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January 21, 2006
end of a long week
survived the holidays and i just survived the first week of class. and this week felt especially long. guess that's to be expected after the break.
the first two classes went well, i think. i'm hoping that they'll feel comfortable and do most of the talking. i'm starting to get tired of hearing myself talking and talking and talking. this semester's theme is hip-hop. of course, i'm excited. we'll see how the students respond.
unlike previous semesters, i decided to play "the message" by grandmaster flash and the furious five. i was impressed that several of the students had heard the song before. i was especially impressed because the song was released in 1982, and all but one of the students were born after '82. we talked about what was being said in the lyrics and possible audiences, etc. when asked to identify an audience, one student said: "black people living in urban areas." another student responded: "the white house." both male students--one white; the other, a student of color. the student of color who indicated that the white house was the target audience for this song explained that he felt like grandmaster flash and his crew were trying to push for change, trying to get black folks out of the jungle. the other student asserted that the song was more about educating, enlightening, illuminating--letting folks know that a jungle is out there. and i agreed with both perspectives. now, i don't know whether or not g.w. would pump "the message" thru the speakers of the oval office, althought it would probably do him some good. the closest that he's been to the jungle was his visit to the 9th ward, and it took a hurricane and some broken levees to get him down there. at the same time, mayor nagin is promising that new new orleans will be a chocolate city--a promise that has pissed off many of non-chocolate new orleaneans. it would do nagin some good to hear about the jungle so that he and his adminstration could work to ensure that the 9th ward doesn't become a jungle again. to be honest, both of them need to be in my class. i bet i could teach them something 'cause both are acting and sounding like knuckleheads. but i don't need to worry because g.w. will be briefed about this post because his folks at the nsa will flag my blog, put my name on the "list," and monitor my web activity. i'll have to make some special arrangements for nagin, though.
yep. that's what we're going to be talking about in wrt 205: critical inquiry and research. you should stop thru some time.
quote for the day
The Mid-Education of the Negro
Carter G. Woodson
"The problem of holding the Negro down, therefore, is easily solved. When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go wonder. He will find his 'proper place' and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is not back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary."
Posted by emnorris at 03:38 AM | Comments (0)