Last post, I started looking at how to use the OPTIC strategy to help students examine visual images, specifically I wrote about using OPTIC to examine Jacob Lawrence’s The Ordeal of Alice (1963). Today, I want to continue that discussion by looking at another image then briefly talking about how I would incorporate each of these images into my Lillian E. Smith Studies Course. … Read More Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With”
Recently, my son has been obsessed with the presidents, and he has wanted to visit Washington D.C. to see the portraits, memorials, and much more. As a result of his interest, we took a trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials and see the sites. Walking through D.C., I started thinking, again, about the ways we construct and interact with history. Specifically, I … Read More “America has not yet changed because so many think it need not change”: My Trip to Washington D.C.
Growing up in the evangelical church, and continuing to attend during adulthood, I’ve noticed that the sermons from the pulpit typically, but not always, revolve around a handful of themes: service, spiritual gifts, tithing, relationships, evangelicalism, and a few more. Along with this carousel of themes, various comments continues to arise again and again. For me, the one that pops up all of the … Read More The Dangers of Preaching the Persecution of Christians in the United States
On June 26, 1945, the United States, along with other nations, signed the Charter of the United Nations which mandates that its members work towards the maintaining of international peace, upholding international law, and working to secure and maintain equality and equity by “promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion.” Three … Read More The Genocide Convention and “We Charge Genocide”
Whenever I go to the Lillian E. Smith Center, I take time to look around, and inevitably, I always find something new that I’ve somehow missed in my previous trips. Usually, I scan the numerous books that Smith has in her library, her bedroom, and elsewhere. During a recent trip, I picked up Bucklin Moon’s Primer for White Folks (1945), a book I’d picked … Read More We Must Not Remain Silent: Lillian Smith’s “Address to White Liberals”
