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Oh, oh, Zoom, I'd like to fly far away from here/ Where my mind, oh Lord, is fresh and clear
And I'd find the love that I long to see/ Where everybody can be what they wanna be

January 19
Welcome to the First Day!

I. Welcome to Black Language and Rhetoric... via Zoom!

II. In the Chat, write... all this today: a) hello, b) tell us your major(s)/minor(s), and c) anything you've studied in relation to rhetoric before (the answer can be NUTHIN)
Today's Cut: "Zoom" by the Commodores
III. Brief overview of the course website and pedagogy of this course: An Interactive, Black Feminist Style with an AfroFuturist Leaning (and sometimes even a "Gangsta Lean"... click here for the reference)

IV. Review the Syllabus (15-20 MINUTES) 
  • Click here for syllabus
  • Make sure you read/understand the first 13 pages
  • Make sure you understand Thursday assignment as explained on pages 14 and 15

V. Q& A on the Syllabus (please turn on your camera when you talk/ if you can't do that today, it's okay, but please try in the future)

VI. Zoom Procedures
  1. Keep your cameras on as much as you are comfortable doing so.  Please come as you are (but G-rated, folks!) For some of us, it is very difficult to engage an audience when we do not see or know that audience.
  2. Mute yourself so that a speaker does not get sidetracked with construction noise, etc too much in the background.
  3. When you raise your hand, you can just wave or put Q in the chat.
  4. We begin at 11:15am SHARP!  From 11-11:15am, look over the day's agenda and get situated, especially if you are coming from another class.
  5. The zoom session will open at 11am if you want to come through and ask questions... orrrrrr gossip... like you would mix it up in the classroom during the change of classes.
  6. Tuesdays are WORKSHOP DAYS.  Thursdays are HYPE PRESENTATION days. You can expect routines and rituals to get us through!
  7. If I lose internet connection on a Tuesday, wait a moment for my return.  If I get lost in the sauce, I'll email you as soon as I can.  If I lose internet connection on a Thursday, keep going with the presentations. THE INTERNET IS SHADY!

VII. First Tuesday Workshop: Black Rhetorical Continuities AKA Re-Mix
Black Rhetorical Continuities:
​"Ego-Trippin... There Might Be a Reason Why" and Its Remix

Part 1: The 1970s-80s

Feel free to turn off your camera & mic and read these lyrics as you listen.  Click here for the annotated lyrics on genius.com.

Giovanni's many sources of inspiration include: 
  • Her then-recent 1972 trip to Africa;
  • the words/history of enslaved Black women like Sojourner Truth,
  • and the popular Black song of the moment--- "I Can't Get Next To You" by the Temptations
The poem was recorded and sold as a record.

Part 2: The 1990s

Featured on the show "A Different World" about college students at an HBCU as the students, especially the Black women students, come to grips with the negative stereotypes of the Mammy image.

Watch the way "Kim" sheds the negative past and ends by adorning herself in a positive African past and new future.  Feel free to turn off your camera & mic and read these lyrics as you listen. ​

This episode is called "Mammy Dearest."  You can watch the entire episode below on your own (this is optional). 

Part 3: The 2000s

Jill Scott's 2007 "Hate on Me"
Click here for lyrics

Feel free to turn off your camera & mic and read these lyrics as you listen.