I’ve been taking walks down Teaching & Learning Memory Lane in the last two posts, so I can’t help but also remember what the College of Arts and Sciences highlighted from a conversation with me about the possibilities for undergraduates, even at a huge place like Ohio State. Without question, it takes initiative, but undergraduates can create rich experiences for themselves if they can see their professors as something other than people who assign grades. For those who are truly paying attention to their surroundings, we represent a lot more than that.
Teaching: The Real Paycheck
Especially because the OWU magazine feature had me thinking about why I push students to improve rather than tell them what they want to hear, I was reminded of this video interview conducted by the English Department at Ohio State a couple years ago. They tracked down a student who had taken my version of the writing class that gives English majors a foundation in theoretical approaches to the study of literature. This was a pleasant surprise, largely because it does not give potential students any false impressions about my being “cool” or “understanding” or “nurturing.”
I hope you’re encouraging the young people in your life to see value in the teachers and professors who challenge them. Think about how much easier a teacher’s job is if they avoid letting the student know how their skills could be stronger—and there’s always room for growth. Yep, just think about it.
Teaching through the Pain
On Monday, November 10th, I spoke on a roundtable titled “Trigger Warnings & Tough Topics in the Classroom.” I was asked to join this discussion because I have so often articulated my approach to teaching literature that is peppered (or saturated) with the N-word. Besides conversations with my students and with colleagues around the country, I discuss this issue in “Belief and Performance, Morrison and Me,” which can be downloaded from the “Intellectual Autobiography” section of Books+Articles.
Monday’s roundtable was very much a response to national concerns regarding whether professors should provide trigger warnings when teaching controversial and/or painful material. Each speaker gave me new ways to think about the issue, but all of their stances require that instructors have exactly what American society encourages us not to have: courage.
The Magazine of Ohio Wesleyan University, Fall 2014, page 25
The timing of this roundtable created an eerie effect for me. My alma mater’s magazine just published an article that captures why doing what I think will help students grow, whether it is comfortable or not, has been a hallmark of my life in the classroom. The feature made me realize just how long I have believed that growth is rarely comfortable. Because I want to equip students to make this country to live up to its creed, I guide them to grapple with the various forms of aggression that result from Americans’ investment in racism, (hetero)sexism, and classism, including racial violence, sexual violence, anti-LGBT violence, grossly unequal access to education, and overexposure to incarceration.
As the feature makes clear, the fact that writing effectively is difficult (and usually involves an ugly process) is another reality with which I want my students to grapple. The online version is here: At the Root of Great Teaching. (page 25)
Los Angeles!
What a weekend in LA! I presented “Michelle Obama, Medical Center Administrator, Plays Mom-in-Chief” to continue refining my ideas about homemaking anxiety. This presentation was for a panel titled “Can Black Women Have Fun?: Beyond Mammies and Martyrs,” with Professors Margo Crawford and LaKisha Simmons and moderated by Professor Sandy Alexandre (author of Properties of Violence). We were disappointed that Professor Deborah McDowell could not join us, but it became a lovely reunion!
Still, what made this weekend truly remarkable was the opportunity to do a book signing at Eso Won Books, a national treasure.
The people I met are certainly doing important work. Besides being introduced by James Fugate, co-owner of Eso Won, I met Dwight Trimble, the founder of BlessUp. I was also pleased to meet Torrence Brannon-Reese, CEO and Founder of FAMLI, INC, which offers comprehensive life skills management and mentoring programs, such as See a Man, Be a Man.
with Torrence Brannon-Reese
I met many more amazing people than I can try to list, but I will cherish this experience always! And, one of the things that made it such a success is that the Liberated Sisters radio show had me on as a guest the day before the event. Several in attendance at Eso Won said it was that conversation that got them in the door. You can listen here. (Lots of interesting context and news at the beginning of the recording. The Living with Lynching focus begins around 5:23)
Walking, Running, Supporting Girls
feature on my experiences as a Girls on the Run SoleMate in The Girl’s Book, 2014-15 Columbus Edition (click picture to enlarge)
I know that running improves my intellectual work, so I believe my running helps others because I always strive to do work that empowers people to be better citizens. Not surprisingly, then, I love it when my running even more directly helps others, as when I volunteer as a Girls on the Run SoleMate.
Girls on the Run is an international organization with “councils” wherever there are adults willing to support their important mission. Each council has several sites where girls can participate in the Girls on the Run curriculum, which focuses on 3rd through 8th graders. As they put it, “We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.” You can support this crucial work by becoming a coach, by becoming a SoleMate, or by simply donating.
You can also volunteer on a one-time basis by volunteering at one of their 5K races. Each council caps off the girls’ 10-week curricular experience by sponsoring a 5K in the Fall and in the Spring. Wherever you live, consider opportunities by finding your nearest group on the main Girls on the Run website. For those in Columbus, Ohio, you can volunteer as soon as November 15th at this season’s 5K!!! For the girls’ safety, you will need to be cleared, so inquire early by visiting http://girlsontherunfranklincounty.org/5K/
Please read the feature on this page for a sense of how being a SoleMate works and feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Let’s keep walking, running, and supporting girls!
Washington University, St. Louis, Ferguson
The American Culture Studies (AMCS) program at Washington University in St. Louis has launched a dynamic project on Modern Segregation. AMCS Director Iver Bernstein and his collaborators, including professor Rebecca Wanzo, created a lecture series to fuel deeper conversations about racial realities in St. Louis and Ferguson, the United States and beyond. On Friday, October 24th, I had the honor of sharing the stage with award-winning historian Heather Ann Thompson to contribute to this important ongoing discussion.
Koritha Mitchell, Heather Ann Thompson, Sowandé Mustakeem
Our contributions centered on Identity, Place, and Violence. My remarks were adapted from my Callaloo article “Love in Action” about the parallels between lynching and anti-LGBT violence. Dr. Thompson urged us to interrogate what “violence” means in the age of segregation and mass incarceration. Quite powerfully, she noted that when Americans say “violence,” we often do NOT mean the state-sanctioned violence visited on people of color. As Americans, we ignore that violence and instead pretend that communities of color are violent and would benefit from learning from whites. With research about our current historical moment as well as mounds of evidence from U.S. history, Dr. Thompson gave us much to consider as citizens who want to see our nation live up to its creed.
The larger Modern Segregation project will yield public engagement of various forms. The lecture series that Dr. Thompson and I enjoyed contributing to includes Michael Omi (co-author of the foundational Racial Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1990s), renowned philosopher Linda Alcoff, and Princeton University political theorist Danielle Allen.
On our last night in town, Heather asked architectural history scholar Michael Allen to take us to Ferguson, the place that has captured so much of our attention and made our areas of expertise feel painfully relevant. I won’t try to capture what that time meant to me. However, several friends and colleagues have supported the protestors in Ferguson by joining them. Because I couldn’t go, I contributed to the fundraising campaign that helped sustain them while on the road and allowed them to donate additional funds to organizations in the area. I read their various accounts with interest, and I was humbled to see and feel a bit of what they described.
The more I think about what my colleagues in AMCS at Washington University are calling “Modern Segregation,” the more amazed I am by how much faith people of color continue to have in this country’s capacity for justice. We certainly prove that faith is about hoping despite the evidence you can see. Now, THAT is visionary.
Callaloo Conference 2014
The 2014 Callaloo conference was too full of memorable moments to attempt anything close to a recap. Still, I can’t resist sharing a few personal highlights.
Natasha Trethewey, two-term Poet Laureate of the United States, paying tribute to Dr. Charles Rowell, founding editor of Callaloo
I moderated the opening ceremonies, during which Dr. Charles Rowell reminded us of his reasons for making the conference an annual event in 2008 and working so tirelessly to continue the tradition. Natasha Trethewey welcomed us to Emory University and shared how important Callaloo has been to her extraordinary journey.
The centerpiece of the opening night was a dramatic reading of The Ballad of Emmett Till by its author. Ifa Bayeza brought her poetic drama to life, presenting Emmett Till as a teenager with a strong sense of self. While most of the 140+ works about Till focus on his mother’s courage or his iconic status, Bayeza puts his personality front and center.
That night, I had the pleasure of talking not only with Ifa Bayeza but also with Howard Dodson, who offered a keynote the next day. He reminded us that archives don’t simply hold documents; they hold a people’s “memories, knowledge, actions, behaviors.” This very much resonated for me because Living with Lynching uses archival evidence to identify embodied practices of belonging. And, much of my archival evidence was found at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, institutions where his leadership has been indispensable.
My research has also benefited from interactions with Randall Burkett, Curator at Emory University’s Manuscripts and Rare Book Library (MARBL). He had been my main host when I conducted research at MARBL in 2008, and he joined us for the entire conference. Callaloo conference conversations were also enriched by the participation of Pellom McDaniels, III, whose work at MARBL is clearly having an impact. In the closing keynote, Barbara Chase-Riboud shared that her papers are now with MARBL and will be immediately available.
with Tayari Jones, author of Leaving Atlanta, The Untelling, and Silver Sparrow.
Another highlight was meeting novelist Tayari Jones in person. I have taught her work with much joy and success, and I interviewed her when I was doing Black LIT Radio, but I had never actually been in her energetic presence. This was a special treat because I not only heard her read from Silver Sparrow and witnessed a more formal presentation about her process for writing Leaving Atlanta, but I also got to hear about the book she’s finishing now. I can already tell I will be as engrossed by it as I was by Silver Sparrow.
Dr. Courtney Bryan playing original composition in honor of pioneering art historian Dr. Samella Lewis
The last day of the conference, attendees paid special tribute to Dr. Charles Rowell in many ways, including rousing renditions of several versions of “Happy Birthday.” But as much as we wanted to shower him with praise, Dr. Rowell continued to do what he always has: ensure that the great minds of the African Diaspora recognize each other. We celebrated the foundational work of Dr. Samella Lewis, the first Black woman to earn a PhD in Art History and a scholar whose seminal works make the study of African American Art History possible. Courtney Bryan played an original piano composition in her honor, and professor and painter Sedrick Huckaby presented an original painting to her grandson Unity Lewis (on her behalf) as the inaugural Callaloo Art prize.
image of Dr. Samella Lewis above Sedrick Huckaby, Charles Rowell, Unity Lewis
A truly amazing several days! I feel blessed to have been a part of it! (For the full program, click here.)
Walking/Running Tips
Especially because I encouraged Ford Fellows to get moving in a special plenary session on wellness, I wanted to give concrete advice on doing so safely. The most concise advice I have: 1) get good shoes and 2) work on your form.
It’s absolutely true that some pains are because certain muscles (that support your knees, for example) need to be strengthened, but if you’re just starting out and haven’t attended to the above issues, I’d begin there. The more that you walk/run in shoes that don’t give the support you need, the more you get little pains that you can do without. Go to a specialty running store and have them look at your gait and make a recommendation. If you don’t buy the shoes from them, that’s fine. Just note the brand and type and get it from a cheaper store, if you want.
As for form, one of the most important things is to land on the ball of your foot–not the heel and not toward the toe. That sounds strange, kind of like the goal is to land flat-footed, but it reduces all kinds of other problems. Landing this way should also encourage you to keep your whole body relaxed; you shouldn’t be tense anywhere while running.
Another HUGE difference-maker is breathing evenly. The same length of breath you take in should be the same length of breath out. So, no huffing and puffing!! If you regulate your breathing, you regulate your heart rate and that’s what makes running feel much less labored. So, when I’m having problems, I will make sure that I’m breathing in over 3 steps and controlling my exhale over 3 steps. It takes practice, but it’s worth it. That’s what gets the oxygen to your legs so that you’re not feeling as tired and you’re not building up ridiculous amounts of lactic acid in your legs. (I think that’s the word. Hey, I’m not a pro; just sharing what I’ve learned.) I find lots of good info in Runner’s World, so here’s an article that describes what I try to do. http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-267-268-8210-0,00.html
Lastly, let me share one of the training programs that I find to be moderate enough to get you started. As I always say, it’s better to go a little slower than you think you can, especially in the beginning of your fitness journey. Especially worth a look once you follow the link below are the guidelines labeled Beginner Walker Schedule, 10k Training, and FrontRunner Beginner Runner Program
http://www.frontrunnercolumbus.com/training-plans
Remember, the best reason to exercise: Grateful I can move, so I’m moving!!
Feel free to let me know how your journey is going!
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