays both sides—giving the key to the shackles to a slave to free his men, and plotting with the crew members to poison the estranged captain.
One by one, the surviving crew members and Allmuseri must depend on one another to survive—literally by turning to cannibalism. As the ship sinks, Calhoun finds himself yearning for home in New Orleans where he might face injustices that he once sought to escape. Surprisingly, he and three others are rescued and brought on board another ship, where he is forced to face Papa—a black man who buys slaves, and the very person who forced Calhoun to run away. This important moment of self-discovery, bravery, and new found love for a woman he once despised has shed a new light on what it means to be a fatherless black man committed to changing the course of an unfair life.
Johnson’s neo-slave narrative Middle Passage is a contemporary classic that provides an alternative on the irony of being presumed as a free man and actually being freed.
********
Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
Kevin Durant, Kinship, and the 2007 Draft
By Caleb Butler
If the Spurs benefited after the 1997 draft from an organic kinship between Tim Duncan and David Robinson, the Oklahoma City Thunder are enjoying similar benefits from the same home-grown approach to building an elite team. On the far right in the picture above, Thunder (then SuperSonics) General Manager Sam Presti smiles big after drafting Kevin Durant second overall in the 2007 draft and trading for Jeff Green (drafted fifth overall). Of course, we all know that Presti drafted Russell Westbrook fourth overall the following summer with hopes of forging a close bond between his young stars; in other words, Presti put everything in place for a kinship to develop between Durant, Green, and Westbrook.
Not surprisingly, Presti worked his way up the San Antonio Spurs’ organization before becoming GM with the Thunder and drafting Durant in the summer of 2007. As I explained last week, the Spurs understand the advantage of kinship; Presti brought this wisdom to the Thunder, but the results took time. As happy as the two young stars look in this photo, they didn’t smile much in their first season (20-62) with the SuperSonics or their second season (23-59) as the Oklahoma City Thunder.
It is likely that Presti is smiling in this press conference because he knew that success would come when the kinship matured. Just as Durant’s scrawny frame took time to fill out, the team’s bond has grown strong over the past five years and helped them win the division in 2011 and the Western Conference championship last season. ESPN recently asked Durant about his unique pairing with Westbrook in comparison to other duos, like Paul-Griffin and Wade-LeBron, to which Durant emphasized the distinction that he and Westbrook were drafted to the same team (noting Sam Presti’s inside-out approach where the team is family – the players are like kin).
Related:
• The Basketball Project
Kinship
Kinship refers to fictive, virtual, and "real" connections between groups of people who may or may not be officially related. The common and popular use of "brother," "sister," or "cousin" among African Americans to express an affinity or connection displays one sense of kinship.
Related:
• Keywords
Related:
• Keywords
How Kobe can shine as a culture hero despite the stats
By Bryan Ryan
“There is no measure, other than YouTube highlights and folklore, by which he's the best scorer in crunch time,” noted Henry Abbott, a well-respected NBA blogger for ESPN, in a controversial assertion about the mythology of Kobe Bryant in the clutch. Anyone can make a wild claim, so how exactly did Abbott reach his opinion?
Statistics, the new guiding measure of NBA analysis forms the foundation of Abbott’s work, specifically the last 5 years of Kobe’s career. As evidence, Abbott denotes Kobe’s ailing field goal percentage (slightly under thirty percent in the final twenty-four seconds) and the commonality of horrid shot selection (Kobe has nearly as many airballs as makes over his playoff career in crunch time). Perhaps most intriguing is the defensive acumen Bryant allows his opponents by taking 56 “clutch” shots over the last five years to a single assist, a statistic that allows defenses to double, triple, even quadruple-team Bryant in close games (as seen in the image above, a play that resulted in a blocked “clutch” jumper and a Laker loss).
As noted last week, all culture heroes have some degree of mythology and fiction to their individual legends, to which Kobe is no different. Just as Shine was not actually on the Titanic, Kobe’s mystique and aura are increased over time by the masses, often in spite of truth. You can give us all the statistics you want, all the logical arguments necessary to demythologize the 6’6” wingman and scoring legend, but until the YouTube clips and the barbershop talk are eliminated, Kobe will always be clutch.
Related:
• The Basketball Project
Octavia Butler as an Uncanny writer
By Briana Whiteside
If you uttered three simple words “black woman protagonist” to Octavia Butler, she would have come up with characters such as Mary from Mind of My Mind, a young black woman telepath who defeats Doro—the body snatching spirit man who created her as “an experiment”—a task no one else has been able to accomplish. To try to “read his mind is to commit suicide,” so instead of reading his mind, Mary physically consumes Doro as he tries to snatch her. Mary has reason to ego trip.
What about Anyanwu from Wild Seed, the shapeshifting, deadly strong, hundred years living oracle who surpasses conventional views of black women? By creating Anyanwu, Butler plays with the idea of what it means to be under the gaze of a black woman. Her eyes “too white, the browns too deep and clear;” Anyanwu’s gaze is just as fear-provoking as her black female body.
Butler swiftly with the stroke of a pen writes life into the bodies of the women who are shaped but not limited by their time. Missing black female bodies and voices in science fiction are quickly sketched in and serve as templates for constructing extra-ordinary black women. With the twiddle of a finger and a leadless pencil, Butler makes an imprint on how assimilation can be used for domination and her black women characters show us how it’s executed.
She may not have all the mechanics worked out before she puts the black ink on the white paper, but Butler is sure of two things: black women character’s voices will be heard, and they will be survivors despite stereotypical woes, social constructs, and performative gender roles.
I am only touching the tip of the melting iceberg in Butler’s mind as she inserts mind blowing, super powerful, intellectual black women who defy all patriarchal rules into sci-fi.
Octavia Butler is a master of her craft—master of outlandish characters, master of twisted yet consistent plot, master of time, and master of the pattern. She is bad mama jama, and holds nothing back as her characters walk off the pages with a new attitude, an air of confidence and a learned way to outwit their oppressors.
Octavia Butler is an uncanny African American sci-fi writer.
Related:
A Notebook on Octavia Butler
********
Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
Notes on the creative domains of Coates, McGruder, Whitehead & Young
Attention to creative domains might assist us in understanding, or better yet, explaining, the bodies of knowledge that writers utilize to to produce their works. R. Keith Sawyer, a prominent researcher on the nature and science of creativity, has explained that creative domains consist "of all the created products that have been accepted by the field in the past, and all of the conventions that are shared by members of the field—the languages, symbols, and notations” (216).
In addition to modes of writing serving as domains, writers draw on many other discourses and subject areas in order to create their works. For Colson Whitehead, horror movies and the literature on such movies constituted a crucial domain. For Aaron McGruder, Star Wars and his undergraduate major in black studies constituted key domains.
The cultural memory of his extended southern black family and music, especially jazz and blues, were central creative domains for Kevin Young. And for Ta-Nehisi Coates, black nationalism was a key domain. "As most of you know," Coates once noted on his blog, "my first intellectual tradition was nationalism."
All of the writers were influenced by hip hop aesthetics. Whitehead (b. 1969) and Young (b. 1970) are slightly older than McGruder (b. 1974) and Coates (b. 1975), which might explain some of the subtle differences in their relationship to the music. McGruder and Coates, for instance, have been more inclined than Young and Whitehead to celebrate "conscious" rap and some of the later rappers of the Golden Age of Hip Hop, who were more prominent during McGruder's and Coates's mid-teen years.
.
Reading and thinking about the works of these four writers over the years have given me opportunities to consider how domains might shape the imaginative and intellectual capabilities of black boys.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
In addition to modes of writing serving as domains, writers draw on many other discourses and subject areas in order to create their works. For Colson Whitehead, horror movies and the literature on such movies constituted a crucial domain. For Aaron McGruder, Star Wars and his undergraduate major in black studies constituted key domains.
The cultural memory of his extended southern black family and music, especially jazz and blues, were central creative domains for Kevin Young. And for Ta-Nehisi Coates, black nationalism was a key domain. "As most of you know," Coates once noted on his blog, "my first intellectual tradition was nationalism."
All of the writers were influenced by hip hop aesthetics. Whitehead (b. 1969) and Young (b. 1970) are slightly older than McGruder (b. 1974) and Coates (b. 1975), which might explain some of the subtle differences in their relationship to the music. McGruder and Coates, for instance, have been more inclined than Young and Whitehead to celebrate "conscious" rap and some of the later rappers of the Golden Age of Hip Hop, who were more prominent during McGruder's and Coates's mid-teen years.
.
Reading and thinking about the works of these four writers over the years have given me opportunities to consider how domains might shape the imaginative and intellectual capabilities of black boys.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The Power of Habit [Chapter 6]
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
By Danielle Hall
In this chapter, Charles Duhigg discusses how inadvertent routines among organizations and firms lead to poor choices and destructive habits. The two case studies provided in this chapter resulted in costly, even deadly, consequences at Rhode Island Hospital and London Underground’s King’s Cross subway station. Both examples shed light on the ways in which ineffective communication, unwritten processes and policies, behaviors, contribute to inadvertent habit formations.
According to Duhigg, “even destructive habits can be transformed by leaders who know how to seize the right opportunities” and that “Sometimes in the heat of a crisis, the right habits emerge" (160). In this way, change within both organizations’ habits only became a possibility among leadership in the face of calamity. Here, Duhigg goes on to say that leaders must not only “cultivate habits that both create a real and balanced peace,” but also that leaders must “make it absolutely clear who’s in charge" (166).
Based on the reading, what did you come to view as one key benefit to “transforming” habits by “seizing” or finding the right opportunities amid crisis? Why or how so?
By Danielle Hall
In this chapter, Charles Duhigg discusses how inadvertent routines among organizations and firms lead to poor choices and destructive habits. The two case studies provided in this chapter resulted in costly, even deadly, consequences at Rhode Island Hospital and London Underground’s King’s Cross subway station. Both examples shed light on the ways in which ineffective communication, unwritten processes and policies, behaviors, contribute to inadvertent habit formations.
According to Duhigg, “even destructive habits can be transformed by leaders who know how to seize the right opportunities” and that “Sometimes in the heat of a crisis, the right habits emerge" (160). In this way, change within both organizations’ habits only became a possibility among leadership in the face of calamity. Here, Duhigg goes on to say that leaders must not only “cultivate habits that both create a real and balanced peace,” but also that leaders must “make it absolutely clear who’s in charge" (166).
Based on the reading, what did you come to view as one key benefit to “transforming” habits by “seizing” or finding the right opportunities amid crisis? Why or how so?
Applying the Art of Choosing
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
We've been reading and discussing The Art of Choosing, and come to some new concepts about the processes of choosing and deciding and how the ways we choose are culturally distinct in some instances. But how has choosing played out in the real world, in our local worlds?
We're curious: what's one notable way over the last couple of months that you've been influenced to decide or think about decisions or choosing based on your experience studying The Art of Choosing? Why was your consideration notable?
We've been reading and discussing The Art of Choosing, and come to some new concepts about the processes of choosing and deciding and how the ways we choose are culturally distinct in some instances. But how has choosing played out in the real world, in our local worlds?
We're curious: what's one notable way over the last couple of months that you've been influenced to decide or think about decisions or choosing based on your experience studying The Art of Choosing? Why was your consideration notable?
Trauma and Gayl Jones’ Corregidora
By Briana WhitesideIn Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History, Cathy Caruth borrows Freud’s psychoanalytic theory of trauma—from Beyond the Pleasure Principle—and applies it to literature and movies. She asserts, “trauma is understood as a wound inflicted not upon the body but upon the mind,” and “that knowing and not knowing are entangled in the language of trauma and in the stories associated with it.” If scholars consider the parallel of Caruth’s observations of trauma theory and Gayl Jones’ Corregidora, we will be more equipped to understand Ursa’s continuous mental breakdown surrounding events that she is forced to share but never experience.
Caruth writes, “one’s own trauma can be tied up with the trauma of another…through the very possibility and surprise of listening to another’s wound.” If we assume Caruth is correct, it would explain how the undying request of Ursa’s gram and great-gram “to make generations”—to spread the horrors of old man Corregidora, and to adopt a belief that all men are evil—continues to haunt and manipulate her thoughts, actions, and relationships.
Ursa’s story unfolds as she revisits her marriage to Mutt Thomas, a jealous tobacco field worker who wants Ursa to stop singing once they marry “so he could support me [her].” She refuses to give up her place on stage and one evening, Mutt arrives drunk and in a struggle with Ursa, pushes her down the stairs forcing her to abort her pregnancy and have a hysterectomy, which destroys her duty as a Corregidora woman “to make generations.” If we read Caruth alongside of Corregidora, we see how the traumatic event of abortion gives agency to the stories of gram and great gram to interject in the life of Ursa.
Although Ursa bears the Corregidora name like her mother and grandmother, she is not Corregidora’s child—“the only Corregidora woman who has a different father.” She remarks, “they squeezed Corregidora into me, and I sung back in return…I am not Corregidora’s daughter. Look at me.” Ursa’s difficulty to adopt the hatred of men—via old man Corregidora’s actions—is overshadowed by her need to sing and fulfill the duty to “make generation” in order to keep the cycle of men bashing alive. It seems that through the theory of trauma Ursa would be able to speak what would otherwise be unspeakable in social contexts—the fact that her mother and grandmother were both fathered by the same man.
Caruth goes on to declare that, “the act of survival, as the experience of trauma, is the repeated confrontation with the necessity and impossibility of grasping the threat to one’s own life.” Ursa’s inability to uphold and pass down the generational curse of the Corregidora women victimizes her until she finds a way to rid herself of the family curse—her survival rests in submission to love that destroys the family lineage.
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Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
ACA: More reflections on studying alone vs. studying in groups
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
Last week, we started receiving some important comments about studying alone vs. studying collaboratively in groups. We'd like to hear more from you on the subject.
One of our contributors noted that after reading the first part of chapter 4 of Academically Adrift that "I was further convinced that collaborative learning does not play much of a role in facilitating student learning," because "meeting up with fellow classmates can quickly turn in to a social experience and it's difficult to create the necessary environment to enhance student learning." Another commenter observed a feeling of being "shocked" by the evidence the authors offered concerning the problems with collaborative study.
On the other hand, another one of our peers, who has had experience working beyond college, noted that the first part of the chapter was "a bit harsh" perhaps: "when we enter the workforce we absolutely have to be prepared to work with others" and thus "the idea of decreasing group study or collaborative projects to satisfy some standardized testing is bogus in my book. There just has to be a little more self-discipline and balance."
What do you think? How can we follow up and extend on what has been said, or better yet, how can we better pinpoint the problem or challenge with making collaborative work or group studying more effective?
WDS: Addressing Homelessness
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
By Cindy Lyles
Malcolm Gladwell's essay “Million-Dollar Murray” details the issue of homelessness and how various cities have attempted to remedy the problem. Gladwell explains differing points of views on the issue, one being that dealing with homelessness is less expensive to solve than ignoring it. On the other hand, some believe that aiding the chronically homeless (also known as the hard cases) via assisted-living programs merely exacerbates rather than rehabilitates the problem.
Gladwell cites homelessness expert Philip Mangano, who says that rather than "manage a social wrong. You should be ending it” (187). Homelessness, according to Mangano, is a social wrong that those in civic power fail to tackle with urgency. By spending more money in medical costs and treatment for the homeless than it costs to provide them housing, Mangano believes civic leaders are only coping with homelessness instead of alleviating it.
Based on the different views, what do you view as the most viable option--managing vs. solving? Why?
By Cindy Lyles
Malcolm Gladwell's essay “Million-Dollar Murray” details the issue of homelessness and how various cities have attempted to remedy the problem. Gladwell explains differing points of views on the issue, one being that dealing with homelessness is less expensive to solve than ignoring it. On the other hand, some believe that aiding the chronically homeless (also known as the hard cases) via assisted-living programs merely exacerbates rather than rehabilitates the problem.
Gladwell cites homelessness expert Philip Mangano, who says that rather than "manage a social wrong. You should be ending it” (187). Homelessness, according to Mangano, is a social wrong that those in civic power fail to tackle with urgency. By spending more money in medical costs and treatment for the homeless than it costs to provide them housing, Mangano believes civic leaders are only coping with homelessness instead of alleviating it.
Based on the different views, what do you view as the most viable option--managing vs. solving? Why?
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Books by Allison Joseph & Tony Medina converse together about dads
I'm not sure whether Allison Joseph and Tony Medina know each other. Nonetheless, volumes of their poetry are in close proximity on my bookshelf, and they converse with each other all the time. Joseph's volume my father's kites and Medina's My Old Man Was Always On The Lam were both released in 2010, and perhaps because my mind moves slower than a turtle at times, I somehow never put enough thought into the links between their two works until last week.
I was, as always it seems, rearranging the volumes in my poetry collection on the bookcase, and at one point, Joseph's book was sitting next to Medina's. "What the...?" I asked myself when the thought clicked that I had never pointed out the connections between these two works that both include several works about the poets' deceased fathers. I went to check one of my online lists of volumes, and--how about that?--I had already placed the works together in my 2010 section.
You get the sense while reading Joseph's and Medina's poems that their dads were some fascinating, to say the least, kinds of dudes. Joseph's dad "loved designer suits," had "Gold cufflinks, tie tacks, slim silver pens to sign the flourish of his signature," and he would "shun / the plain, clothes other men saw fit to choose." Folks were inclined to talk about Medina's dad "like he was Stagolee or Shine," thus linking him to two of our most known and revered "bad" men.
Usually when we talk about fathers and poetry, we mention one poem here and there, and we certainly note Robert Hayden's well-known "Those Winter Sundays." Medina and Joseph slightly expand that conversation. Medina's volume has several poems about his father, and Joseph's book contains a sequence of thirty-four sonnets featuring her father. At least among the 300 or so volumes of poetry in my collection, Medina's and Joseph's books are, together, unique in their extended poetic treatments of fathers.
More extensively than others, Joseph and Medina demonstrate the idea of black fathers as poetic muses. Thus, when placed near each other on the shelf, my father's kites and My Old Man Was Always On The Lam have much to say to one another.
• Volumes of poetry in conversation with one another
• 30 volumes of poetry leading to The Big Smoke
Volumes of poetry in conversation with one another
Often, writings about a volume of poetry appears when the work is just released or when and if the book wins a major award. Most awards come within a year of publication, so for the many volumes that do not win, there's little chance that we will see writings about the work after a year has passed. Scholars tend to write about books well after the works have been published; however, relatively few scholars write about poetry.
One way that we might begin bringing up previously published volumes is by explaining how different volumes are in conversation with one another. While reading an advanced reading copy of Adrian Matejka's The Big Smoke, I've been thinking about how his work is in conversation with 30 previously published volumes. What if we took more concerted efforts to talk about how new books spoke to and with previously published works as a way of preventing poetry from being so easily forgotten after a year's time?
One benefit of putting volumes of poetry in conversation with one another would be a longer shelf-life for more works. Another benefit would involve us recognizing developing trends and distinct innovations among a range of works. Finally, more writings on poetry would equip us to expand understandings of creativity in the field; doing so is typically constrained because of a lack of public conversation about works among scholars, poets, editors, and readers.
Friday, March 15, 2013
NYC as Colson Whitehead's Muse & Canvas
"I'm here because I was born here and thus ruined for anywhere else." --Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York
"He always wanted to live in New York." --Colson Whitehead, Zone One
In the past, many of our most canonical writers journeyed from somewhere else to New York City. Langston Hughes from the Midwest. Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright from the South. Ralph Ellison from Oklahoma. Toni Morrison from Ohio. The migration of African Americans to urban locales was an important source of inspiration for those writers.
Colson Whitehead, however, was born in NYC. For Wright and Hurston, childhood memories emerged from Mississippi and Florida, respectively. For Whitehead, it's Manhattan.
New York figures in some way or another in all of Whitehead's works. In The Intuitionist, the city is never named, but the fictive metropolis functions as an alternate reality for NYC much like Gotham in the Batman universe. Whitehead's John Henry Days and Apex Hides the Hurt do not take place in cities, but the protagonists are presumably from a large city, like New York. The Colossus of New York is a grand tribute inspired in large part because of the September 11 attacks.
Whitehead's Sag Harbor is set right outside of NYC, where the central character is from, and his zombie novel Zone One is set in a near-future New York City. For years now, NYC has been an important, recurring muses and canvas for Whitehead.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Octavia Butler’s Clay’s Ark
Equipped with Butler’s expertise for storytelling, Clay’s Ark (1984) is nothing more than a cliché science fiction tale of alien abduction and fantasy filled heavily with sexual undertones. The third book of The Patternist series, Clay’s Ark is by far my least favorite book, and I am not sure why the story needed to be told.
As an extraterrestrial zombie story, Butler presents an alternative view of life if people contracted a disease—the clay’s ark disease—that made them inhuman but not necessarily superhuman. Clay’s Ark is the story of Eli who was once a geologist and astronaut who returned from a space mission carrying an alien disease in his body, which made him faster and sharpened his senses. Once Eli comes back to earth, he needs to infect others in order to survive, but restricts the new hosts from infecting others outside the desert, for the fear that it will cause an epidemic. In order to survive, the new hosts must infect and reinfect people, and Eli’s restrictions don’t really make much sense!
The organisms living within their bodies cause them to have compulsions that urge them to participate in acts of rape, incest, and even murder. They have the ability to reproduce humanlike children “who move seductively like cats” and live as an isolated group in the desert. So, why does Eli’s story need to be told?
Butler’s decision to include a man’s story into The Patternist series seems odd and out of place. Eli’s story falls flat compared to Anyanwu’s shape shifting from Wild Seed and Mary’s mental strength from Mind of My Mind. He lacks astonishing capabilities, unusual talents, and ultimately blends in with the other characters in the story.
Although Butler’s new spin on the old plot of alien abduction to rewire genetic makeup is noteworthy, the story travels on a straight and narrow path, with a predictable and unsatisfying end. If this had been Butler’s first book, it might have been an acceptable read; however, Butler has set the bar so high from her previous works, that it is clear to recognize when one work doesn’t uphold the standards of the bar.
Related:
A Notebook on Octavia Butler
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Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
The draft and kinship in 1997
By Caleb Butler
The San Antonio Spurs drafted Tim Duncan first overall in 1997, and a highly profitable kinship developed almost immediately between Duncan and his fellow big-man teammate, David Robinson. The two low-post players were like brothers on the court, backing each other up and playing off each other’s strengths, but they looked most like brothers when they walked off the court with high-fives and arms wrapped around one another. In the image above, their physical closeness is indicative of their close-knit basketball friendship.
Tim Duncan could not have been more fortunate than to join Robinson and the Spurs in 1997, and the Spurs could not have been more fortunate either. Robinson was the big brother who showed Duncan the tricks of the trade; Duncan was the over-achieving little brother who quickly stole the spotlight. The image above shows their championship celebration in 1999, Duncan’s second season, as he holds his Finals MVP Trophy.
When you stop to think about it, Duncan’s kinship with Robinson directed the trajectory of Duncan’s career. He entered the league as a team-first guy with loads of talent, but he skipped the growing pains of most rookies because big brother, “The Admiral,” was there to coach him along. In fact, the drafting of Duncan to join Robinson itself is an excellent example of the Spurs’ continued emphasis on an inside-out approach where the team is a family – where the players are like kin.
Related:
• The Basketball Project
Kobe Bryant, Cultural Capital, and the art of Clutch
By Bryan Ryan
Forget the haters, the naysayers, the so-called statisticians: we know Kobe is clutch. This image, from Game 4 of the 2002 semi-finals (a mere 5 years into his professional career), proves the cold-blooded, win-at-all-costs mentality that earned the future hall-of-famer the nickname “Black Mamba.” Kobe rises over renowned defender Bruce Bowen and Hall-of-Fame Center David Robinson (listed at 7’1”) not once, but twice, grabbing the offensive board, landing, and soaring again for the cradled floater to propel the Lakers to a playoff victory with four seconds left in the game.
Ultimately, it does not matter whether Kobe is truly a clutch player by statistical standards. This image is from 2002 when advanced statistics are still being formulated, and the NBA community BELIEVES Kobe “Bean” Bryant is the best closer in the game. With that comes changed status based on the perception of traits associated with clutch play, garnering Kobe instant respect for his (supposed) courage, fearlessness, and leadership mentality.
Within the culture of the National Basketball Association, there is a respect for largely immeasurable qualities, like clutch play, that give players an increased mobility within the social and professional hierarchy of the sport. While it’s easy to fall in love with a scoring champion or a finals victor, fans and players alike have an admiration for those individuals who “hustle”, or have “well-developed fundamentals”, or are “students of the game. ” For Kobe, his legend began with the recognition that when the buzzer is about to sound, Bryant makes baskets.
Related:
• The Basketball Project
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