January 13       Welcome to the First week!

I. Welcome to 2026!
We start with the 3-Question Interview!
​
II. Q&A on the Syllabus, Course Website & D2L
III. Black Rhetorical Continuities:
​"Ego-Trippin... There Might Be a Reason Why" and Its Remix

Part 1: The 1960s-80s

Giovanni's poem was recorded and sold as a record. ​Click here for the annotated lyrics on genius.com
Many sources of inspiration for Giovanni 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 (1969)

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 past and new future.  ​

This episode is called "Mammy Dearest." 

Part 3: The 2000s

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

Note-Taking
​& Open Discussion
  1. What specific lines or other connections do you make between Nikki Giovanni, "A Different World," and Jill Scott?  Why?​
  2. Why do you think Giovanni's poem has such resonance?  Why do Black women especially keep re-mixing it?
  3. How would you explain re-mix (rhetorical continuities) in your own words?  What is it doing? Why?
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