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The Department of English, the Program for Creative Writing, and the Program for Writing and Rhetoric condemn anti-Black police violence and systemic racism.听As the world knows, George Floyd was murdered by听four Minneapolis police officers on May 25th.听Ahmaud Arbery was fatally shot by white vigilantes while jogging in Brunswick, Georgia on February 23rd.听Breonna Taylor, an emergency medical technician, was killed by police while asleep at home in Louisville, Ky. on March 13th. Tony McDade, a transgender man, was fatally shot by Tallahassee police on May 27th.听David McAtee, owner of YaYa鈥檚 BBQ, was fatally shot on June 2nd.听听He was killed by the Louisville police force whom he had fed, and who two months earlier had killed Breonna Taylor.听听
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Their murders by police and white citizens are unexceptional.听.听.听.听听
Black, Brown, and Indigenous lives are cut short by the racism, settler colonialism, misogyny, and anti-transgender violence of the criminal justice system, banks and other financial institutions, government agencies, and healthcare corporations.听The obstacles faced by people of color further include biased loan and housing policies as well as unequal access to medical treatment, culturally-affirming education, jobs, food, water, and clean air.听Indigenous peoples are dispossessed of their lands and water.听
And yet
Ahmaud Arbery听听听听听Breonna Taylor听听听听听George Floyd听听听听听Tony McDade听听听听听David McAtee
matter to their families and communities who love them and mourn their unjust deaths.听听They matter to thousands taking to the streets across听鈥溾�澨齛nd around the world听to protest entrenched racism that,听in the words of Martin Luther King, "must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots."听听They matter to millions more who are sickened by sanctioned and institutionalized racism.听听
And they matter to us in the English Department, the Program for Creative Writing, and the Program for Writing and Rhetoric. Critical and creative writing, thinking, and interpretive work are crucial to fighting racism鈥檚 chokehold on our country.听听We pledge to apply the skills of our profession towards this mission. 听We insist that Black Lives Matter.听We urge the CU 羞羞视频 administration to act in support of the听听and all Black students听who,听听听campus听and in the听听, have presented actionable听.听
English Literature resources for learning about race
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Some educators are concerned that cultural awareness is included in course content at the expense of rigor. Yet it's not a zero-sum game. This article invites parents, students, and other stakeholders to consider how students鈥� critical thinking skills can be honed through teaching about race and culture.
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A resource with advice, printable posters, and ways to get involved--especially useful for our students who plan to be teachers.
A podcast episode focused on the work of James Baldwin, a central figure in twentieth-century American literature.听鈥淭he author of popular novels such as听Go Tell It on the Mountain听and bold essay collections such as听The Fire Next Time, his works explored themes including race, sexuality, identity, democracy and love. A critic and analyst of his country鈥檚 racial divide, he saw division as destructive and urged his fellow citizens to achieve a better future together.鈥� Hosted by Rajan Datar with guests: the scholars Rich Blint, Ernest L. Gibson III, and Magdalena Zaborowska.
Lauren Michele Jackson, 听
Keeangha-Yamahtta Taylor, (2016)
Situates Black Lives Matter within the long freedom movement from anticolonial Black radicalism of the early twentieth century through the present.听 Analyzes the origins and nature of Black oppression within the political economy of racism and settler colonialism.听 Discusses strategy for Black liberation.
Toni Morrison on literature鈥檚 anti-racist power:听听(2019)
In this award-winning documentary, the Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison shares her life experiences and writing process. Her work brought awareness of black perspectives to countless readers. Early in her career, Morrison wondered: 鈥淲hat can I do where I am?鈥� She found the answer in literature: 鈥淚'm an editor, and I'm opening people's eyes with words. 鈥� It would be my job to publish the voices, the books, the ideas of African Americans--and that would last.鈥�
Saidiya Hartman, (1997);
Saidiya Hartman, : Intimate Histories of Riotous Black Girls, Troublesome Women and Queer Radicals (2019)
For historical context in the 19th century (Scenes of Subjection) and 20th century (Wayward Lives) in terms of white complicity, the spectacle of Black suffering, and the dailiness of lived oppression.
Resources and actions (adapted from听Ecology and Evolutionary Biology)
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A Mental Health Guide for People of Color:听
, resources compiled by Sarah Sophie Flicker and Alyssa Klein
, talk by Ijeoma Oluo
听by Ibram X. Kendi
, reading list