Additional Resources

“George Floyd’s Autopsy and the Structural Gaslighting of America”

Ann Crawford-Roberts, Sonya Shadravan, Jennifer Tsai, Nicolás E. Barceló, Allie Gips, Michael Mensah, Nichole Roxas, Alina Kung, Anna Darby, Naya Misa, Isabella Morton, and Alice Shen
6 June 2020

Through the lens of medical professionals, “George Floyd’s Autopsy and the Structural Gaslighting of America,” which appeared in Scientific American, offers sobering truths about the ways harmful practices in medical writing and communication have aided white supremacy. The authors argue that “the weaponization of medical language emboldened white supremacy with the authority of the white coat” and ask, “How will we stop it from happening again?”

Read article here:
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/george-floyds-autopsy-and-the-structural-gaslighting-of-america/

Questions

  1. What is gaslighting? How does it help to perpetuate racist practices?
  2. Why is it significant that the authors, as medical professionals, penned this piece of writing?

“Brands Speak Out to Support Black Lives Matter, But Actions Speak Louder”

Jennifer Elks
6 June 2020

With this article, Jennifer Elks brings major company statements and subsequent actions to the forefront by analyzing language used by companies to support Black Lives Matter.

Read article here:
https://sustainablebrands.com/read/marketing-and-comms/brands-speak-out-to-support-black-lives-matter-but-actions-speak-louder

Questions

  1. Elks mentions multiple companies that are explicit about the history that precipitated the phrase Black Lives Matter. Which companies do you think were more direct in their support? Why do you think that is?
  2. How might statements of support for Black Lives Matter become more action-oriented? Choose one of the statements highlighted in this article and write a list that may help the company advance its goals.

“What Is Racism? Unpacking the Seven I’s”

David Kirkland
10 June 2020

In this piece, Kirkland defines seven types of racism that, he argues, are interconnected in their effects, overlapping to form a “complex system of human subjugation.”

Read article here:
https://davidekirkland.wordpress.com/2020/06/10/what-is-racism-unpacking-the-seven-is/

Questions

  1. Compare and contrast the seven types of racism highlighted by Kirkland. What are the differences between them? What are the similarities?
  2. Choose an example of real-world racism from recent news and/or your own experience. How many of the seven “I”s do you see at work in this example? How are they connected?

“A Short History of Black Women and Police Violence”

Kiesha Blain
12 June 2020

Read article here:
https://theconversation.com/a-short-history-of-black-women-and-police-violence-139937


“We Don’t Have to Halt Climate Action to Fight Racism: It’s Time to Stop #AllLivesMattering the Climate Crisis”

Mary Annaïse Heglar
16 June 2020

Read article here:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/climate-crisis-racism-environmenal-justice_n_5ee072b9c5b6b9cbc7699c3d


“Yes, ‘Black’ Is Capitalized When We’re Talking about Race”

George Johnson
2019

Read article here:
https://www.mic.com/p/yes-black-is-capitalized-when-were-talking-about-race-19208252


“2 Years after Going Viral, Ieshia Evans Reflects on Her Iconic Protest Photo”

Ja’han Jones
5 July 2018

Read article here:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/two-years-after-going-viral-ieshia-evans-reflects-on-her-iconic-protest-photo_n_5b3bbefde4b09e4a8b28129f


“You Want a Confederate Monument? My Body Is a Confederate Monument”

Caroline Randall Williams

26 June 2020

“The black people I come from were owned and raped by the white people I come from,” poet Caroline Randall Williams writes in this New York Times op-ed piece. “Who dares to tell me to celebrate them?”

Read article here:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/opinion/confederate-monuments-racism.html


“anti-immigration”

Evie Shockley
2019

Read poem here:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/151252/anti-immigration-


“Bullet Points”

Jericho Brown
2019

Read the poem here:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/152728/bullet-points


Stolen

Adrian Brandon
2019–20

In this portrait series dedicated to Black people whose lives were taken by police, artist Adrian Brandon colors each portrait for one minute for each year his subject lived. “I want the viewer to see how much empty space is left in these lives,” Brandon has said, “stories that will never be told, space that can never be filled. This emptiness represents holes in their families and our community, who will be forever stuck with the question, ‘who were they becoming?’”

View portraits here:

https://www.adrianbrandon.com/work


The Racial Politics of Time

Brittney Cooper
2016

Watch TED Talk here:


The Urgency of Intersectionality

Kimberlé Crenshaw
2016

Watch TED Talk here:


https://www.ted.com/talks/kimberle_crenshaw_the_urgency_of_intersectionality


The Danger of a Single Story

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2009

Watch TED Talk here:


https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story


Three Artists Explain and Visualize What Black Joy Means to Them

Octavia “Ink” Mingerink, Eliana Rodgers, and Thaddeus Coates [ACLU]
14 March 2022

Explore the collection here:
https://www.aclu.org/news/racial-justice/three-artists-explain-and-visualize-what-black-joy-means-to-them

Three artworks created in response to the question of “what Black joy could look like after we achieve systemic equality—the joy that can exist in an inclusive and equitable world.” Brief video descriptions by the artists accompany each artwork.

Questions

  1. Consider for yourself how the artworks engage with and respond to the prompt, and then read/listen to the artists’ own verbal summaries. How does your analysis compare to theirs? What might the similarities and differences say about visual art as a medium for communication?

Jason Reynolds at the Library

Jason Reynolds, National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature [Library of Congress]
2021

Interview with Jason Reynolds, author of acclaimed young adult novels including Ghost (2016), Miles Morales: Spider-Man (2017), Long Way Down (2017), and Look Both Ways: A Tale Told in Ten Blocks (2019), about his role as National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and the advice he has to offer for young people in today’s world.

Questions

  1. Near the beginning of the interview, Reynolds offers the following comment: “The most human thing about us all is that we all have a story. And what’s even more human is that most of our stories are probably closer—more closely related than we think. We just don’t share them enough.” What do you think Reynolds means by “stories,” in this context, and do you agree that they are a central element of our shared humanity? Do you agree with his speculation that the more people share their individual stories, the more kinship they will find between one another?
  2. Reynolds discusses the “layered” nature of his fiction and the way that readers can uncover new meaning in his novels by re-reading them at different stages of life. Is this something you have ever experienced in your own reading?

Imani Perry accepts the 2022 National Book Award for Nonfiction for South to America

Imani Perry is a professor of African American Studies at Princeton University who has been widely celebrated for her many books and articles on race and African American culture. In 2022, her book South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation, a blend of memoir, history, and journalism that argues that understanding the U.S. South is essential for understanding the nation as a whole, won the National Book Award for Nonfiction.

Questions

  1. Perry’s description in this speech of why she writes includes the following line: “I write because I love sentences and I love freedom more.” How would you paraphrase this description of her motivations? What do you think Perry’s explanation would be for why, in the kind of writing that she does, a love of freedom is more important than a love of sentences?
  2. Towards the end of her speech, Perry says, “We may write in solitude but we labor in solidarity. Community is never easy, but absolutely necessary.” What are some of the ways in which Perry affirms community throughout her speech, and what community or communities does she situate herself within?
  3. Perry’s speech has been described as “lyrical.” What rhetorical techniques can you identify in her speech, and how do they contribute to the speech’s lyricism? What part of her speech did you find most beautiful or resonant, and why?

Kisha Porcher, TEDx talk: “Inhaling Anti-Blackness, Exhaling Liberation”

Kisha Porcher is an assistant professor of English at the University of Delaware whose research and teaching focus on how to center Blackness in English education. She gave this speech at a TEDx event at the University of Delaware on 30 September 2022.

Questions

  1. What is the significance of Porcher’s manner of citing or referring to major figures in African American history and culture in this speech, including “Brother Malcolm” [Malcolm X], “Aunt Audrey” [Audrey Lorde], “Aunt Harriet” [Harriet Tubman], and “Uncle Jimmy” [James Baldwin]? Compare this way of referring to major African American historical figures to Porcher’s account of her relationship with her own family.
  2. Discuss the three sayings of Porcher’s grandmother that, towards the end of the speech, Porcher draws on to suggest answers to the questions, “In what ways can you do Blackness well, in which it aids Black freedom? In what ways can you do whiteness well, in which it aids Black freedom?”
    • To what extent do these sayings resonate with your own ideas or experiences about how both Black and white people can combat anti-Blackness and advance Black freedom?
    • Why is it significant that, in a speech that refers to such Black cultural luminaries as Malcolm X, Audrey Lorde, and James Baldwin, Porcher draws her key recommendations for how both Black and white people can “exhale liberation” from her own grandmother? How does this rhetorical move connect to Porcher’s telling of her own life story and to the overall argument of her speech?

Curating the End of the World, Part I

Explore the collection here:
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/curating-the-end-of-the-world-part-i/_QJCHwO-RrUHIQ

from Google Arts & Culture: “Conceived by Reynaldo Anderson and Stacey Robinson of the Black Speculative Arts Movement and guest-curated by Tiffany E. Barber, this two-part exhibition brings together an international cadre of artists whose work responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, anti-black violence, climate change, poor governance, trans-humanism, and an accelerating, technologically driven economic system on the verge of collapse.” The page includes videos, poetry, visual artworks, music, samples from the graphic novel adaptation of Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Sower, and more.


“Bigger”

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter

Read the lyrics here:
https://genius.com/Beyonce-bigger-lyrics

The 2019 album, The Lion King: The Gift, the soundtrack album for that year’s remake of the 1994 Disney film The Lion King, is filled with music and symbolism that honors the continent of Africa as well as Black people across the African diaspora. The music, featuring vocals by Beyoncé Knowles-Carter (who performs under the mononym Beyoncé), offers reflections about Black beauty, endurance, intellect, triumph, and love. Knowles-Carter shared in a Good Morning America Interview: “This soundtrack is a love letter to Africa, and I wanted to make sure we found the best talent from Africa. … I wanted to be authentic to what is beautiful about music in Africa … It’s more than just the music.” The song “Bigger,” which is the opening track on the album, embodies the spirit of the soundtrack, noting reflections about what it means to really know oneself.

From her time as lead singer of the girl group Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé (born 1981) has influenced decades of fans with her vocals, fashion, songs, and live shows. Since advancing her solo career in 2003, Beyoncé has amassed more than ten studio, live, and compilation albums, given over five world tours, and produced many movies and films. Her iconic Halftime Super Bowl performance in 2016 is perhaps her most notable visual political statement as she paid homage to the Black Panther Party while and highlighted racial injustices in the U.S.

Questions

  1. What stands out to you most about the song—about its lyrics, about Beyoncé’s performance of it in the audio clip included on the link, or about any other element? Why?
  2. Why might Beyoncé have wanted to write “a love letter to Africa” with this soundtrack? Do you find that love to be in evidence in the lyrics to “Bigger”? How so?
  3. Consider the following excerpt from the lyrics. What do they say about community?

    Let love be the water
    I pour into you and you pour into me
    There ain’t no drought here


  4. Reflect on the song as a whole. Who is Beyoncé’s audience? And what, ultimately, is she challenging them to do?

“Count Me Out”

Kendrick Lamar Duckworth

Read the lyrics here:
https://genius.com/Kendrick-lamar-count-me-out-lyrics

Fifty years since its creation in the Bronx, New York, Hip Hop is still going strong. Originally created to chronicle the experiences of Black people through song using rhythmic language set to music, rap is a lyrical ode to the experiences of Black people in America that has influenced world culture.DJ Cool Herc and his sister, Cindy Campbell, who are credited with putting on the first block party in 1973, helped to cement the genre along with MCs such as the Sugar Hill Gang, Roxanne Shante, Slick Rick, and many more who added to the beginnings of Hip Hop.

Acclaimed rapper Kendrick Lamar continues this legacy of storytelling with his 2022 album Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers, which takes a bold look at self-love, therapy, and generational trauma. He has described this particular album as “catalyst of his self-expression.” Known for his socially conscious lyrics, Lamar (born 1987) has released five studio albums, five mixtapes, and over 50 singles, selling over 70 million records in the US. He has earned 17 Grammy awards and many other accolades for his flows. 

Questions

  1. What, according to the lyrics, does it mean to be counted out?
  2. In what ways does Lamar comment on mental health in this song? How do you know?
  3. What are the rhetorical effects of Lamar’s using the word “love” to frame his feelings about how people “count [him] out”? What is the effect of using first person to talk through this?
  4. Lamar addresses subjects such as forgiveness and self-understanding on this track. How important, do you believe, is it for an artist, writer, or communicator to love and understand themselves? What does Lamar say this love and understanding helps to do?