Tag: history

Conversation with P. Djèlí Clark

Over the last couple of posts, I have written about the monstrosity of racism in P. Djèlí Clark’s Ring Shout and in David Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene’s Bitter Root. Since I am teaching this texts this semester, I reached out to Clark to see if he might be available to Zoom in with my class. Unfortunately, he would not be able to … Read More Conversation with P. Djèlí Clark

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Beauty in Mansoor Adayfi “Don’t Forget Us Here”

This September marks the 20th anniversary of September 11, 2001. As well, it marks the start of the War on Terror and the start, in January 2002, of the detention of non-combatants such as Mansoor Adayfi at Guantánamo Bay. Adayfi spent fourteen years in Guantánamo. At the age of eighteen, during a cultural mission to Afghanistan, warlords picked him up, in order to claim … Read More Beauty in Mansoor Adayfi “Don’t Forget Us Here”

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History as “an open book, up under the sky”: Part II

When Charlayne Hunter and Hamilton Holmes enrolled in classes at UGA in 1961, the walked past the arch, steps away from the UGA marker that claims most of the students went to fight during “the War for Southern Independence.” Hunter and Holmes were the first African American students admitted to UGA, 7 years after Brown v. Board and 11 years after McLaurin v. Oklahoma … Read More History as “an open book, up under the sky”: Part II

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History as “an open book, up under the sky”: Part I

Speaking with Clint Smith, Dr. Ibrahima Seck, the director of research at the Whitney Plantation, talks about the importance of education and of sites such as the Whitney. Seck told Smith, “The problem with [this] country–and also all around the world—is . . . miseducation. The miseducation of the mind and hidden history.” The role of education in the dissemination of information and in … Read More History as “an open book, up under the sky”: Part I

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The Symbolic Captain America in “Truth: Red, White, and Black”

Over the past few weeks, the Crusading in Color crew has been live Tweeting our readings through Robert Morales and Kyle Baker’s Truth: Red, White, and Black. I’ve read Truth multiple times, and I’ve taught it once. Each time I reread this series, something new arises. This time, with the discussions that we had online about the series, new things started to stand out. … Read More The Symbolic Captain America in “Truth: Red, White, and Black”