Black Poetry and Genius

Main page for the Genius site

In our most recent African American Literature class session, we talked Black poetry.  Well, we talked music and then Black poetry.  In the past, I have noticed that often students will more readily approach a larger discussion of poetry if we first start with music and lyrics.  This is not always a perfect approach, as poets and artists definitely take on different topics and from varying perspectives.  Nonetheless, music can be a gateway to help students overcome that general anxiety related to "reading poetry."

I was definitely one of those undergraduates who felt nervous about reading this genre, and that there was a definite "right" and "wrong" way to approach and analyze the different pieces.  Music feels low stakes to students, and part of our everyday lives, while poetry has been presented as work in a school setting. Listening to and analyzing lyrics is fun in a classroom environment, so we started with Jay Z's "Oceans" and then Erykah Badu's "Window Seat." A critical step, though, was pulling up the Genius website so that students could read along with the lyrics and see annotations, images, and explanations by contributors.

Professor Howard Rambsy at Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville (and an editor at Genius) first introduced me to the Genius site and it is a resource that has certainly helped students with projects, poetry and literature analysis, and different assignments.  Visitors to the site can easily seek out lyrics, poems, and different literary pieces and see those annotations, providing a kind of foundation for the students' understanding.

After listening to and analyzing lyrics, our class then delved into some poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks. Her poetry looked and felt more interactive, rather than stagnant (and intimidating).  Of course, there are benefits to seeing that poetry printed in our course text, but we were able to approach her poems ("kitchenette building," "a song in the front yard," "We Real Cool," and "the mother") with excitement and a level of comfort with Genius.  With embedded images, videos, and extensive annotations, we were able to see Brooks and her work in an approachable manner that took us away from the pages of a book, and talking excitedly through her words and ideas.

As a professor and recovering poetry scaredy cat, I was and am thankful that Genius collects this information and makes it available.

The Genius page on "the mother" by Gwendolyn Brooks

Conversations about Sister Citizen

In our African American Literature class today, we discussed the Introduction and first chapter of Melissa Harris-Perry's text Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in America.  Harris-Perry connects literature to experiences, sociological theories to identities, and damaging myths to their problematic origins.  It's quite a text.  Students provided their responses to a few prompts related to Harris-Perry's work:

When asked to discuss Harris-Perry's notion of the "crooked room" -

• "Black women expected to be a certain type of way to fit into society's standards, instead of achieving their own personal way of life." - Jaylon A.
• "She is speaking on how things around black women make them have to bend, turn, or flip to overcome them (metaphorically speaking)." - Cameka B.

When asked about what Harris-Perry does in connecting the devastation of Hurricane Katrina to Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God -

• "Harris-Perry connected issues related to Hurricane Katrina like slavery.  The whites were able to evacuate before Katrina made landfall, while the blacks were stuck in low-poverty..." - Tenea L.
• "She said that the stories from New Orleans in the first days of the flood echoed this plot element as well.  Despite the silence of the government & the unanswered cries for help, initial media coverage focused on criminal activity rather than the people suffering..." - Iriana C.
• "Victims of Katrina were forced to leave their safe homes and thrust into the unknown.  Janie's new love, Tea Cake, was bitten by a rabid dog and she was forced to kill him for her own safety.  Just as the Katrina victims were forced to 'steal' food and medical supplies for their own good." - Dana R.
• "Hurston has political lessons in her story.  How politics of race and gender come into play.  All of these issues come together to create a storm both figuratively and literally in her story Their Eyes Were Watching God." - Mario P

Campus Words - Fall 2015

CAMPUS WORDS

Plan to attend our Campus Words events this semester.  We will alternate between student performances and student-run writing workshops.

LIBRARY 305

WEDNESDAYS @ 1 pm                                                THURSDAYS @ 2pm

9/16 – Performance                                                10/1 – Performance

9/23 – Writing Workshop                       10/8 – Writing Workshop

10/14 – Performance                                          10/29 – Performance

10/21 – Writing Workshop                      11/5 – Writing Workshop

11/11 – Performance                                               12/3 – Performance

11/18 – Writing Workshop                                                               JOIN US

Hip Hop · Spoken Word· Literary  · Slam · Poetry · Videography · en Español · Montage · Music· Art· ASL·Photography · Performance ·

               

OPEN TO ALL STUDENTS

Cell Phone Blues

Students today find it difficult to put their phones away during class.  I mean, it nearly devastates them when I look over and say, "would you put your phone away?"  In working to think through this phenomenon, there are certainly various reasons leading to the anxiety students feel about placing those technological lifelines out of sight for the duration of the class.

We exist in a time when technology makes information instant, or nearly instant.  You don't know something?  Google it.  Did you hear what this celebrity said about that?  Check out Wikipedia.  Did you see the cutest picture of a cat sitting on a monkey, sitting on an alligator, sitting on an elephant?  Check Snapchat.  For my students, most of this digital discussion and exchange occurs on their cell phones.

Now, I have had to question my approach in the classroom when it comes to these devices - can there be a benefit to having them in class?  More than once I have asked students to look up something on their phones: the definition to a word in our reading, the birth date of an author, any number of things.  But, I also know that having those phones out and on the desk is a temptation for students.  Many times I have seen the flash of a phone as a student is notified that s/he has received a text message, voicemail, or update of any sort.  It's so hard to resist looking, I know.

I will be thinking about this more as the semester progresses - how can we develop a middle ground for the use of cell phones in the classroom, one that understands the immediacy and dependence we have when it comes to technology, but also considers the distracting qualities that go along with that instant information and endless updates.

Language: A Student's Perspective

by Wilfred Harold

I adjust my language in public compared to language at home, for people in society freely judge each other. Throughout the day at home, I’m very comfortable with my language because for the most part, there is no one correcting it as I speak. Language can change in public, talking with friends, and especially in your own private space.

In public, I have to revise the way I speak because I feel I’m being judged all the time. It is important to speak well when you are out in public since it’s the language that matters the most. Also, when I leave home, I tend to fluctuate my language according to the places I attend.

Talking to my friends at home it can be like, “what’s up” or “I hear you” and “y’all should have seen this,” examples of nonstandard English. Conversations among my peers can be quite different; it’s a familiar and customary way of getting our point across. Vulgar language is acceptable then, but around law enforcement you have to choose your words wisely.

First, in my private space I do not have to adjust to the more standard way of speaking. Second, I can rely on my own authority when I speak, so it won’t be a problem for me. Finally, when I’m alone I can still be somewhere else because information is all around me in the form of books, dictionaries, and encyclopedias.

In public, I revamp my language to speak Standard English. Communicating with friends, I’m more casual. When alone in my own private space, I don’t have to watch what I say or how I say it. 
________________________________________________________________________________________
Wilfred Harold is a student at North Harris College in Houston. 

Jazz and Student Engagement

The set list for the Hurricane Jazz Orchestra

Over the summer, I attended a musical performance on campus by the Hurricane Jazz Orchestra.  Now, folks are lucky to get a handful of attendees for summer events – on any college campus – and it was exciting to see so many people in attendance for this event.  And the musicians?  Well, they brought it.

The ensemble performed a number of songs, ranging from the theme to the television show Family Guy, to Dave Brubeck’s “Blue Rondo a la Turk.”  My favorite, though, had to be when the group shared their version of “Hurricane Season,” a composition by Troy Andrews.  Those of you in the know will recognize that Andrews performs as Trombone Shorty.

Now, Trombone Shorty played a pivotal role in my attendance at the ensemble’s performance.  My student, Jomi Calhoun, regularly talks about music and his influences as he is a percussionist and jazz enthusiast.  In one of our conversational jam sessions after class, we talked about Trombone Shorty. Jomi mentioned that the ensemble, of which he is a part, would perform “Hurricane Season” at their event. 

It’s so fun and rewarding to see students in their own spaces outside of the classroom, so I try to take advantage of these situations – but knowing that they would perform this song sealed the deal.  And, Jomi would be on the drum set for “Hurricane Season” as part of the great rhythm section in the ensemble. When the song came, he let loose a flurry of syncopated and crushing notes, which moved the attendees to clap and cheer.  They were jamming!

Students come to campus, attend their courses, then many go home.  There are a number of students at each school who get involved and pursue their passions.  When those moments present themselves, faculty and staff shouldn’t miss opportunities to be a part of the communities created by involved, creative young scholars.  What a treat!

Frederick Douglass and the 4th of July

Frederick Douglass

The timing was right in our American Literature course last week.  On the last day we met prior to the holiday weekend, the class was ready to discuss the last section of Frederick Douglass's Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave.  We were able to broaden our conversation, fittingly, to incorporate Douglass's powerful speech, "What to the Slave is the Fourth of July." 

Douglass spoke in 1852 in front of a massive audience in New York, an audience of Black and white individuals.  Invited to deliver a speech on the occasion of national celebration, Douglass took the US, and white society, to task in a scathing critique.  He states, "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine.  You may rejoice, I must mourn.  To drag a man in fetters into the grand illuminated temple of liberty, and call upon him to join you in joyous anthems, were inhuman mockery and sacrilegious irony." 

Students listened to an audio file of James Earl Jones performing the speech, and I had to smile as their eyes got bigger and bigger with each moment.  Many had previously mentioned their respect and admiration for Douglass based on his narrative, but reading and listening to this speech moved students to truly consider the courage evidenced by Douglass, as well as the danger in delivering such a speech.

When most folks are celebrating the usual suspects of founding fathers, many of whom willfully enslaved peoples of African descent, I hope students are also thinking about the contributions and bravery of those named heroes such as Frederick Douglass, and the multitudes of unnamed enslaved and free Black men and women who fought for freedom.