Reading
A few short essays/reviews:
“How Saidiya Hartman Retells the History of Black Life” by Alexis Okeowo
“The Afrofuturist Sounds of Dawn Richard” by Amanda Petrusich
Writing
Drafting the reflective essay for (deep breath…) my Promotion to Full Professor. It’s a writing task I enjoy so far, looking back across the last six years and making some meaningful connections. I don’t feel the need to cover everything I’ve done, and that’s freeing.
Listening
Broken beat, downtempo, electronic excellence in the form of Pulse of Defiance by Yoshinori Hayashi.
The constantly excellent 24-hour selection at Soul Public Radio.
All of the music by Ester Rada, an Ethiopian soul-jazz singer born in Israel. I learned of her while watching a lecture by legendary music engineer Bob Power. Her unique cover album of Nina Simone songs might have gotten her the most attention, but her other albums — including the ones she sings in Amharic — are just as good.
The overlooked B.U.M.S. (Brothas Unda Madness) hip-hop album Lyfe ’N’ Tyme. Oakland, CA. 1995. What else do you need to know?
Teaching
Bringing things to a close in YA Lit + Antiracist Teaching. Class time this week has been mostly facilitating collaboration structures for students as they complete creative projects. The end of the semester is always jarring to me. You’ve met regularly with a group of people for over three months, and then you don’t. I sense the end of this semester will be especially jarring to some since class has replaced some of the social interactions the pandemic has taken from us all. I know that’s true at least for me.