To further my Second Line discussion, I wanted to connect Steve Prince’s work culturally to New Orleans, in addition to the biblical references seen in Part 1. Continue reading “Second Line Part 2”
Anthologies, Trail Mix, and Group Work, Oh, My!
When I first saw the assignment to write down everything that we ate over spring break, I’ll admit that I was a bit stunned. Why in the world would I have to keep a food journal for a class titled African American Literature? I talked to some of my classmates, friends and family about the assignment, and they all had similar thoughts.
Continue reading “Anthologies, Trail Mix, and Group Work, Oh, My!”
[Tough] Love and Its Doubts
The poem “Those Winter Sundays” by Robert Hayden stuck out to me when reading it in class. Everything from the title to the theme to the word austere was striking. As characterization between the parental figure and the son/daughter slowly starts to reveal itself, the poem solidifies how hardworking the father is and how sacrifice played a role in order for him to raise his child.
DAMN, That’s Important.
“Hail Mary, Jesus and Joseph/ The great American flag is wrapped and dragged with explosives/ Compulsive disorder, sons and daughters/ Barricaded blocks and borders/ Look what you taught us.”- Kendrick Lamar, DAMN, XXX
Last Friday, April 19th, our class was organized into different groups, all consisting from about four to five students each. We were asked to begin brainstorming a key, interdisciplinary term that would remain the focal point—or at least be the basis—for our self reflective essay. As we began THINKing and bouncing ideas off of each other, words quickly began soaring across the room from verbs “change” and “explore,” to terms like “nonlinearity,” “folk,” “organization” and my very own: self-autonomy. The idea behind my choice of word at first glance appeared simple: reclaiming something that might be seen as inherently negative by reconstructing the detrimental and harmful connotations attached to an idea, word or event by regenerating it into something dynamic, positive, powerful, and empowering. I automatically began thinking about the Baby Dolls in our required course text, Walking Raddy: The Baby Dolls of New Orleans, and how courageous and tenacious the women were in creating a space of their own to share in their community during the Jim Crow era. A space that would not only be their own, but an area in which they could unite through art, creativity, motion, self-individuality and self-expression. Building and embedding the word into my self-reflective essay however, was another story but at least the idea and thought was there, and that for me, was enough for now.
Empowerment in “How Could Anyone”
I have been going to a Lutheran leadership ministry for four summers. It is only a week long, but each time I go it feels like a year. One of ways in which I remember the ministry is by creating a playlist of some of the songs that we sing. Some of these songs include “Lean on Me” by Bill Withers, “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, and “How Could Anyone” by Libby Roderick.
“All Their Stanzas Look Alike”
As I was reading through the Norton anthology, Angles of Ascent, there were several poems that stood out to me. I found Thomas Sawyer Ellis’ poem All Their Stanzas Look Alike on page 317 to be the one that captivated me the most. The title definitely intrigued me and drew me into the poem. You have the ambiguous “stanzas” which could be interpreted literally as other poets stanzas all looking the same, or figuratively and the speaker in fact not speaking about stanzas at all. For my close reading, I chose the latter. At first glance, this poem seemed to be about someone’s life feeling mundane and the same every day. And then I realized that the “their” the speaker was talking about was an entire group of people; the white population all around them. I particularly enjoyed the lines, “All their plantations/ All their assassinations/ All their stanzas look alike”. As I read the line regarding plantations I could “see” clearly what the speaker was referencing. In films and novels (including ones written today) a plantation is normally portrayed as a large white house in the south surrounded by acres upon acres of land, and nine times out of ten that large white house will have a porch with a swing. When it comes to the assassinations, I had to ponder for a while what this could mean. I came to realize that the speaker could be alluding to the white plantation-owners murdering the black slaves. I also began to think on the past assassinations of presidents, and how although it was white men that committed the crime, there was a horribly negative stereotype placed onto the black population as a whole. Although, it was always white men committing these murders/assassinations, still in today’s society there is an idea that black men are to be feared, when in reality it should probably be the reverse.
What Frida Kahlo and Steve Prince have in Common
Frida Kahlo has always been a major source of inspiration for me growing up. I admired her ability to articulate and express both her femininity and masculinity, as well as her approach in constructing and conveying fluid sexuality. Her work is bold, innovative and raw. She not only produced numerous self-portraits, but she was able to engage in gender politics in a way that not only represented her love towards her Mexican heritage, but in a way that celebrated womanhood and individuality. Even though she is often categorized as a Surrealist, she never resonated with that assertion and believed that her work was simply a mirage of her life and story.
Continue reading “What Frida Kahlo and Steve Prince have in Common”
Science-Like a Fairytale and Modern Religion
I would have never compared fairy tales and myths to the natural sciences. It seems an unimaginable comparison to make, however, once putting some thought into it, it doesn’t seem like that far of a stretch.
Stories told orally, over time, tend to get more and more added to them overtime. Think about the game you played when you were younger, Telephone. When playing this game, through whispers and misinterpretations, some details can either be lost or added throughout the circle. If I said to you, in a whispered tone, “I love smart water”, it could be altered to “I love art water” or something else as the game goes on.
This helps me think about the comparison of fairy tales and science. Joe Moran compared these two things and I wasn’t sure I agreed with what he was saying, but after thinkingabout this for a while, I decided I agreed with his comparison. His comparison… Continue reading “Science-Like a Fairytale and Modern Religion”
G『E』NESEO: The Myriad of Navigating Geneseo’s Binaries [3]
I went to Tora Con 2019 this past weekend. Tora Con ”is an annual two-day convention celebrating anime, cosplay, and nerd culture” which is hosted by Rochester Institute of Technology. Thanks to the student-run organizations like Geneseo Area Gaming Group and Geneseo’s Anime Club I got to nerd out with my friends. For example, I bought a bag full of dice, went to a panel on LGBTQ experiences and anime culture, ate at Plum Garden a hibachi restaurant, took pictures of a lot of amazing cosplayers, and got to spend time with my friends. In total it was an amazing experience.
What made the trip successful was how transparent my friends were about the convention. In particular, a friend was discussing pricing for the event. We had to figure out how much we were splitting for gas and food. Thanks to this transparency, I did not have to worry about concerns like transportation and instead I ate and spent time with my friends.
[A Video Highlighting Tora-Con 2019 and showcasing Tora-Con 2020]
Continue reading “G『E』NESEO: The Myriad of Navigating Geneseo’s Binaries [3]”
The Necessity for Diversity in Children’s Literature
Seeing the Dick and Jane reference in Larry Neal’s The Black Arts Movement sparked an interest in me to further research the history behind the famed children’s books. Continue reading “The Necessity for Diversity in Children’s Literature”