February 24
happy black History month!
​It's the 100-year anniversary!

I. Opening Annoucements​​
  • Remember to email the editor link to your hype presentation on the Wednesday before at noon! Also note that there is no make-up for the Hype presentations.​
  • Bring earbuds to every class, especially this next unit.
  • Next Tuesday is the Phyllis Wheatley Peters (PWP) event! Lunch is at 12:30 (two points extra credit). Please let me know today/ASAP if you can attend. Melinda is the only definite!
  • ​There is NO 9:30am class next Tuesday. Instead, class counts as the 6:30-8pm PWP event! Clear your schedules!

II. The Black Language collaborative essays

  1. "Improper is Proper: BL in Mixed Media" by Annie, Isla, Kate​
  2. "Royal Tongues and Golden Voices" by Nia, Jordan, Tryniti
  3. "USE AND ABUSE ME: The Oppression of Black Language" by Madison & Mya
  4. "Words of Resistance, Our Guiding Light" by Madison S., Mark, Melinda​
  5. "Wrong English" by Blessing, Johasle, Roberto
Navigate to each digital essay.  WATCH IT AS A SLIDESHOW. Play about one minute of any video provided. Then click (maybe 2X if you stop a video early) to the next page. Read every page until the end.

On your worksheet, state which group's collaborative, digital essay you liked best and why. You will also describe your fave title, individual/singular slide, and video.

III. Introduction to the new unit
The Blues tradition

We are cross-pollinating three areas: 1) the Blues tradition, namely the first Black form of popular, secular music in the U.S. that grew from African American spirituals and work songs invented during slavery; 2) Imani Perry’s book, Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People, and its connections of Black arts, survival, and genius to the color blue; and 3) how the re-mix of the Blues tells a musical and cultural history.
​
We will start this theme with Imani Perry’s writings.  Here is a quote to give a precursor to what we will be reading: “That's the calling, to see through time in order to see today. Each act of haunting and witnessing the past is also the work of living in the along. You know the plot device of time-travel stories, how if the contemporary figure goes into the past, her meddling can forever shape the future? In popular culture, that's considered a bad thing. But in our lives, it can be holy.” ​
Looking Ahead
RR6 (Feb 26) on Imani Perry's writing
RR7 (Mar 5) on Angela Davis's writing
RR8 (Mar 12) on Remix (videos)
SPRING BREAK (Mar 16- Mar 20)
RR9 (Mar 24) on more Remix
Project #3 (Mar 26)

​ALL RRs (RR6-RR9) have 2-week grace period; project #3 does not (and incorporates each RR)
Our Inquiry Today:
Why the color/word Blue? How is it significant to Black history? What was this moment in time?
Indigo,
Haint Blue &
Blue Bottle Trees
Blues Bank
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