So here was the final overall claim for my presentation:
We should recognize eclectic creative domains, including Star Wars, horror movies, hip hop aesthetics, black studies, and father-son experiences, in order to pinpoint what assisted in making Colson Whitehead, Kevin Young, Aaron McGruder, and Ta-Nehisi Coates outlier black writers.
Here's the initial draft and later draft of my overall claim.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
The downside of outliers?
During the question and answer session of my presentation at the African American literature symposium at the University of Oregon, Matt Sandler asked if I would follow up a bit on my discussion of outlier black writers. He rightly identified Malcolm Gladwell as one of my sources. (I've been working with students for a few years now on reading projects related to Outliers).
We usually speak of outlier in positive terms, noting how Barack Obama or Oprah Winfrey or LeBron James are outliers in their fields, exceeding the standards and really standing apart in extraordinary ways from all the rest. We admire outliers and marvel at their accomplishments. But, I began wondering after thinking more on Matt's question, are there some less discussed downsides to outliers? Or more specifically, can their achievements sometimes have negative consequences for their cohorts and potential rivals?
Toward the end of her book The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander takes the time to discuss how Obama's success actually limits some opportunities for larger groups of African Americans. LeBron James's outlier status is good for the Miami Heat, but his achievements are not all the way positive for the other teams in the league, right? And even in Miami, James's ascent meant that Dwyane Wade's time in the spotlight would lessen.
And what about outlier writers, outlier black writers? Beyond all the positives of their contributions and successes, do their individual achievements ever negatively affect larger groupings of black writers? In scholarly discourses and popular discourses, Toni Morrison and Colson Whitehead, respectively, are two of the most widely written about black writers. By far. To what extent does an over-focus on those two outlier black writers diminish the interest readers might have in seemingly regular African American writers?
We'll eventually need to have more extensive and honest conversations about how highly successful black writers, or how the widespread reception of select black writers affects--positively and negatively--larger fields.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
We usually speak of outlier in positive terms, noting how Barack Obama or Oprah Winfrey or LeBron James are outliers in their fields, exceeding the standards and really standing apart in extraordinary ways from all the rest. We admire outliers and marvel at their accomplishments. But, I began wondering after thinking more on Matt's question, are there some less discussed downsides to outliers? Or more specifically, can their achievements sometimes have negative consequences for their cohorts and potential rivals?
Toward the end of her book The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander takes the time to discuss how Obama's success actually limits some opportunities for larger groups of African Americans. LeBron James's outlier status is good for the Miami Heat, but his achievements are not all the way positive for the other teams in the league, right? And even in Miami, James's ascent meant that Dwyane Wade's time in the spotlight would lessen.
And what about outlier writers, outlier black writers? Beyond all the positives of their contributions and successes, do their individual achievements ever negatively affect larger groupings of black writers? In scholarly discourses and popular discourses, Toni Morrison and Colson Whitehead, respectively, are two of the most widely written about black writers. By far. To what extent does an over-focus on those two outlier black writers diminish the interest readers might have in seemingly regular African American writers?
We'll eventually need to have more extensive and honest conversations about how highly successful black writers, or how the widespread reception of select black writers affects--positively and negatively--larger fields.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
Misunderstanding Black Feminism
By Briana Whiteside
Earlier this week, I was having a conversation with my brother about my upcoming project concerning black women characters in the works of Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler. I mentioned that I would be positioning my work in feminist theory as it serves as a lense to view uncanny black women characters. Almost immediately he stated, “if you tell me you are a feminist I will stop talking to you. They are women who participate in men bashing and they just hate men.”
Yesterday, while I was at the gym a young Nigerian man approached me who I often have short conversations with and started to talk about literature. He asked what type of project I was working on and I told him “black feminism” and he said “Whoa, I would prefer you to study womanism because feminism is isolated.”
From these remarks, I noticed some men have a fear of feminism, more specifically, black feminism because they assume that feminists either hate men or that they participate in exclusionary rituals. Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought, however, addresses some of these misconceptions about black feminism and explains that black feminism is a sisterhood, it offers comfort and security for black women of a collective identity. As the Combahee River Collective Statement, which is reprinted in the anthology notes, “the reaction of black men to feminism has been notoriously negative.
They are even more threatened than black women by the possibility that black feminists might organize round our own needs. They realize that they might not only lose valuable and hard-working allies in their struggles, but that they might also be forced to change their habitually sexist ways of interacting with and oppressing black women.”
Black feminism exists because no other movement had examined the multilayers of black women’s lives fully, consistently, and exclusively. “To be recognized as human, levelly human, is enough,” notes the Combahee River Statement, for black feminists who actually strive to provide inclusionary tactics for black women. Some of the negative implications surrounding black feminism may surface from the lack of understanding, unwillingness to recognize, and laxity to identify the importance of communal spaces for black women.
********
Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
Earlier this week, I was having a conversation with my brother about my upcoming project concerning black women characters in the works of Toni Morrison and Octavia Butler. I mentioned that I would be positioning my work in feminist theory as it serves as a lense to view uncanny black women characters. Almost immediately he stated, “if you tell me you are a feminist I will stop talking to you. They are women who participate in men bashing and they just hate men.”
Yesterday, while I was at the gym a young Nigerian man approached me who I often have short conversations with and started to talk about literature. He asked what type of project I was working on and I told him “black feminism” and he said “Whoa, I would prefer you to study womanism because feminism is isolated.”
From these remarks, I noticed some men have a fear of feminism, more specifically, black feminism because they assume that feminists either hate men or that they participate in exclusionary rituals. Words of Fire: An Anthology of African American Feminist Thought, however, addresses some of these misconceptions about black feminism and explains that black feminism is a sisterhood, it offers comfort and security for black women of a collective identity. As the Combahee River Collective Statement, which is reprinted in the anthology notes, “the reaction of black men to feminism has been notoriously negative.
They are even more threatened than black women by the possibility that black feminists might organize round our own needs. They realize that they might not only lose valuable and hard-working allies in their struggles, but that they might also be forced to change their habitually sexist ways of interacting with and oppressing black women.”
Black feminism exists because no other movement had examined the multilayers of black women’s lives fully, consistently, and exclusively. “To be recognized as human, levelly human, is enough,” notes the Combahee River Statement, for black feminists who actually strive to provide inclusionary tactics for black women. Some of the negative implications surrounding black feminism may surface from the lack of understanding, unwillingness to recognize, and laxity to identify the importance of communal spaces for black women.
********
Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
Monday, April 29, 2013
Talking African American poetry at the University Oregon
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| Anthony Reed, Evie Shockley, and Matt Sandler |
Usually, unless the scholarly gathering is directly related to the genre, I don't get expect to participate in many discussions about the study of African American poetry. So I was surprised by how many in-depth conversations that I took part in concerning poets, trends in the field, ongoing research projects, different volumes to consider.
Even at one of the dinners, I happened to be seated next to Corbett Upton, a faculty member in the English department at the University of Oregon. What began as our discussion of Star Wars and artistic inspiration quickly moved to our additional shared interests studying how poems and poets are anthologized and thus represented as part of various canons.
Thinking and writing about poetry can sometimes feel like a lonely enterprise. However, after a couple of days like the ones I had in Eugene, Oregon, you begin to think that it's sometimes a matter of getting connected to the right folks in the right place, right time.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
Evie Shockley and the Music
During her reading of "post-white" at the African American literature symposium at the University of Oregon, I somehow assumed Evie Shockley was reading an unpublished poem. Her live version of the poem includes singing,which gives the piece sonic qualities and melodies that are less evident, at least to me, on the page. Actually, "post-white" appears in Evie's the new black, a volume I thought I knew quite well.
Hearing Evie live had me thinking that I hadn't been reading her creatively enough on my own. Or, I haven't been stretching out enough to also listen to how she sounded reading poems for the volume out loud. Sometimes you have to hear a poet to, well, hear her.
My crew and I had been having an extended conversation about what Evie does on the page, with poems like "x marks the spot," “mesostics from the american grammar book,” "a sonnet for stanley tookie williams," "dependencies," and "explosives." In addition to keeping an eye on the visual aesthetics of her poetry, I'm also inclined, moving forward, to pay closer attention to what Evie does with the music.
Speaking of the music in her work, listening to Evie reminded me that I also have to attend a little more to her playing...that is, the playfulness in her works. In class and our side discussions of her work, we frequently discuss the serious topics of the poems. That's there. But what's far more evident when listening to Evie alluding to and signifying on songs and music in her work is the ongoing humorous and mischievous engagements.
Many years ago, I was at a reading where Amiri Baraka was speaking about Margaret Walker. He noted that he had read her famous poem "For My People" for over a decade one way until he heard Walker reading it herself and putting a the stress on "my" differently than he had, which led him to view the poem in alternative ways. Hearing Evie Shockley at the reading in Oregon gives me more reasons to hear and read her in new and alternative ways.
Related:
• A Notebook on the work of Evie Shockley
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
The value of a small scholarly gathering
We need more small gatherings in the field like the one Courtney Thorsson organized at the University of Oregon on April 26. Such gatherings enable necessary time for scholarly conversations and adequate question and answer sessions. A symposium like this one also prompted some of us to showcase broader aspects of our projects than in other venues.
I encounter more people in passing at larger conferences; however, I ended up having more extended conversations about African American literature and various research projects with a larger number of people at this smaller gathering. The moments before, between, and after the sessions made it possible for me to cover a range of topics with some degree of depth with presenters Anthony Reed, Matt Sandler, Evie Shockley, Erica Edwards, and David Bradley, as well as with some of Thorsson's colleagues and graduate students in English and media studies at the university.
There were two main panels at the symposium, and the question and answer sessions for both panels lasted over 30 minutes, something that rarely happens at typical large conferences. There's simply not enough time to fit in Q and A for more than 10 minutes in most cases at conferences. That's notable too since so many attendees regularly remark that "the Q and A is the best part."
This symposium format gave me the chance, or really prompted me, to talk about a larger project and more writers at one time than I usually do at regular conferences, where I'm inclined to focus on perhaps one writer. For my presentation on Friday, I concentrated on the careers of 4 writers, and I mentioned them in the context of more than 20 of their contemporaries. Since I was one of the few presenters, I was inclined to produce this series of entries and resources related to the presentation prior to the event.
To be fair, there are multiple reasons why we don't have more small symposiums on African American literature. For one, there's the challenge of funding. Larger conferences have more people and longer histories and thus more sources of revenue. Second, we'd need more scholar-organizers in the field like Courtney Thorsson to make such events happen. By and large, graduate students and then literature scholars are not trained or socialized to organize symposiums. We are more likely to attended regular conferences and give, hmmm, regular papers.
I've attended several (perhaps too many) larger conferences over the last 10 years. Although large conferences are important for many reasons, a symposium like this one provided key advantages for sharing, developing ideas, and rethinking what it is we might do when we get together for scholarly gatherings of any size.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
• A Notebook on work by Courtney Thorsson
The Lit. Scholar as Organizer: The Case of Courtney Thorsson
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| Courtney Thorsson points the way |
Here's the deal. We might as well go ahead now and place Courtney Thorsson in that tradition of lit
organizers. View her as one of those folks who bring a variety of scholars, teachers, grad students, undergrads, and general citizens together to talk and think about literary art. Consider her in the modes of Maryemma Graham, of Eugene B. Redmond, and of Lovalerie King.
Thinking of her in those ways will assist in our understanding of how literature professors build communities and create spaces for scholars, graduate students, and undergraduates to exchange ideas.
Courtney organized the recent symposium "Racial Representations: African American Literature Since 1975" at the University of Oregon. A year ago, she organized "Place and Displacement in African American Literature." A year before that, she organized a reading featuring novelist Mat Johnson on her campus.
Since literature scholars are primarily trained and socialized to teach classes, present papers at conferences, and write articles and books, I'm inclined to pay attention when someone participates in these kinds of organizational efforts. A junior professor leading such efforts gives even more reason to take notice. As Courtney Thorsson is demonstrating, the literature scholar as organizer creates expanded opportunities for accessing and engaging the field.
Related:
• A Notebook on work by Courtney Thorsson
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
Keeping up with Erica Edwards
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| Erica Edwards offering suggestions about further readings to Evie Shockley |
I first met Erica Edwards in the summer of 1997 when we first became participants in the UNCF/Mellon Program, which encourages undergraduates from HBCUs to earn advanced graduate degrees and become college professors. Erica has done that and then some.
She graduated from Spelman College, went on to earn her Ph.D. from Duke University, and she is now an associate professor at the University of California, Riverside. She's published a number of scholarly articles on African American literature and culture, and she is the author of Charisma and the Fictions of Black Leadership (2012). She co-directs the Lindon Barrett Scholars Mentoring Program, a summer program at her university that "prepares undergraduates from historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) for doctoral study in African American literature and culture."
I've tried to keep up with Erica's movements over the years, getting updates on her progress at the conferences that we've both attended. I was pleased that we presented on the same panel at the recent African American literature symposium at the University of Oregon. For her presentation, Erica offered an analysis of Condoleezza Rice's memoir as part of her larger, developing project that concentrates on African American literature and the War on Terror.
Erica arranged for two of her graduate students to attend the symposium as well. One of those students is in her first year in the Ph.D. program, and the other is completing her dissertation. Hold up. It wasn't that long ago when Erica was an undergraduate at Spelman College, was it? And now she's directing a student's dissertation project? How times flies.
In the summer of 1997, our professor, Rudolph Byrd, would refer to Erica and all the other members of our cohort as his "colleagues," and he worked to guide us into the "professoriate," one of the many words and concepts that he and Cynthia Spence, director of the UNCF/Mellon Program, introduced us to during the program. Back then, they were imagining possible futures, wanting us to make a mark in our fields. Erica Edwards has done that and then some.
Related:
• A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997
[Initially published on February 17]
On April 26, I gave a presentation entitled "A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997" at the University of Oregon as part of a symposium, "Racial Representations: African American Literature Since 1975," organized by scholar Courtney Thorsson.
My presentation was part of my research and writing project on the works and careers of four prominent writers -- journalist and blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates, comic strip author and cartoonist Aaron McGruder, novelist and essayist Colson Whitehead, and poet and editor Kevin Young. As a supplement to the formal presentation and the symposium, I produced several entries here that provide background information, images, and other related items.
Post-symposium entries:
• Keeping up with Erica Edwards
• The Lit. Scholar as Organizer: The Case of Courtney Thorsson
• The value of a small scholarly gathering
• Talking African American poetry at the University Oregon
• Evie Shockley and the Music
• The downside of outliers?
• Final overall claim for the presentation
Pre-symposium entries:
The Presentation
• Presentation focus & overall claim
• Updated overall claim for presentation
Notes on the 4 focal writers
• Huey Freeman as Jedi Knight
• From Rita Dove to Kevin Young to Lucille Clifton
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, Aaron McGruder & the Kitchen Sink
• NYC as Colson Whitehead's Muse & Canvas
• Notes on the creative domains of Coates, McGruder, Whitehead & Young
Lists
• Accomplished black men in the arts born between 1965 - 1975
• A Timeline of Select Inspiration for Black Males, 1977 - 1997
• Kevin Young's book publications
• Colson Whitehead's book publications
• African American poetry since 1976 (a timeline)
• African American novels and novelists since 1975 (timeline)
On April 26, I gave a presentation entitled "A Golden Age of Inspiration for Black Men Writers, 1977 - 1997" at the University of Oregon as part of a symposium, "Racial Representations: African American Literature Since 1975," organized by scholar Courtney Thorsson.
My presentation was part of my research and writing project on the works and careers of four prominent writers -- journalist and blogger Ta-Nehisi Coates, comic strip author and cartoonist Aaron McGruder, novelist and essayist Colson Whitehead, and poet and editor Kevin Young. As a supplement to the formal presentation and the symposium, I produced several entries here that provide background information, images, and other related items.
Post-symposium entries:
• Keeping up with Erica Edwards
• The Lit. Scholar as Organizer: The Case of Courtney Thorsson
• The value of a small scholarly gathering
• Talking African American poetry at the University Oregon
• Evie Shockley and the Music
• The downside of outliers?
• Final overall claim for the presentation
Pre-symposium entries:
The Presentation
• Presentation focus & overall claim
• Updated overall claim for presentation
Notes on the 4 focal writers
• Huey Freeman as Jedi Knight
• From Rita Dove to Kevin Young to Lucille Clifton
• Ta-Nehisi Coates, Aaron McGruder & the Kitchen Sink
• NYC as Colson Whitehead's Muse & Canvas
• Notes on the creative domains of Coates, McGruder, Whitehead & Young
Lists
• Accomplished black men in the arts born between 1965 - 1975
• A Timeline of Select Inspiration for Black Males, 1977 - 1997
• Kevin Young's book publications
• Colson Whitehead's book publications
• African American poetry since 1976 (a timeline)
• African American novels and novelists since 1975 (timeline)
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Lessons covering poems with high school students
The students involved in the Cultural Leadership program in St. Louis reminded me about the importance of multiple approaches to experiencing poetry. When I gave them audio devices and print-outs of poems and told them to spread out and go cover the poems, they chose a variety of ways to do so.
Some of them sprawled out on the floor to read and listen to the pieces. A few of them sat near each other in chairs. Some sat in chairs alone. Some walked, read, and listened. Some found an open place and stood there reading and listening. One went and sat on the floor in a small open closet.
Given the diverse approaches I was witnessing, the idea that students are usually required to sit in neat rows in a classroom and only read poems on the page without listening seemed restrictive. Those traditional approaches to exposing young people to literature help me understand why so few of them are interested in poetry by the time they arrive to my college courses.
The change agents with the Cultural Leadership program illustrated a lesson about giving readers freedoms and options when engaging poetry.
Related:
The Cultural Leadership program in St. Louis
Mixed Media Poetry Exhibits
The Cultural Leadership program in St. Louis
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| Students participating in listening session |
What a cool group of thoughtful and engaging young people. This past Saturday, April 20, I got the opportunity to spend time talking Civil Rights, the power of language, and African American poetry with a group of about 28 high school students who are participants in the program Cultural Leadership in St. Louis.
Students in the program participate in "cultural activities, dialogue sessions, travel/study, public speaking, leadership training, and facilitated discussions on diversity and creating social change." The activities are designed to increase their awareness "of their own and each other’s history, religion, and culture, and learn valuable skills for facilitating discussions, solving problems, and making change." This group of young people are future change agents or civil rights workers 2.0.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Adrian Matejka's, Ralph Ellison's, and Quentin Tarantino's Battle Royals
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| source: Micah |
Five years before the publication of Ellison's novel, many readers were introduced to that disturbing ritual as his short story "Invisible Man" appeared in the October 1947 issue of Horizon. Over the years, as editors began to repeatedly reprint the piece in anthologies, the title of Ellison's story was changed to "Battle Royal" to avoid confusion with the novel's title, Invisible Man.
Although not technically a battle royal, Richard Wright describes a similar disturbing experience in his autobiography Black Boy (1945), where a young Richard is prompted to fight one of his co-workers, another black boy, for the delight of white men. Wright and the other boy had initially planned to pretend to fight, but once the group of white men further instigated, the boys' plans no longer mattered. "We fought four hard rounds, stabbing, slugging, grunting, spitting, cursing, crying, bleeding," wrote Wright. "The shame and anger we felt for having allowed ourselves to be duped crept into our blows and blood ran into our eyes, half blinding us."
The scenes that Wright, Ellison, and Matejka describe where black males are forced or prompted to fight each other for the delight of white men also correspond to the much-discussed "Mandingo fighting" in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012). A villainous character in the film bets on and arranges bouts where enslaved black men must fight each other, sometimes to the death, at the bidding of their owners. Commentators often noted that Tarantino likely borrowed the idea of "Mandingo fighting" from the film Mandingo (1975) as a point of reference, and that film in turn was based on Kyle Onstott's novel Mandingo (1957).
Gordon Parks presents a battle royal scene in his novel The Learning Tree (1963). In addition, in James Brown's autobiography The Godfather of Soul (1997) he also describes fighting in battle royals. "In a battle royal they blindfold you, tie one hand behind your back, put a boxing glove on your free hand, and shove you into a ring with five other kids in the same condition. You swing at anything that moves," explained Brown. He goes on to note that, "I'd be out there stumbling around, swinging around, swinging wild, and hearing people laughing. I didn't know I was being exploited."
Having an awareness of those descriptions by various writers gives Matejka's poem and Johnson's early participation in battle royals more weight. Matejka's volume and those portrayals of black men fighting each other to entertain white people highlight a history black male exploitation.
Related:
• A Notebook on Adrian Matejka
• Coverage of Django Unchained
• The Bizarre Origins of the Battle Royal - Part Two by John S. Nash
• 1933 newspaper clipping about battle royal
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Treasure Redmond hosts Cave Canem Reading in St. Louis, MO
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| Natasha Ria El-Scari was one of the poets who read at the event hosted by Treasure Redmond |
There was a really good turnout for the event, which was sponsored by the Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis. The reading was held at the organization's Vaughn Cultural Center, and among other reasons, the gathering was notable for drawing a considerable number of black and white audience members. So often, poetry readings draw black or white audiences, but rarely both.
There were short musical interludes by DJ Needles between each of the readings and during the brief 3-minute intermissions, which took place after sets of 4 poets read their works. Treasure mentioned getting that idea for short intermissions from a local artist who figured that it was necessary to break things up so that audiences won't become too bored after sitting and listening to poet after poet.
I spend a considerable amount of time listening to audio recordings of poets and reading the works of poets on the page. Thus, attending live readings like the one Treasure organized are good for catching poetry out in the world.
From the reading:
• Photos from the reading hosted by Treasure Redmond
• Adrian Matejka reading from his Jack Johnson book in St. Louis
• The poet as organizer: Treasure Redmond
• Monica Hand reads in St. Louis
Related:
• A Notebook on Treasure Shields Redmond
Photos from the reading hosted by Treasure Redmond
Related: Treasure Redmond hosts poetry reading in St. Louis
 |
| Poets Adrian Matejka and Carl Phillips |
 |
| DJ Needles provided the music for the event |
Adrian Matejka reading from his Jack Johnson book in St. Louis
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| Adrian Matejka reads from his upcoming volume The Big Smoke, April 19, St. Louis, MO. |
Not long after first meeting Adrian Matejka, we started having a conversation about poetry and Jack Johnson. Six or so years later, we're still conversing on those two topics. When Adrian and I first met, he had just started conceiving of a volume on the great heavyweight fighter. His book will officially be released in late May, though he did share an advanced reading copy of The Big Smoke with me.
Adrian put his Johnson project on hold at one point in other to finish his second book Mixology. Taking a little longer on The Big Smoke was perhaps for the best as it gave him more time to think on the subject, pursue more research on Jack Johnson, rework and revise poems, test versions of the poems out at public readings, and extend his networks of potential audiences.
One of the reasons I attended the event that Treasure Redmond hosted on Friday night in St. Louis was so that I could catch Adrian reading from The Big Smoke. His project is the first one that I've gotten to witness developing over the years from individual poems here and there to a finished volume of poetry. Adrian read "Battle Royal" and "IL Trovatore," the first poem and a closing poem, respectively, in the book and then he read from Mixology.
The reading was another step in the long march toward the publication of The Big Smoke, or perhaps toward something else in the process of extending the legacy and legend of Jack Johnson.
Related:
• Treasure Redmond hosts poetry reading in St. Louis
• Adrian Matejka
The poet as organizer: Treasure Redmond
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| Treasure Redmond with poets DaMaris Hill and Aisha Sharif |
Friday night, I attended a reading here in St. Louis that included a DJ and featured poets from the expansive and popular poetry group Cave Canem. The event brought a range of artists and arts supporters together in one place. The host and organizer for the event was a poet named Treasure.
I've enjoyed and written about Treasure's poetry for some time now, but it's worth noting her work as an organizer. Over the years, in her brief time here in St. Louis, she's organized formal and informal readings, workshops, parties, and several impromptu get-togethers. Given the notion of novelists and poets as people who go away alone and write, we rarely have examinations of the poet as socialite, the poet as perpetually in the mix, the poet as organizer.
During the intervals of short intermissions for the event, Treasure was working the room, going up speaking to folks, rapping to various people about thises and thats, and keeping her eye and mind on her watch so she could get back to introducing the next poets to read. At one point, I called her name, and she came over to speak. Thanks for coming out, she said, just as she had done about 17 years ago at the reading where we first met in Jackson, Mississippi.
Related:
• Treasure Redmond hosts poetry reading in St. Louis
Monica Hand reads in St. Louis
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| Monica Hand reading |
"Yep," I said, "that's the Nina Simone book."
"That's it," said Cindy. That's it.
Hand's book is one of many volumes by Cave Canem poets that we have in our office. We're constantly talking and passing books around, and Hand's book has come up on a few different occasions, especially when we're discussing poets who concentrate on black history or major cultural figures.
Cindy and I were pleased to catch the author of me and nina live in a reading with her Cave Canem peers. We now had the poet to go with the book.
Related:
• Treasure Redmond hosts poetry reading in St. Louis
Saturday, April 20, 2013
The value of "our" history for African American collegiate poetry readers
Here's something. Over the last 4 or 5 years, I've been running informal surveys with students about what they gain reading poetry...black poetry. The majority of responses from African American students often points to history. The answers tend to include statements where they express wanting to learn more about "my history" or "our history."
The presence of "my," "our," and "history" are intriguing and so are the absences of statements that highlight learning about creativity, literary art, aesthetics, style, word choice, line breaks, phrasings, and other terms related to arts and literature. And I'm not necessarily being judgmental at the moment. I'm just noting a pattern that has caught my attention.
You don't have to travel far in black communities to hear people discussing history and a lack of understanding history as the reason we're in "the condition we're in." For years, or really decades, since the rise of the black consciousness movement of the 1960s when an unprecedented high number of African Americans began enrolling in colleges, an interest in history, combined with increased access to the resources and educational training to learn about that history -- really histories -- became possible on a larger scale.
Older folks will say that today's young (black) people do not know enough about "our" history. Perhaps they don't. At the same time though, my own experiences over the years teaching literature have made me increasingly aware of how often black students identify "my history" or "our history" as a key subject of concern. That interest, I suspect, shapes how they approach the poetry.
Related:
• Collegiate Students
• Readers
The presence of "my," "our," and "history" are intriguing and so are the absences of statements that highlight learning about creativity, literary art, aesthetics, style, word choice, line breaks, phrasings, and other terms related to arts and literature. And I'm not necessarily being judgmental at the moment. I'm just noting a pattern that has caught my attention.
You don't have to travel far in black communities to hear people discussing history and a lack of understanding history as the reason we're in "the condition we're in." For years, or really decades, since the rise of the black consciousness movement of the 1960s when an unprecedented high number of African Americans began enrolling in colleges, an interest in history, combined with increased access to the resources and educational training to learn about that history -- really histories -- became possible on a larger scale.
Older folks will say that today's young (black) people do not know enough about "our" history. Perhaps they don't. At the same time though, my own experiences over the years teaching literature have made me increasingly aware of how often black students identify "my history" or "our history" as a key subject of concern. That interest, I suspect, shapes how they approach the poetry.
Related:
• Collegiate Students
• Readers
Friday, April 19, 2013
Other Bad Men: Frank X. Walker's Byron De La Beckwith poems
Frank X. Walker's Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers (2013) provides one of the most extensive treatments in contemporary poetry of a bad and in fact villainous white man. In his book, Walker takes on the persona ofwhite Citizens' Council member Byron De La Beckwith, who killed Evers on June 12, 1963. Walker takes on other figures in his volume including Evers's widow Myrlie Evers. Nonetheless, the in-depth engagement with the possible inner workings of De La Beckwith's mind, motivations, and interests, troubling as they were, really forms the core and driving force of Walker's volume.
Persona poems by and about African Americans, I've maintained, represent one of the most important trends in black poetry over the last 10 years at the very least. For the most part, volumes of poetry by African American poets containing several persona poems tend to focus on prominent black historical figures. We have poems in the voice of Leadbelly, Civil War soldiers, Jack Johnson, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and several others. Even Walker took up black historical figures in previous works, writing about York, the enslaved black man who traveled with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and Isaac Burns Murphy, an accomplished jockey.
Turn Me Loose breaks new ground in the sense that Walker writes several poems from the perspective of a notorious white man who assassinated a notable African American civil rights leader. Other poets have written from the perspective white people here and there, but usually, the focus is on black characters and their experiences with black and white people. Rarely have poets taken on
Patricia Smith's "Skinhead," arguably her most popular poem, takes on the voice of a white supremacist. Walker extends that practice by offering provides a more extensive treatment, and he focuses on a specific, well-known figure in De La Beckwith. Bad (black) men have proven to be key muses for African Americans poets and rappers. Frank X. Walker reminds us about other, perhaps more horrifying bad men.
Related:
A Notebook on Frank X. Walker
Toward a Contemporary History of Black Persona Poems
Poets, Personas & Runaways
Persona Poems: A Major Trend in Black Poetry
Frank X. Walker's books
2013 - Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers. University of Georgia Press. Paperback.
2010 - Isaac Murphy: I Dedicate This Ride. Old Cover Press. Paperback.
2008 - When Winter Come: the Ascension of York. University Press of Kentucky. Hardcover.
2008 - When Winter Come: the Ascension of York. University Press of Kentucky. Paperback.
2007 - America! What's My Name: The "Other" Poets Unfurl the Flag. Editor. Wind Publications. Paperback.
2005 - Black Box: poems. Old Cover Press. Paperback.
2004 - Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York. University Press of Kentucky. Paperback.
2004 - Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York. University Press of Kentucky. Hardcover.
2000 - Affrilachia: Poems. Old Cover Press. Paperback.
Related:
A Notebook on Frank X. Walker
2010 - Isaac Murphy: I Dedicate This Ride. Old Cover Press. Paperback.
2008 - When Winter Come: the Ascension of York. University Press of Kentucky. Hardcover.
2008 - When Winter Come: the Ascension of York. University Press of Kentucky. Paperback.
2007 - America! What's My Name: The "Other" Poets Unfurl the Flag. Editor. Wind Publications. Paperback.
2005 - Black Box: poems. Old Cover Press. Paperback.
2004 - Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York. University Press of Kentucky. Paperback.
2004 - Buffalo Dance: The Journey of York. University Press of Kentucky. Hardcover.
2000 - Affrilachia: Poems. Old Cover Press. Paperback.
Related:
A Notebook on Frank X. Walker
A Notebook on Frank X. Walker
I've been following Frank X. Walker's poetry for a while now. My writing on his work is finally trying to catch up to the reading and thinking.
2014
• August 2: Frank X. Walker's poetry books, including a sequel
2013
• June 28: The Prolific Frank X. Walker
• April 19: Other Bad Men: Frank X. Walker's Byron De La Beckwith poems
• April 19: Frank X. Walker's books
• April 15: The Poet as 21st Century Bookseller: A note on Frank X. Walker
Related:
An Extended Notebook on the works of writers & artists
2014
• August 2: Frank X. Walker's poetry books, including a sequel
2013
• June 28: The Prolific Frank X. Walker
• April 19: Other Bad Men: Frank X. Walker's Byron De La Beckwith poems
• April 19: Frank X. Walker's books
• April 15: The Poet as 21st Century Bookseller: A note on Frank X. Walker
Related:
An Extended Notebook on the works of writers & artists
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Coach Kobe – The Zen Master’s Understudy at Work
By Bryan Ryan
Twitter is an interesting tool. On one hand, the 140 character limit promotes immediate shallow, often thoughtless commentary. On the other hand, it forces an individual to concentrate a thought, or in the case of Kobe Bryant, a personality into the tiniest of spaces.
This is why Kobe’s twitter post late last week following his season-ending Achilles injury was – if not a revelation – a verification of all that is the Black Mamba. On Monday, Bryant tweeted “Can’t move for 2 weeks so I’m laid up. Will watch game on TV and give adjustments if needed by phone at halftime #countontheteam” The hashtag should read #countonthemamba, as Bryant’s tweet reaffirms his own confidence (arrogance?) and importance to the team, not only as a player but as a coach.
Put yourself in Mike D’Antoni’s shoes: Are you offended when a player doesn’t find you competent enough to make halftime adjustments? Does it matter that this player is one of the greatest offensive players of all time? What if this player spent his entire career learning from the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time), the Zen master Phil Jackson.
Phil’s resume is slightly ridiculous. 11 championships (most all-time) in just 20 years of coaching, an all-time record of 1155-485 (win percentage of .704, highest of all-time), and a .688 win percentage in the playoffs. Jackson never had a losing season as a head coach and never failed to make the playoffs.
Despite their differences, highlighted in Jackson’s 2005 book “The Last Season,” Kobe and Phil built a monumentally productive bond, winning five championships together and transforming Kobe from a brash, selfish rookie to a polished veteran ambassador and future coach. Kobe has turned to Zen, the philosophy of Jackson, as a means of overcoming the many obstacles in his career, from injuries to media turmoil and plans to pass this mentality onto his teammates while sidelined. Scoot over Mike D’Antoni, there’s a new coach in town. #CoachMamba
Related:
The Basketball Project
Technology and Intimacy, Pt. 2
 |
| KD at the Rucker |
As noted last week, in this new, intimate era of sports, we have seemingly unlimited access to games, sometimes practices, and even players’ thoughts.
To say that Twitter has revolutionized the way we follow sports might be an understatement. Twitter has created a space for this intimacy between fans and players far more significantly than any other website or device. Admittedly, the culture of technology has advanced in every way, but nowhere else are athletes publishing their personal experiences so frequently and candidly.
A really fun example of the closeness we now experience via Twitter occurred a couple summers ago, during the NBA lockout. Star players were showing up across the country for benefit games and pickup ball, and Kevin Durant decided he would pay a visit to the famed Rucker Park in New York City. News broke on Twitter less than twenty four hours before Durant appeared, and videos were released on Twitter that grabbed the nation’s attention of Durant’s 66-point game.
Even while Twitter helped organize a group of fans at Rucker Park that night to watch Durant in person, the social networking site brings an even deeper sense of intimacy with direct tweets from players. I can’t imagine being 8 years old and seeing photographs of Michael Jordan right after a workout like LeBron’s recent post, or seeing MJ before a medical procedure like Kobe posted of himself in the hospital. Here James Harden jokes about doing a Euro-step in the grocery store.
As basketball has come to be known as an increasingly “black” sports culture, the connections between Twitter and the NBA refutes any idea of a digital divide. Fans across class and race look to Twitter for their sports news first. As we continue to envision what this means for basketball and for culture, we should remember Afrofuturism’s emphasis on the intersections between race and technology.
Related:
The Basketball Project
A Black Studies Journey, 2007 - 2013
Although I'll continue producing commentary about artistic culture and various topics on this site, I will conclude my time as director of the Black Studies Program at SIUE on May 15th. Rather than bore you too much by detailing all the events and activities that we've done over the last 6 years, I wanted to identify what I view as 5 of our major, generally speaking, accomplishments. I'll perhaps mention more later.
1. The active programming -- Beginning three years ago, we significantly increased the regularity of our public humanities programs, implementing more than 100 events and activities each year, including mixed media poetry exhibits, annual politically inspiring black women showcases, book browsing sessions, natural hair exhibits, and public thinking events.
2. The recruitment of talented contributors -- Our program has been powered by crews of creative and hardworking students and volunteers. Early on, we established a program priority of identifying and attracting talented students who might contribute new ideas and extend our program's capabilities. The students we attracted routinely exceeded expectations.
3. Web presence -- We began this site on August 31, 2008. We developed a facebook page where we posted articles and visual chronicles, and we also have an active twitter account. Our increased web presence has made it possible for us to reach large audiences, chart our progress online, and develop this space into an active platform for discussing poetry, collegiate students, writers, digital humanities, and other important topics.
4. The production of posters / postcards -- Between 2007 and 2013, our contributors designed more than 200 posters, postcards, and flyers as a way of highlighting "the power of the visual." In addition to sharing materials with college students, we distributed over 1,000 postcards about African American poetry to elementary, middle school, and high school students over the years.
5. Annual New York City trips -- For the last 4 years, we've coordinated field trips to New York City for groups of our contributors. Our NYC Journeys have been designed to expose students from the Midwest to one of the greatest cities in the world and provide them with opportunities to navigate an extraordinary metropolis.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
The Power of Habit [Chapter 9]
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
By Danielle Hall
In chapter nine of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explores the complex links between deep-rooted habits as automatic behaviors, “the neurology of free will,” and the role of society in assigning responsibility. He queries “the ethics of habit and choice” through the lives of Brian Thomas and Angie Bachmann — both of whom on the exterior appear to have two remotely different experiences that result in loss. Yet, both examples demonstrate how the brain responds to ingrained habits and how neurological processes can trigger or impede one’s ability to make decisions.
According to Duhigg, some habits are indeed “automatic behaviors so ingrained in our neurology that, studies show, they can occur with almost no input from the higher regions of the brain” (255). In other words, Brian’s automatism/sleep terror and Angie’s pathological gambling look quite similar when viewed as reflexive behaviors or responses from individuals acting without choice. Despite the outcome in each narrative, Duhigg reminds readers that even under the most uncanny or dire circumstances, “habits… aren’t destiny” but that “every habit, no matter its complexity, is malleable” (270).
He later states that the “real power of habit” is “the insight that your habits are what you choose them to be (273).” Based on the reading, do you feel that Angie Bachmann’s gambling case was (more/less/as) justified as Brian Thomas’ sleep terror example? Why?
By Danielle Hall
In chapter nine of The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg explores the complex links between deep-rooted habits as automatic behaviors, “the neurology of free will,” and the role of society in assigning responsibility. He queries “the ethics of habit and choice” through the lives of Brian Thomas and Angie Bachmann — both of whom on the exterior appear to have two remotely different experiences that result in loss. Yet, both examples demonstrate how the brain responds to ingrained habits and how neurological processes can trigger or impede one’s ability to make decisions.
According to Duhigg, some habits are indeed “automatic behaviors so ingrained in our neurology that, studies show, they can occur with almost no input from the higher regions of the brain” (255). In other words, Brian’s automatism/sleep terror and Angie’s pathological gambling look quite similar when viewed as reflexive behaviors or responses from individuals acting without choice. Despite the outcome in each narrative, Duhigg reminds readers that even under the most uncanny or dire circumstances, “habits… aren’t destiny” but that “every habit, no matter its complexity, is malleable” (270).
He later states that the “real power of habit” is “the insight that your habits are what you choose them to be (273).” Based on the reading, do you feel that Angie Bachmann’s gambling case was (more/less/as) justified as Brian Thomas’ sleep terror example? Why?
AOC: Choice Remains an Art
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
By Danielle Hall
Over the course of this semester, we have read and discussed varying choice processes including informed intuition, collective choices, and limited or restrictive choices. The processes all point to the myriad ways that we are informed and impacted by choice.
In the epilogue, I found the following statement by Iyengar a useful point to consider that sums up her main thoughts and arguments throughout the book: "Science can assist us in becoming more skillful choosers, but at its core, choice remains an art" (268). In order to benefit the most from our choices, we must be willing to accept its ambiguity as well as its paradox.
How about you -- what's one concept raised in the epilogue that drew your interest? In brief, explain why that concept or example was notable or intriguing to you?
By Danielle Hall
Over the course of this semester, we have read and discussed varying choice processes including informed intuition, collective choices, and limited or restrictive choices. The processes all point to the myriad ways that we are informed and impacted by choice.
In the epilogue, I found the following statement by Iyengar a useful point to consider that sums up her main thoughts and arguments throughout the book: "Science can assist us in becoming more skillful choosers, but at its core, choice remains an art" (268). In order to benefit the most from our choices, we must be willing to accept its ambiguity as well as its paradox.
How about you -- what's one concept raised in the epilogue that drew your interest? In brief, explain why that concept or example was notable or intriguing to you?
DH at MLA and CLA
Although I had followed tech discussions related to literature for several years, I admit that the discussions and coverage of digital humanities (DH) at the Modern Language Association (MLA) conferences over the last few years was what really got me more involved in DH communities. Attending panels and following articles by William Pannapacker and Mark Sample's annual round-ups of DH panels greatly contributed to my understanding of the active conversations and work being done.
Although DH discussions at MLA were growing, there was little discussion of the field an its effects on African American literary study at the College Language Association (CLA) conferences. As a result, about three years ago, I decided to devote my attention to DH topics at CLA conferences, and I quickly enlisted the assistance of my younger brother Kenton, a graduate student at the University of Kansas, who also thinks and writes about technology. Each year, for the last few years, we've organized or participated on panels at CLA that emerged from our various conversations about race, technology, and DH.
I was pleased with what I viewed as an increase in the number of panels engaging technology, DH, and afrofuturism at this year's CLA. There is not the high level of interest and high volume of panels on DH at CLA that we've seen at MLA, but then that makes sense considering that CLA is so much smaller and not as well-resourced. On the other hand, CLA provides a space for thinking about the racial implications of DH and the convergence of black literature and technology that MLA typically does not offer. In other words, I've benefited by thinking about DH at MLA and CLA.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
Although DH discussions at MLA were growing, there was little discussion of the field an its effects on African American literary study at the College Language Association (CLA) conferences. As a result, about three years ago, I decided to devote my attention to DH topics at CLA conferences, and I quickly enlisted the assistance of my younger brother Kenton, a graduate student at the University of Kansas, who also thinks and writes about technology. Each year, for the last few years, we've organized or participated on panels at CLA that emerged from our various conversations about race, technology, and DH.
I was pleased with what I viewed as an increase in the number of panels engaging technology, DH, and afrofuturism at this year's CLA. There is not the high level of interest and high volume of panels on DH at CLA that we've seen at MLA, but then that makes sense considering that CLA is so much smaller and not as well-resourced. On the other hand, CLA provides a space for thinking about the racial implications of DH and the convergence of black literature and technology that MLA typically does not offer. In other words, I've benefited by thinking about DH at MLA and CLA.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
What we talk about when we talk about race and technology
During his presentation at the College Language Association (CLA) conference, Bryan Carter mentioned eBlack Studies, Afrofuturism, and what he favored more, "Digital Africana Studies." Beyond those phrases signaling intersections of black people and technology, there's also the larger, more well-funded "digital humanities." What's in a name, and which one is most useful for our concerns?
The abbreviation of "digital humanities" to DH (its practitioners are often referred to as DH'ers) lets us know something about the active conversations taking place that led folks in the community to use shorthand. DH has received extension attention and considerable funding over the years, especially in comparison to those terms associated with black people and technology. So, some are likely asking, should African American scholars do more to embrace language like DH in order to gain necessary funding?
Some years ago, I was a member of the "afrofuturism list," an online discussion group, and participants collaborated on projects, utilized common terminology (the list, AF, afrofuturists, etc.), and most importantly communicated with each other regularly about related topics. The group became less active and did not have systems for growing and recruiting grad students, which was less possible since AF couldn't generate professional development, employment opportunities, and large-scale funding enterprises like DH.
I know less about eBlack Studies and Digital Africana Studies. But I'd be interested to hear about their histories, the composition and activities of their participants, and their language use over time.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
The abbreviation of "digital humanities" to DH (its practitioners are often referred to as DH'ers) lets us know something about the active conversations taking place that led folks in the community to use shorthand. DH has received extension attention and considerable funding over the years, especially in comparison to those terms associated with black people and technology. So, some are likely asking, should African American scholars do more to embrace language like DH in order to gain necessary funding?
Some years ago, I was a member of the "afrofuturism list," an online discussion group, and participants collaborated on projects, utilized common terminology (the list, AF, afrofuturists, etc.), and most importantly communicated with each other regularly about related topics. The group became less active and did not have systems for growing and recruiting grad students, which was less possible since AF couldn't generate professional development, employment opportunities, and large-scale funding enterprises like DH.
I know less about eBlack Studies and Digital Africana Studies. But I'd be interested to hear about their histories, the composition and activities of their participants, and their language use over time.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Sistas Rocking Naturals and Digital Humanities
By Briana Whiteside
The continuing interest for healthy hair among African American women has prompted natural hair sites like Curly Nikki, Black Hair Media Hair Forum, Naturally Curly, and Nappturality: Black Natural Hair Care to offer advice and tutorials on hair care, hairstyles, and physical health. Collectively, these sites form interrelated communities where black women can go to receive support with short, transitioning, big chopped, unmanageable, wavy, curly, coiled, kinky, and damaged hair. Yet, what is not widely recognized is how all of these sites, and more specifically, large numbers of black women, participate in digital humanities.
For instance, via these sites women seeking information on elegant hairstyles, curly afros, or general daily moisturizing are encouraged to visit Youtube videos for tutorials on how to do quick up-do, blown out, or twisted looks and read testimonies of other women who are experiencing similar situations. They can even view – online – natural hair product appraisals, compare the latest products, and learn how to make their own hair concoctions from their kitchen before they buy.
Our “Sistas Rocking Naturals” mixed media exhibits, which have made use of electronic audio devices over the last couple of years have received large turnouts. The use of technology to expand consciousness about natural hair corresponds to common, popular approaches to building knowledge on the subject. Our younger sistas come to seek encouragement on their natural hair journeys, and they access the information through visual and audio means—digitally recorded statements from black women discussing their hair.
We might benefit by paying attention to how engagements with technology shape and influence how black women participate in natural hair communities.
Related post:
• Digital Humanities
• A Notebook on style
********
Briana Whiteside is a graduate student in English at SIUE and a contributing writer for the Black Studies Program.
Academically Adrift [Reflections]
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
Our decision to organize common reading groups on interrelated books allows us to participate in extracurricular or beyond-the-classroom learning activities that enhance our overall knowledge and strengthen our reading and web-based communication skills. Thanks for joining us on the journey.
So now that you've read Academically Adrift, what do you do tomorrow? That is, what's one distinct way you are inclined to approach activities or sharpen your outlook based on a specific finding or idea raised in the book?
Our decision to organize common reading groups on interrelated books allows us to participate in extracurricular or beyond-the-classroom learning activities that enhance our overall knowledge and strengthen our reading and web-based communication skills. Thanks for joining us on the journey.
So now that you've read Academically Adrift, what do you do tomorrow? That is, what's one distinct way you are inclined to approach activities or sharpen your outlook based on a specific finding or idea raised in the book?
Gladwell's Small Change -- Different modes of activism
Haley Scholars Spring 2013 Reading Groups
By Cindy Lyles
Desegregation protests and sit-ins of the 1960s show how traditional activism holds great power. Today’s social media enthusiasts find a similar power in social organizing through Facebook, Twitter, emails, and texts. But, Malcolm Gladwell views approaches differently in "Small Change: why the revolution will not be tweeted.”
Gladwell hones in on distinctions between face-to-face methods of organizing for political change as opposed to approaches that might involve virtual contact and less direct interaction. Gladwell notes, for example, that "donating bone marrow isn’t a trivial matter. But it doesn’t involve financial or personal risk; it doesn’t mean spending a summer being chased by armed men in pickup trucks,” in the way that some direct, on-the-ground, so to speak, political engagements might.
When Gladwell's article was initially published, it drew significant conversation. Not surprisingly, the essay was roundly criticized by large numbers of people on social media. What you think about Gladwell's main claims concerning different kinds of activism?
By Cindy Lyles
Desegregation protests and sit-ins of the 1960s show how traditional activism holds great power. Today’s social media enthusiasts find a similar power in social organizing through Facebook, Twitter, emails, and texts. But, Malcolm Gladwell views approaches differently in "Small Change: why the revolution will not be tweeted.”
Gladwell hones in on distinctions between face-to-face methods of organizing for political change as opposed to approaches that might involve virtual contact and less direct interaction. Gladwell notes, for example, that "donating bone marrow isn’t a trivial matter. But it doesn’t involve financial or personal risk; it doesn’t mean spending a summer being chased by armed men in pickup trucks,” in the way that some direct, on-the-ground, so to speak, political engagements might.
When Gladwell's article was initially published, it drew significant conversation. Not surprisingly, the essay was roundly criticized by large numbers of people on social media. What you think about Gladwell's main claims concerning different kinds of activism?
Jay-Z & Zora Neale Hurston on swag: RapGenius notes
By Kenton Rambsy
In “Public Service Announcement” Jay-Z raps, “Check out my hat yo, peep the way I wear it/Check out my swag' yo, I walk like a ballplayer.”
Jay-Z’s reference to “Swag” has deeper cultural roots for African Americans. Even though the word “swag” has been made wildly popular by rappers in recent years, back in 1934, Zora Neale Hurston was already theorizing about this concept in her essay “Characteristics of Negro Expression.” In Hurston’s essay, she explains the distinct ways that black people have come to articulate and dramatize their lives through storytelling and other artistic practices such as negro folklore, imitation, and dialect.
Similar to Jay-Z telling his listening audiences to “check out my swag’ yo,” Hurston noted the importance of a presence and persona as she explained:
Who has not observed a robust young Negro chap posing upon a street corner, possessed of nothing but his clothing, his strength and his youth? Does he bear himself like a pauper? No, Louis XIV could be no more insolent in his assurance. His eyes say plainly “Female, halt!” His posture exults “Ah, female, I am the eternal male, the giver of life. Behold in my hot flesh all the delights of this world. Salute me, I am strength.” All this with a languid posture, there is no mistaking his meaning.Here, Hurston provides a description of what we know as “Swag.” Swag is defined by the clothes a person wears, the way a person walks, the words a person uses to express him or herself, as well as the respect other people attribute to them. Despite 78 years between their birthdates, Jay-Z and Zora Neale Hurston, in terms of artistry, may not be so different. Hurston’s 1934 essay has significance even in today’s culture as her work demonstrates how the space between black writers of the Harlem Renaissance and present-day popular culture may actually not be so far.
Because of the importance of Hurston’s essay in helping to make crucial connections across generations of black writing and performance culture, I invite readers to help me annotate Hurston’s essay on RapGenius.
*****
Kenton Rambsy is a graduate student at the University of Kansas. He writes about African American artistic culture and digital humanities.
Related:
• A Notebook on RapGenius
Monday, April 15, 2013
A.J. Verdelle, Novelists, and Collaboration
Interesting how chance meetings spark ideas.
After my presentation focusing on digital humanities -- and especially the need for us to consider news-gathering and study groups or collaboration -- at the College Language Association (CLA) conference, the novelist A. J. Verdelle approached me, introduced herself, and said we should follow up the conversation at some point. Cool. We will.
In the meantime, meeting her at that moment led me to shift or really expand some of my thinking on collaboration. Since I tend to write primarily about poetry, that's the realm where I think about and offer examples related to poetry. But what, I wondered, about novels, novelists, and collaboration?
Later, I caught some of Verdelle's own presentation at CLA, and she wondered aloud about collaboration since novelists seem to spend so much time alone writing. At the same time, I was thinking about how special it was to catch this novelist talking about her research and teaching interests, with her identity as a novelist playing somewhat of the background. How do Verdelle (the researcher, the teacher, and the conference presenter) and all communities associated with those subject positions contribute to and collaborate with Verdelle the novelist or other writers when she or they go away alone to write?
There's far more to consider on these issues of collaboration, and I do hope to follow-up at some point. For now consider this: My interactions with Verdelle and others after my presentations constituted instances of cooperation, exchange, contribution, and reconsideration of central ideas. In other words, my thinking about collaboration after the presentation was the result of collaboration.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
After my presentation focusing on digital humanities -- and especially the need for us to consider news-gathering and study groups or collaboration -- at the College Language Association (CLA) conference, the novelist A. J. Verdelle approached me, introduced herself, and said we should follow up the conversation at some point. Cool. We will.
In the meantime, meeting her at that moment led me to shift or really expand some of my thinking on collaboration. Since I tend to write primarily about poetry, that's the realm where I think about and offer examples related to poetry. But what, I wondered, about novels, novelists, and collaboration?
Later, I caught some of Verdelle's own presentation at CLA, and she wondered aloud about collaboration since novelists seem to spend so much time alone writing. At the same time, I was thinking about how special it was to catch this novelist talking about her research and teaching interests, with her identity as a novelist playing somewhat of the background. How do Verdelle (the researcher, the teacher, and the conference presenter) and all communities associated with those subject positions contribute to and collaborate with Verdelle the novelist or other writers when she or they go away alone to write?
There's far more to consider on these issues of collaboration, and I do hope to follow-up at some point. For now consider this: My interactions with Verdelle and others after my presentations constituted instances of cooperation, exchange, contribution, and reconsideration of central ideas. In other words, my thinking about collaboration after the presentation was the result of collaboration.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
RapGenius and Digital Humanities at CLA
My younger brother Kenton and I have been having a conversation about RapGenius (RG) and digital humanities (DH) that has been taking place for a couple of years now. We've started developing an online notebook concentrating on our engagements and interpretations of RG. Right now, we're mostly collecting ideas and building a resource, so eventually we'll extend the work.
At this year's College Language Association (CLA) conference, Kenton did a presentation on Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Kendrick Lamar, especially the rappers' mentions of the 1980s crack era in select songs. Although Kenton did not bog people down with details about methodology, his presentations was an outgrowth of the work he's being dong related to RapGenius on the one hand and with text mining software on the other hand. In other words, his project was a combination of RG and DH.
Moving forward, I'm hoping that we can plan additional projects that look at large numbers of rappers and what they have been doing with language over extended periods of time. We might also figure out ways of optimizing the educational and skill-building uses of RapGenius.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
• A Notebook on RapGenius
At this year's College Language Association (CLA) conference, Kenton did a presentation on Jay-Z, Kanye West, and Kendrick Lamar, especially the rappers' mentions of the 1980s crack era in select songs. Although Kenton did not bog people down with details about methodology, his presentations was an outgrowth of the work he's being dong related to RapGenius on the one hand and with text mining software on the other hand. In other words, his project was a combination of RG and DH.
Moving forward, I'm hoping that we can plan additional projects that look at large numbers of rappers and what they have been doing with language over extended periods of time. We might also figure out ways of optimizing the educational and skill-building uses of RapGenius.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
• A Notebook on RapGenius
The Poet as 21st Century Bookseller: A note on Frank X. Walker
 |
| Frank X. Walker's setup for books |
A couple of days ago in Lexington, Kentucky, at the College Language Association meeting, I got a chance to talk with poet Frank X. Walker. Hold up...I got a chance to talk with the Poet Laureate of Kentucky, Frank X. Walker. At one point, Walker had set up a spot on a table to display and sell his books as well as the magazine Pluck!, which he founds and edits.
It's really something to witness this side of the work or workings of poet. So often, the image that comes to mind of poets involves them writing, reading, or signing autographs. I saw Walker carrying boxes, arranging books on a table, and setting up his laptop computer (or maybe he was using an iPad) to accept credit card payments.
Walker's newest book Turn Me Loose: The Unghosting of Medgar Evers will be officially released on May 1st. However, he made arrangements with his publisher to obtain a couple hundred of the books to take on the road for April; it's National Poetry Month, thus a busy time for poets. Making that arrangement with his publisher revealed the impulses of a writer who not sit idly by and wait on something as like an official publication date.
Frank X. Walker is a poet, sure. But he was also demonstrating his efforts as a bookseller, one comfortable with carrying boxes of books and with operating the new technologies necessary to carry out digital transactions. The category of "writer" might be too limiting to describe what some writers are up to these days.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
Toward a Language and Literature Lab
I've recently been thinking about the development of a language and literature lab, with the "lab" being a somewhat virtual space for a team of researchers to work on a variety of projects related to African American literary art, reading, creativity, and other topics. At the moment, that team of researchers would be primarily comprised of graduate students and a couple of undergraduates. I refer to what I'm developing as a lab as opposed to a class, because the projects extend over time more than a single semester, and the lab projects move to beyond-the-curriculum activities.
The models for the language and literature lab I have in mind are from the sciences as opposed to anything I've seen in literature so far. For the most part, in literary study, the major projects are individual-authored. The goal is to get (yourself) published in a reputable scholarly journal and from there get a book published by a reputable press.
Developing a lab would mean earning the funding support to develop a staff or team to assist on projects. The team would pursue research questions, perform experiments, compile and organize data sets, make discoveries, produce reports, present findings in multiple formats, guide new members of the cohort, assist in identifying new funding sources, and collaborate on publications.
Few literary scholars are exposed to the necessary managerial skills required to run a lab. According to R. Keith Sawyer in his book Explaining Creativity, "successful scientists have to know how to compete for and win grants, how to budget and allocate funds, and how to manage a team of diverse individuals." He further notes that "leading a lab requires immense administrative and leadership skills."
In addition to acquiring those skills, advancing the idea of labs in literary study means rethinking collaboration, individual authorship, and the nature of projects.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
• African American Literature @ SIUE
The value of cohorts
This past year, I've been reminded of the power of cohorts or small connected teams. My newest grad student Briana Whiteside, who arrived in August, has been an important contributor to our projects this past year, assisting with public humanities projects and producing several blog entries on various subjects. Her apparent individual success has been linked, in many respects, to her membership in a cohort.
Right before Briana arrived, I kept reminding my senior grad students Cindy Lyles, from English, and Danielle Hall, from historical studies, that I needed them to serve as big sisters and guides for Briana--orienting her to the university, introducing her to our projects and approaches, and collaborating with her as much as possible. Early on, Briana was looking over Cindy's and Danielle's shoulders as they worked on black studies projects, and when she learned that they were working on blog entries, she came to me and asked to contribute. "I want to write for the blog too," she told me.
The development of deliberate cohorts are far less common in literature programs than in the social sciences and physical sciences. Literature graduate students develop informal communities when they enter a program together and when they take courses together. However, there are rarely concerted efforts by professors to design out-of-class projects where grad students will need to work together to achieve various tasks over a long period of time.
Our expanding public programming for black studies and African American literature demanded that I develop cohorts. A few years ago, my senior program coordinator Adrienne Smith served as a guide for the then junior coordinators Cindy and Danielle. As senior coordinators, they are now serving as guides for Briana.
Small cohorts have powered our programming during the course of the last few years. At the same time, the programming has created a circumstance for the development and operation of the cohorts.
Related:
African American Literature @ SIUE
Right before Briana arrived, I kept reminding my senior grad students Cindy Lyles, from English, and Danielle Hall, from historical studies, that I needed them to serve as big sisters and guides for Briana--orienting her to the university, introducing her to our projects and approaches, and collaborating with her as much as possible. Early on, Briana was looking over Cindy's and Danielle's shoulders as they worked on black studies projects, and when she learned that they were working on blog entries, she came to me and asked to contribute. "I want to write for the blog too," she told me.
The development of deliberate cohorts are far less common in literature programs than in the social sciences and physical sciences. Literature graduate students develop informal communities when they enter a program together and when they take courses together. However, there are rarely concerted efforts by professors to design out-of-class projects where grad students will need to work together to achieve various tasks over a long period of time.
Our expanding public programming for black studies and African American literature demanded that I develop cohorts. A few years ago, my senior program coordinator Adrienne Smith served as a guide for the then junior coordinators Cindy and Danielle. As senior coordinators, they are now serving as guides for Briana.
Small cohorts have powered our programming during the course of the last few years. At the same time, the programming has created a circumstance for the development and operation of the cohorts.
Related:
African American Literature @ SIUE
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Rethinking black folks' fears of technology: Notes from Adam Banks's CLA presentation
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| Bill Clinton and Al Gore offering an apology in 1997 for the Tuskegee Experiment (1932 - 1972). |
Yesterday, on April 13, at the College Language Association conference, scholar Adam Banks did a lil run on the need for us to reconsider some of our perhaps overly simplified labels of too many black folks being fearful about technology. A lot of us sometimes write black folks off for failing to engage technology, saying that issues like older age contribute to the fearfulness of dealing with things new. But not so fast, said Banks.
What about the Tuskegee Experiment? What about Henrietta Lacks? What about the instances of all the hip kids migrating from one platform to a newer one before the other folks have time to adapt to the presumably old one? These kinds of issues, Banks noted, mean that we can not easily dismiss black folks as being scared for pointless reasons.
Some of the fears or least the distrust that African Americans have concerning technology and science are rooted in distinct histories and collective experiences. Banks implicitly suggested that we should do a better job of making ourselves aware of some of those histories and experiences. Doing so might lead us to think about the fears and trepidations differently, at least be a little more sympathetic.
The other more direct recommendation that he made and the one that has had my mind running was that we should figure out how to make our consciousness of those fears central to the planning and implementation of projects as opposed to simply burying that knowledge in the footnotes or never acknowledging it.
I've been writing a lil series about fear of language since last semester, talking about some of the instances where we might consider how struggles, anxieties, and barriers concerning words and writing might prompt feelings of apprehension at the least. What I heard from Adam Banks gives me reason to further expand the work.
Related:
• Digital Humanities at CLA 2013
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