The Promise of Language
The Promise of Language has a different purpose than my previous memoir writing, most notably Voices of the Self: A Study of Language Competence (1991). In that book, I created a narrative that served as a data set for analysis as I intervened in conversations about relationships between formal schooling and speakers of African American Language. […]
My First Language Teacher
If, as a young Ebonics speaker and gospel-inflected and sermon-inflected Jocko lover in Harlem, I learned the standardized prescriptions and the juggling of language varieties early, my mother was the major reason. At least that’s what the sociolinguists tell me. They contend that women generally fluctuate more than men in terms of language modes and […]
Three Moments
In March 1969, the Fisk graduate made a literary splash in New York City as she promoted her new volume of poetry, Black Judgement. [John Oliver] Killens helped to sponsor an event at Lloyd Price’s Turntable, at which three dollars gained patrons admission plus an autographed copy of Giovanni’s book. On hand to perform were […]
Poet in Exile
While operating within a lifelong lyrical odyssey, his journey to build “roads of odes” (22), Sterling Plumpp checks in with his new volume Exile to apprise us of his progress, his latest exploration of “This magnolia memory,” which he states concisely, “is my DNA blossoming / in music” (3). In this poetic meditation on being—and on […]
Postcards
I feel some type of way about certain kinds of electioneering. First off, they are using my first name, which I rarely use and never among friends. So I know they obtained the name from government documents or a list based on government documents. They ain’t my friend. But that’s cool if they don’t try […]
Weird Discourse
As Republicans and Democrats agree, this election discourse is weird. For one, Republican pundits are shook. They know it’s impossible to reasonably defend a Trump campaign, but they kiss the ring and try to do it anyway. That wouldn’t be such a bad problem. They have the right to make their arguments. But they do […]
Kamala
I bet that Kamala Harris makes it through the storms of definitions and labels and arrives safely in the White House. Political enemies have branded her characteristic laugh as inappropriate or indicative of craziness and have even created caricatures in television commercials. So that has been an early rhetorical challenge, one she is handling by […]
Semple Analysis
“Glad to be out for convo and the coldest beer,” exclaimed Semple Jenkins, seated next to Boyd at their favorite bar. “Heat wave had me on lock and the pundits working my last nerve. I mean, the president has an easy way to up his verbal performance, but they all playing past it. You can […]
B6 and the Tradition
By now, most media followers have heard about how the house was set afire, that is, the House Oversight Committee. Convened to discuss a matter pertaining to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the committee was thrown off track, not surprisingly, by the lunacy of Marjorie Taylor Green, who wanted an answer to the irrelevant question of […]
Golf and Race
Scottie Scheffler was arrested in Louisville for disobeying a detective’s traffic command and dragging him 30 feet, causing injuries. Scheffler was arrested for assault on an officer in the second degree (a felony), criminal mischief, reckless driving, and disobeying the orders of a police officer directing traffic. His attorney explained that the whole thing was […]
