Revisiting This Bridge Called My Back

Recently, I have been revisiting the foundational woman of color feminist text This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color, edited by Gloria Anzaldúa and Cherríe Moraga.  This collection of essays, poems, stories, and artwork shifted my consciousness and ideas many years ago in grad school and I have been marveling at its impact ever since.

What does it mean to be changed by a book, or any publication or production?  And what must it have meant to many people years ago when it was published in 1981, and in the years since?  Moraga and Anzaldúa compiled this text against numerous odds and the collection has undergone publication issues over the years (a commentary not only on the content, but what happens to smaller presses - often ones created by and for women of color). Thankfully, This Bridge Called My Back is back in print.

At a glimpse, the collection contains work by the Combahee River Collective, Mitsuye Yamada, Barbara Cameron, doris davenport, Merle Woo, Norma Alarcón, Audre Lorde, Amalia Mesa-Bains, and many, many more.  In an age when "feminist" is a negative term (the "f word") and feminisms in general are misunderstood by people of all ages and identities, the importance of a compilation such as this seems necessary and vitally important to conversations and activism related to racial identity, gender, sexuality, class, ageism, oppression, power, etc.

Going back to this text will push me to (re)consider other important collections and their lasting impact.

Student Creativity

Student depiction of Nina Simone for the Multi-Media Project

What does student creativity look like and how can we change our assignments to include students' creative work?

In a recent conversation with my colleague, Dr. Brenda Bryant, we shared different assignments from past classes that incorporated ways to encourage students to think outside of the typical box for English courses.  She mentioned taking her classes to view the artistic productions of students, faculty, staff, and professional artists in our Fine Arts Building and Gallery.  What an idea!  Not only is she getting students out of the classroom environment and moving around campus, but Professor Bryant is encouraging her scholars to consider the ways that images and artwork can tell a story or excite our minds.

Another colleague, Dr. Gemini Wahaj, is the force behind the Cat 5 Review, an online and print publication that includes art work, photography, essays, and poems by students.  It is meaningful for student artists to see their work published and for folks around campus to know that there is an important, creative outlet for our community.

I ask students to complete Multi-Media Projects in my literature classes.  Instead of ending the course with a paper, I ask that they venture into a creative assignment that connects something we have learned and discussed throughout the semester - examining a character, an author, a thematic element, identities, anything - and produce some form of 'text' (artwork, poem, video, song, clothing, anything) that connects to their topic.  The image at the top was for an Introduction to African American Literature course and the student connected Black poetry to the music and life of Nina Simone. Below is a student's portrayal of a monster from an ancient Anglo Saxon text.

What kind of amazing work could students produce if we did more to offer them creative options? 

Why British Literature?

In our British Literature courses a while back, I asked students to consider why they chose to take this particular class - it is the first section of a series and covers Anglo Saxon readings up to the 18th Century.  Wanting more than a generic response, I urged the scholars in my class to think beyond the typical, "it's a requirement!" answer (some folks are dual credit high schoolers and the course is part of their curriculum).  In order for students to get the most out of the class, we need consider our time together as more than solely a requirement.

Below are some of their responses:

"I want to try and get back into reading and gain...general knowledge.  I hope to learn more about the 18th century and why we need to learn about it."

"I hope that by taking this class my writing will be at its best."

"I want to learn more about Old English."

To add to our discussion and thinking, we watched Chimamanda Adichie's TedTalk on "The Danger of a Single Story," in which Adichie describes how we suffer from narrow views of the world, of different people, of places, and more.  Her talk helped us consider the semester ahead, and how we do have certain goals in mind, but one key aspect of the course should be that we think beyond a single story of British Literature - whose voices are not included in our course text?  Why?  Why, in various spaces, is British Literature privileged over others?  Who had the power to write and publish way back when?  What happened socially and politically that led to these voices and publications?