I remain in awe of Harriet Jacobs, so I am pleased whenever she is acknowledged. And acknowledging her feels increasingly urgent, given that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.

During Women’s History Month, the U.S. Postal Service’s Underground Railroad stamp series was released. It includes Harriet Jacobs. I found out in time to write a brief essay about why this seems appropriate. I hope you’ll read and share widely! Full article on MSNBC.

Once Dr. Claudine Gay became Harvard University’s first African American and first woman president, her tumultuous experiences have led many people to mention my work. For my entire career, I have been framing violence (whether physical or discursive) as a response to success. Examples abound in our everyday lives, in ways that never make the news. So, I hope that clarity about the examples from the national stage will move “good” and “decent” people to mobilize in ways that too few currently do. I appreciate having an opportunity to offer perspective for MSNBC.

And, here’s a video on why I wrote the article to which the MSNBC article refers: https://youtu.be/yq6w_9Eugqs

As another year comes to a close, it’s important to take at least a moment to reflect.

The first week of 2023 included the Modern Language Association (MLA) convention in San Franciso. One of the highlights was a roundtable with 6 brilliant scholars discussing my book From Slave Cabins to the White House. During that same conference, another roundtable gave me the opportunity to speak about my editorial work with both Iola Leroy  and Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. My edition of the latter was scheduled for June 2023 release, and a few months earlier, I placed an essay in The Washington Post to highlight the fact that Harriet Jacobs became an ancestor in March 1897. That piece was just one of several ways that 2023 was a year in which I continued my commitment to public-facing work amidst the many other responsibilities I have as a scholar.

For quite some time now, I have guest co-hosted The Karen Hunter Show approximately once per month. Karen Hunter interviewed me about From Slave Cabins to the White House in July 2022, and I have appeared consistently since then. As a result, The Karen Hunter Show became a stabilizing force in 2023 while so many parts of my life were in flux. I moved from Ohio to Massachusetts in June, so every month before (and since) has been full of disruption. Everything that felt consistent was a gift, and her show has been in that category. I have gotten to talk about all kinds of thing with Karen and her non-stop stream of fascinating guests, so it meant a lot that she made time to speak with me about Harriet Jacobs and my work on Incidents. Likewise, writing about my trip to Edenton, North Carolina (Harriet Jacobs’s birthplace) for the Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB) was an unforgettable part of 2023. And yet, the editors weren’t finished! Editor-in-Chief Michelle Chihara and her team also featured my work through the LARB Book Club and the LARB Radio Hour.

I have always prioritized public-facing work, and 2023 brought formal recognition of that fact from the Women’s Media Center (WMC), which was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem. I received a Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award on October 19th. This category of award acknowledges people who were trained, at some point in their careers, by the WMC. (I applied and was admitted for the organization’s training in 2012.) The notification of this award came at the height of my feeling unmoored by the cross-country move. It was a dose of incredibly well-timed good energy, and the ceremony in New York City was absolutely unforgettable. I can’t try to type the reasons why, but I’m certainly willing to tell you about in person! (Also, a few pictures below will give a sense.)

My cross-country move was for my partner’s job, not mine, so the professional opportunities it brought for me were unexpected. I took a leave of absence from Ohio State University, where I’ve been a professor of English for 18 years, and accepted the responsibilities of a visiting professor of English at Boston University. I’m pleased with how the Fall semester went as an introduction to BU undergraduates, and I look forward to teaching BU graduate students in the Spring.

Overall, 2023 showed me how much I like stability. LOL! However, it also allowed me to make myself proud of how I navigated so much change. As I face 2024, I’m counting blessings and feeling ready!

 

Just a few memories…

 

On October 19, 2023, I was in New York City to receive a Progressive Women’s Voices IMPACT Award from the Women’s Media Center, which was founded in 2005 by Jane Fonda, Robin Morgan, and Gloria Steinem. It was such a great experience! If we speak in person, I can give you a sense of how remarkable it was.

Among other things, it involved being on the red carpet. Especially because I had never done something like that, the generosity of Jane Fonda and Mariska Hargitay stood out. They went out of their way to make the rest of the honorees feel comfortable.

Here’s an account of the evening: Women’s Media Center Awards Recognize Leaders

My experience of guiding readers through a new encounter with Harriet Jacobs and her signature text, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, continues!

Michelle Chihara, editor-in-chief of The Los Angeles Review of Books, created space for a public conversation between Michelle Lanier and me. It was moving, just like my trip to Edenton, North Carolina. Listen to the conversation wherever you get your podcasts or HERE. Read the essay that inspired this conversation HERE. Order my edition of Incidents HERE.

Please spread the word!

On May 30, 2023, my essay about visiting the birthplace of Harriet Jacobs appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books (LARB). I am proud of that piece for several reasons, and it was healing to get it onto the page.

So, having LARB make my edition of Jacobs’s signature text its summer book club pick takes my joy to another level! Originally published in 1861, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl is the first book-length autobiography by a formerly enslaved woman. It is an honor to guide readers through a new experience of Jacobs’s life and work.

Please read the LARB essay here: “‘I Was Determined to Remember’: Harriet Jacobs and the Corporeality of Slavery’s Legacies” and get the edition here: Incidents, 2023 edition

Anyone who has spoken to me over the past few years might have some sense of how challenging various aspects of life have been for me and mine. It was therefore an unexpected GIFT to put some of the emotion I had been carrying onto the page because Michelle Chihara, Editor-in-Chief of The Los Angeles Review of Books, saw potential as I went on and on about having visited Edenton, North Carolina. I am so pleased with the essay that resulted from her encouragement and from the expert editorial vision at LA RB. 

I hope you’ll make some time to read it and share widely! “‘I Was Determined to Remember’: Harriet Jacobs and the Corporeality ofSlavery’s Legacies”

Early in 2023, I became determined to make sure that more people would encounter the name Harriet Jacobs, especially during Women’s History Month. Because Jacobs became an ancestor on March 7th, that date seemed a perfect opportunity, and The Washington Post agreed. I published “Harriet Jacobs was a Pioneer in Exposing Racial and Sexual Violence” after working with the Made by History team.

The day before that piece appeared in The Washington Post, I was guest co-host of The Karen Hunter Show, and she gave me an opportunity to say a bit about Jacobs. Here’s the “Why You Need to Know Harriet Jacobs” video clip. Please watch and share!

It was an honor to record a 3-minute video about From Slave Cabins to the White House for the Association of Black Women Historians (ABWH) in 2020. I still stand by this, and the USA keeps showing why understanding this dynamic matters!!! #BlackHistoryMonth #HomemadeCitizenship #CiteBlackWomen #WellReadBlackGirl

 

Stunning, isn’t it? This water took Harriet Jacobs to (more) freedom. In November 2022, I traveled to her hometown of Edenton, North Carolina,  and the experience lives with me!

I have submitted final grades so I can turn my attention to the copy edits for my Broadview Press edition of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl. What an honor to help readers more fully appreciate her remarkable life and legacy.

My edition features a chronology of Jacobs’s life and a thorough introduction. I also reproduced her narrative but added footnotes (explaining all that might be unfamiliar to today’s readers) and I provided six appendices.

Coming at you this summer!

Table of Contents here.