In Part 3, Pablo notes that I am a literary scholar, not a historian. He therefore asks, how did I use literary works as historical documents and convince other researchers of the validity of that methodology. Such an insightful question!

We also discuss performance as “embodied practices of belonging;” Diana Taylor‘s theory of “the archive and the repertoire;” why Crisis magazine (which is still published today) is important to Living with Lynching; and how my research influences my perspective on the present.

On this last issue—how my expertise regarding the past impacts my understanding of the present—talking with Pablo led me to make points that I think are especially important. They involve 1) recognizing that lynching was a theatrical practice and 2) my investment in critical reading practices. As I explain around 10:20 in the video, I believe I am modeling critical reading practices in my blog post “The American Way: Mediocrity, When White, Looks Like Merit.” (People continue to contact me about that piece to say that they find it useful and empowering.)