When I was the guest co-host on The Karen Hunter Show on 9/26, we got into a very interesting conversation! It’s a 3-hour show, so this is just a snippet, but it will give you a sense. Please feel free to share! As you’ll hear, it aligns with my mentoring and teaching, which (this semester) includes QUEER OF COLOR LIFE & LIFE WRITING.
Questioning “Natural Truth” on The Karen Hunter Show
The amazing Karen Hunter invited me to co-host the August 22nd episode of her show! It’s a live Sirius XM radio show, from 3pm to 6pm Monday through Friday. Video clips are just a snippet, but they are sometimes placed on YouTube so that people who don’t subscribe to Sirius XM can get a sense. Here’s the clip. I hope you’ll watch and share!
Talking “Homemade Citizenship” on The Karen Hunter Show
I had a great time talking about From Slave Cabins to the White House on the Karen Hunter Show. It’s a Sirius XM radio show, so this interview was live, and then video clips are placed on YouTube so that people who don’t subscribe to Sirius XM can get a sense. Here’s the clip. I hope you’ll watch and share!
Honoring Harriet Jacobs on Bonnets at Dawn
What a gift to be on Bonnets at Dawn, a longstanding podcast with amazing hosts! Lauren Burke and Hannah Chapman, authors of Why She Wrote, blow my mind with the work they do in so many forms! Once we recorded this conversation, my progress on the Broadview Edition of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl picked up steam.
Heads up: I misspoke by saying that Mr. Sands was in his 40s—he was approaching 30—but my point stands: he was a grown-ass man when Jacobs/Linda was 15. Anyway, I hope you’ll listen and share widely! There’s so much to appreciate about Harriet Jacobs and Frances Harper, and we discuss both!!! Listen to the episode here or wherever you get your podcasts.
Honoring Frances Harper on Lost Ladies of Lit
Some of us celebrate Women’s History Month all year long. The Lost Ladies of Lit podcast is in that number! And some of us celebrate Black History Month all year long, too. So, what a treat to share the amazing Frances E. W. Harper with their audience! Hosts Kim Askew and Amy Helmes set up an amazing conversation!
Please listen anywhere you get your podcasts, including here. And please share widely!
Also, Broadview Press is offering a 20% discount on my edition of Iola Leroy. Use code iola20 when buying directly from the press. The code is good through the end of April 2022.
Another Discussion of White Mediocrity & Know-Your-Place Aggression with Lurie Daniel Favors
Because we had such a good time nerding out together—and because examples just don’t stop—Lurie’s team had me back to continue our discussion. The show has now started a YouTube page, so clips appear there so people can actually SEE how this went. (Below) However, the full discussion is via audio here.
Talking White Mediocrity & Know-Your-Place Aggression with Lurie Daniel Favors
On February 1st, I had the honor of starting Black History Month on Sirius XM’s Lurie Daniel Favors Show. Black History Month also started with bomb threats at HBCUs around the country. The USA is nothing if not consistent! Delving into white mediocrity and know-your-place aggression is therefore always relevant.
My conversation with Lurie was urgent but also a delight. You can hear the full audio here.
How Reading Queer Authors Improved My Relationships
Many (kind) people have said they wish they could enroll in one of my courses. This essay gives a sense of the intellectual work my students and I do in class. It’s also the first time I’ve published something so personal about my life partner. Doing this is scary, so doing it with a rigorous editor was a tremendous gift!!!
Whoever you are, I hope you’ll read and share widely!
How Reading Queer Authors Improved My Relationships
And I hope students who have taken these classes recognize our discussions: Major Author: James Baldwin; Baldwin, Lorde, & LGBT Liberation; Womanhood in Black & White; and Introduction to Fiction.
Resources Related to My Keynote for the 2021 Conference of Ford Foundation Fellows
My dear fellow Fordies!
Thank you again for letting me address you! Thank you for attending and engaging the ideas I shared! It was a remarkable honor! ENDLESS THANKS to conference co-chairs Dr. Joseph Flipper and Dr. Teresa Ramirez and the entire conference planning committee for the invitation, to the Fellowships Office staff for making our gathering possible, and to the Ford Foundation and National Academies for their steadfast support of the fellowships program.
Here are some resources related to what I shared in my keynote address for the 2021 Conference of Ford Fellows:
I spoke in terms of self-care. For more, please see, “Identifying White Mediocrity and Know-Your-Place Aggression: A Form of Self-Care” https://muse.jhu.edu/article/715439
Here’s a video clip on white mediocrity and why I published the above essay: https://youtu.be/yq6w_9Eugqs
Here’s one example of my take on how whiteness is overvalued for no good reason and without legitimate justification: https://tmsnrt.rs/3i7KjVG
I spoke of giving yourself the gifts that only you can give. I published on that topic in April 2021 in TIME magazine online, and it was revised and published in the double print issue for July 19/July 26, 2021. Here’s the online version: https://bit.ly/3dScJ54
As is far too common, my (then) department chair told me that my 2007 Ford postdoc was basically financial aid: https://koritha.blogspot.com/2011/07/american-way-mediocrity-when-white.html
I suggested that figuring out your purpose is part of the work, so it’s always worthwhile to do that work and give yourself credit for doing it. For more, see “Should-ing All Over Ourselves.” http://thefeministwire.com/2012/11/should-ing-all-over-ourselves/
When you recognize know-your-place aggression, you see that Black culture is “Not about Protest” (5-minute video): https://youtu.be/Abud9brDKgc
I ended on the note of finding your way and finding your ways. This is a piece from long ago about why I think that’s so important: “Never-Ending Battles Require Sustainable Energy” http://koritha.blogspot.com/2012/06/never-ending-battles-require.html
I also spoke of my investment in making spaces less hostile for more people. Here are a couple examples of my attempts: “Never Supported a Trans Youth Organization? Now is the Time” https://bit.ly/KYCoped and “Love in Action: Noting Similarities between Lynching Then and Anti-LGBT Violence Now” https://muse.jhu.edu/article/521535
I hope these resources are helpful, and I look forward to witnessing all you do!
With every good wish,
Paperback Release!
From Slave Cabins to the White House is now in paperback! This is a good time to revisit this amazing conversation with Brittney Cooper!
Also, enjoy 30% off when ordering directly from the University of Illinois Press by using code F21UIP at check out. Offer valid through December 2022. Share widely!