The Goddess Professor Speaks

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flag-map_of_Rwanda.svg I recently finished  Black Earth Rising on Netflix. The show stars Michaela Coel (as Kate Ashby), Harriet Walter (as Eve Ashby), John Goodman (as Michael Ennis), among many others. It's about a Rwandan genocide survivor Kate, who was adopted by an international lawyer (Eve) who prosecutes cases in the ICC. Over two decades after surviving the genocide, Kate and all those around her are forced to come to terms with some seriously uncomfortable realities of what happened before, during, and after the genocide. The show got in my head... One, it was great to see so many beautiful, brown-skinned people in a show and to experience a story of modern African history--albeit horribly, tragic history. And every time Coel was on screen, I marveled over her beauty--beautiful, smooth, brown complexion, amazingly shaped eyes, beautifully pronounced cheekbones and full lips. Two, although fictionalized, I learned a LOT more

I finished watching Black Earth Rising last night. More about that later, but one thing that I kept thinking every episode was how beautiful Michaela Coel  is. Her beautiful brown skin, amazingly shaped eyes, toned af body, and prominent African features. This was highlighted all the more because of the subject of the show--the Rwandan Genocide--and how many beautiful black/African people were in the show. https://blackexcellence.com/?s=benefits+of+melanin+rich+skin Then I awoke this morning to a post in an FB group asking for POC (people of color) to comment about how they'd feel if this poster was hung in their child's biology class in a school that is 3/4 predominantly white that has had racial tensions, and the bio teacher is also white. There are so many things to unpack here. First, it's interesting that the poster offers scientifically supported reasons to celebrate and love melanated/melanin-rich skin. Note: I'm going to use melanated because I love t

The post below was written in 2015, but never posted. (Not sure why.) Goodness, has the world changed in those 4 years. Now, our "president"--45--and EVEN more police brutality and racial bullshit situations have forced us to talk about what we have avoided for far too long. The below post represented a turning point for me in what topics I use for class. I'm glad I made that turn. I now actively work to decolonize the classroom and reiterate bell hooks' call to use transgressive teaching. Join me. From https://www.flickr.com/photos/collegelibrary/10859112445 For the first time in too many years to count, I've decided to use articles in my classes that openly discuss race. I purposely selected " The Topics Dystopian Films Won't Touch " by Imran Siddiquee and a response to that article titled " Why The Hunger Games  Is about Racism " by Alissa Wilkinson because both articles focused on a book and film series that most students nowadays

Being a parent is about always adjusting to the "new normal." But for a person who doesn't accept change well, always adjusting to a new normal can be hellish . Each new year brings different situations. Each new age brings a new set of challenges. From sleeping habits to teething to crawling to walking to running AND falling down (a lot!) to learning to talk and expand their vocabulary then trying to un teach them the colorful liquid lubricators that eventually slip out then teaching the proper audience, purpose, and context in which to use those words (#BecauseEnglishProfessor #BecauseLanguage #BecauseWordsMatter) to finding sitters then day cares then selecting and getting them in the best schools to monthly, then yearly and of course, random and frequent doc visits because new environs mean they catch EVERYTHING to developing a group of family and friends who can pitch in and help out with less than a 24 hours notice to juggling their new full schedules with your

Yesterday was the day the U.S. observes the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for 2019. I've always been rather annoyed with how much the safe-negro version of Dr. King is trotted out on the day he's memorialized each year, and folks strip out the more raw, realer, in your face, often uncomfortable. statements from him. We so easily quote pieces of his " I Have a Dream " speech, but pay little attention to his "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech--despite the fact that that speech lost him some support AND was given one year to the day of his assassination. What abo ut his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech--literally given the night before he was assassinated ? Too often, we look back at Civil Rights leaders who have become cultural icons and sanitize them down to a more palatable version of who they were in their life. This isn't only reserved for cultural leaders and icons. It happens upon d

So,  clearly  there's a gap in  time (apparently, like 3+ damn years) betw een these  recent posts  and my last  ones. Sadly, as I scrolled back thro ugh  my last posts, I reali zed I  didn't  even  finish a series  I'd set  up .  Tsk  tsk on me. No other excuses, other than--well, life  got crazy  and busy  and crazy busy. Honestly,  I'm  not  really  sure why I abrupt ly  stopped blogg ing before. Maybe beca use I  questioned  my releva nce or if anyo ne  ac tually  gave a damn. Questioned whether I was shouting into the abyss. Questioned if my voice actually mattered. Questioned my existence and identity. ( I'm  not fishing for  reassurances here.  I'm still  the same  person with the same perspective-- read  my  shit or  not; I  know I have rele vant  things  to say.  And  my friend/boss/mentor in  badassery  Jenn reminded me:  I'm a public intellec tual, so yes, what I say matters.) In the interveni ng years, a LOT of shit has happened. P

I've been away from blogging for quite some time, but I think it's time I get back to it. A LOT has happened since I was away. Lost an amazing president. One whose Administration will forever shape my life. Gained a new, insane president of questionable intelligence and allegiance. Learned of advances in technology. Realized the entire world seems to be going to shit all at the same time as democracy seems to die a little more each day. Accepted that my small humans are growing less small by the day. Lost some loved ones. Gained some new friends. Shed some toxicity. Gained new insights about me, the world, our places in it. Seen some kick-ass movies and shows. Learned some new languages--well, that's always a work in progress. Above all, I'm grappling with how fleeting life can be and how important it is to take the victories as they come and to gather your pebbles of joy and celebration and hold on to them, so you can take them out to remind you of the go