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While the word "suppression" is commonly paired with words like "voter" to explain the ways Black people and non-Black people from communities who have been historically marginalized have been disenfranchised at the polls where their votes are suppressed, when I use the term "suppress," I am using it to call people to suppress language, practices, and ideologies that create oppressive practices like voter suppression. When are we going to rid ourselves of hearing about such atrocities and responding with "This is America," instead of referring to hateful speech as un-American and inhumane? If we do not prefer to be a nation and society that view racist behavior and language as acceptable, we have to create approaches and responses that communicate that such language is not acceptable and recognize that the use of epithets can transcend into the victims experiencing the trauma and harm that Young reported the University of Utah Deputy Athletic Director (Charmelle) Green and the members of the athletic program experienced.
I aim to inspire people to suppress language and practices that oppress people. I engage with scholarship to advocate for learning from suppressed communities. I call for rhetoric and composition scholars to recognize how the existence and progress of oppressed communities require suppressing language and practices that oppress those communities.
While the word "suppression" is commonly paired with words like "voter" to explain the ways Black people and non-Black people from communities who have been historically marginalized have been disenfranchised at the polls where their votes are suppressed, when I use the term "suppress," I am using it to call people to suppress language, practices, and ideologies that create oppressive practices like voter suppression. As we maintain an awareness of the harms that voter suppression causes, we must work to be energized by considering the potential outcomes of suppressing racism, inequality, and speech that results in inequalities like voter suppression.
According to Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary, suppress, is a "transi- tive verb," which means:
1. to put down by authority or force . . .
2. to keep from public knowledge: such as
a. to keep a secret
b. to stop or prohibit the publication or revelation of . . .
3. a. to exclude from consciousness
b. to keep from giving vent to . . .
4. obsolete: to press down
5. a. to restrain from a usual course or action . . .
b. to inhibit the growth or development of
6. to inhibit the genetic expression of ("Suppress").
When considering the Merriam-Webster definitions of suppress, I believe that as a society, we should hold ourselves accountable for considering what it means to see, hear, and experience racism, homophobia, sexism, Islamophobia, transphobia, antisemitism, anti-Palestinian, anti-Hispanic and anti-Black attitudes and not be invested in making those things obso- lete-even if the goals for obsoletion of these -isms only involves eliminating the ways we engage in them. While some may view it as impossible to create a society without racism and racist language, I would rather work to envi- sion such a society than to maintain a mindset that such a society cannot exist. In this article, I hope to encourage people to consider the contribu- tions they can make to create a society where racist attitudes, practices, and language don't exist. Such an investment is worthy because it would ensure that people do not experience the trauma experienced by college student-athletes and members of a collegiate program who were verbally accosted according to Shalise Manza Young's Andscape article, "The NCAA Let the Utah Women's Basketball Team Down."
In Young's article, she discussed racism that the University of Utah's women's basketball team experienced in the town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, which is where they were lodging for their participation in the NCAA wom- en's basketball tournament. Young also details the racist history of what she referred to as the "northern Idaho panhandle" and sheds light on how Coeur d'Alene is a town that neighbors Lake Hayden, which she writes is "where the Aryan Nations neo-Nazi group was founded in 1977 and held annual gatherings through the late 1990s" (Young). Young detailed the experiences endured by University of Utah athletic program members, writing that:
Not long after, while walking to a restaurant, members of the group said, a white pickup truck rolled up on them, the driver revved its engine, then shouted the N-Word and drove off. When they left the restaurant two hours later to walk back to the hotel, two trucks were allegedly waiting, again revving their engines in what felt like a menacing way and screaming epithets.
When are we going to rid ourselves of hearing about such atrocities and responding with "This is America," instead of referring to hateful speech as un-American and inhumane? If we do not prefer to be a nation and society that view racist behavior and language as acceptable, we have to create approaches and responses that communicate that such language is not acceptable and recognize that the use of epithets can transcend into the victims experiencing the trauma and harm that Young reported the Univer- sity of Utah Deputy Athletic Director (Charmelle) Green and the members of the athletic program experienced. According to Young, Green stated:
We all just were in shock, and we looked at each other like, did we just hear that? Everybody was in shock-our cheerleaders, our students that were in that area that heard it clearly were just frozen, Green said. We kept walking, just shaking our heads, like I can't believe that.
Young reported that Green said, "After the second incident of hatred as the team was leaving the restaurant, I got emotional and started to cry." Green then said, "After making sure the group got back to its hotel safely, I went back and just had some alone time. I was just numb the entire night" (Green qtd. in Young). I have experienced my own version of the kind of pain and shock that Green and the members of the Utah athletic program experienced. In order to envision a society where people are not the vic- tims of language that tells them they are out of place in public spaces that everyone is supposed to have access to, we have to classify racist and op- pressive language as language that should be suppressed. Suppressing racist, homophobic, and ageist language that tells people they are too Black, too gay, and too old to do something involves recognizing that the language is language that we should "a) exclude from consciousness b) . . . keep from giving vent to . . ." ("Suppress"). In this article, when I use "suppress," I am doing so with the following definitions in mind:
3. a. to exclude from consciousness
b. to keep from giving vent to . . .
5. a. to restrain from a usual course or action . . .
b. to inhibit the growth or development of ("Suppress")
As a lover of language who greatly values words and using words to write, speak, and communicate what I feel, think, and believe and as someone who enjoys dialoguing, listening, and reading texts that expose me to what other people feel, think, and believe, I believe that people should be able to communicate honestly and freely. When in private and public educational settings, places of employment, places of worship, grocery stores, parks, social media platforms, and public places that all people should have equal access to, freely expressing our perspectives does not entitle us to write or speak in ways that jeopardizes people's ability to fully experience freedom and to experience a life free of racism, -isms, and ills that devalue them and diminish their quality of life. I believe it is important to think about the work of suppressing language that is intended to continue a legacy of suppressing people who have been oppressed.
In our teaching, scholarship, work as faculty members, and all of our walks of life, working to address writing and speech that may be referred to as a microaggression or wrongly categorized as free speech better positions us to be accountable for our own language and literacy practices. Being accountable for the ways we work to avoid using language that suppresses people moves us closer to ensuring that people who have historically been denied the right to access rooms do not decide to leave those rooms because people in the rooms are more invested in protecting hate or violent speech than protecting human beings.
If you identify as someone whose goal is to ensure that people who have not historically had access to spaces and opportunities can access spaces and opportunities, then you must be invested in working to ensure that you help to eliminate language, legislation, and action that are aimed at pushing those people out. While I believe this is work that we should organically be inspired to do, I have also come to learn that for some, do- ing the work of thinking about suppressing practices and language that oppresses people is not as organic as thinking about the challenges that such work poses. In considering the potential reluctance that some may have about the proposition to suppress hateful and harmful language and to work to recognize the link between the language and negative realities endured by people exposed to the action linked to such language, I share these questions: What is the difference between banning a book by a Black queer author because the subject matter is too Black and too queer and banning a Black queer person?
What is the difference between refusing to take hateful and violent speech off the library shelves and accepting violence as a premature claimer of lives that we are all just wrongly accepting, expecting, and hoping we don't endure? What is the difference between not engaging in addressing language that hurts people who are not protected and not calling for the protections of those who are too often put in danger because of a failure to provide protections for them and their communities? Asking these questions shows my willingness to be in dialogue with others who I hope will join me in answering these questions.
I believe it is more important to be invested in reflecting on these questions than in conflating hate speech and free speech. I believe it is more valuable to be invested in thinking about these questions than in using the identities of people who have been oppressed as a tool for arguing that people from those communities should join people who have oppressed them in using oppressive language. In addition to sharing these questions to generate thinking about the link between speech and action, I want to share questions that evidence my belief that it is important to envision the possibility of classrooms, concerts, conversations, and congregations that do not house -isms, ills, and phobias that make some attendees sick from being present in the spaces.
How can we suppress racism? How can we suppress homophobia? How can we suppress antisemitism and Islamophobia? How can we suppress ableism? How can we suppress classism? As teachers, scholars, learners, colleagues, writers, and people who serve in various roles in our personal and professional lives, what do we need to do to suppress the -isms and ills that result in people having inequitable and unjust experiences in their classrooms, places of employment, pursuits of professional and academic opportunities, and their neighborhoods and recreational spaces?
It is important to consider the value of suppressing hateful, racist, harmful language and harmful action in order to ensure that those who have been oppressed are not suppressed, but instead prioritized and protected.
When talking about Black LGBTQIA+ people and their literacies, Eric Dar- nell Pritchard (24) informs people about the ways Black queer people have used their literacy practices and what they refer to as "restorative literacies" to make transformative change in their lives and society. In Fashioning Lives, Pritchard (24) writes about the harmful outcomes of literacy normativity and the actions and attitudes associated with it, while explaining the pos- sibilities associated with "restorative literacies," writing that:
Throughout this book I deploy two concepts to explore the epistemologies of Black LGTBQ literacies through a Black queer theoretical framework: literacy normativity, which refers to uses of literacy that inflict harm, and restorative literacies, which consists of literacy practices that Black queers employ as a means of self-definition, self-care, and self-determination. (24)
As Pritchard recognizes, I too recognize the possibilities associated with "restorative literacies." I value Pritchard's insights about how restorative literacies combat literacy normativity and view what Pritchard (24) refers to as "restorative literacies" as central to the work of suppressing histories, actions, and practices that have historically harmed people. Explaining "restorative literacies," Pritchard writes:
Restorative literacies are a form of cultural labor through which individuals tactically counter acts of literacy normativity through the application of litera- cies for self-and communal love manifested in a myriad of ways and across a number of sites and contexts toward the ends of making a life on one's own terms. (33)
In this article, as a Black lesbian, I advocate for suppressing attitudes, per- spectives, and actions that oppress and suppress people, which evidences how I am using my restorative literacies in ways Pritchard reflects on people within the Black LGBTQIA+ community using their literacy practices.
I am aware that some people view it as idealistic and impossible to envision a society where we completely suppress racism, homophobia, anti- Blackness, classism, anti-Indigeneity, anti-Asian attitudes, Islamophobia, and other hateful and oppressive ideologies. Still, I believe that such a society is worth not only envisioning but also creating. During the 23rd Annual Dr. William G. Anderson "Slavery to Freedom Lecture1 Series" Q&A in the Wharton Center of Performing Arts at Michigan State University, Angela Davis reflected on the freedom struggle. Davis engaged in dialogue with
Dr. Marita Gilbert and answered audience questions, which included an audience member's question, "You mentioned that fighting for freedom is a constant struggle and so I was wondering if you had any advice for those of us, who may at times being part of the system feel maybe worn down by constantly advocating for yourselves and fighting for freedom?" (1:24:24). Among the remarks that Davis shared in response to the question, where she provided guidance about navigating what can become a strenuous and fatiguing process to obtain freedom, Davis said:
. . . I'll tell you that a lot of people ask me, if I'm not upset that we didn't achieve our goal. . . . People have written me and said that after so many years and decades of being involved in the freedom movement, you must . . . have many regrets that you devoted your life to something that never . . . became . . . a reality. And my response is always that even though we did not achieve what I assumed that we would, when I was younger I thought the revolution was right around the corner. And, I mean I think you have to have those ideas because otherwise, you don't fight with the kind of urgency that you need to
. . . but then I always say that I'm actually now really glad that we didn't win what we thought we were fighting for, because we would've left so much out, that it would not have been a revolution that I would've wanted. . . . Precisely because as I've explained you learn so much in the course of being involved in the struggle. You learn what it was that you didn't realize, and I expect that, that's going to continue for the rest of my life. I expect to continue to learn, and I have not an ounce of regret. I'm so happy that I have devoted my life to the struggle, 'cause I think it's the best kind of life I could've ever lived. (Davis 1:29:02-1:30:53)
I believe Davis's reflections about the freedom struggle are useful to con- sider when thinking about the work of suppressing hate and oppression. I also believe Davis's reflections evidence the need for endurance and hope in the work of creating a society where people who have historically been marginalized do not have to continue to experience the harm, oppression, inequality, and injustice that negatively impact their lives and limit their access to opportunities. Like Davis, I hope to remain committed to learn- ing and see what I can learn about who else I need to consider in the work I am doing.
Davis's reflections about her commitment to the struggle should, as she acknowledges, inspire us to think about progress and how it is achieved and provide us with guidance about how committed we must be to suppressing ideologies that oppress people. Even if we do not have all the answers for doing this work, as Davis reflected on doing, we should still embark upon doing the work and working to find answers as we do the work. If we are not invested in suppressing anti-human language, ideologies, and actions that have oppressed us, then what are we invested in? We have to ask ourselves what we are invested in if we are not willing to fully invest in envisioning a society where what April Baker-Bell (27) in Linguistic Justice: Black Lan- guage, Literacy, Identity, and Pedagogy refers to as "anti-Black linguistic racism" doesn't exist. What does it mean to not be willing to engage in the work of suppressing what Baker-Bell refers to as "respectability politics," which she explains:
. . . perpetuate anti-Blackness as they do not fully accept or celebrate Black Language, and they teach Black students to respond to racism by adhering to white hegemonic standards of what it means to be "respectable" instead of teaching them to challenge, interrogate, and resist Anti-Black Linguistic Racism. (29)
While I have not perfected the work that Baker-Bell recommends teachers do to eliminate the kind of respectability politics that she critiques, I view Baker-Bell's insights about "respectability politics" as valid and worth work- ing to transcend into practice. There are unlimited examples of how the op- pressive attitudes, ideas, and practices that Baker-Bell calls out show up in all of us-peoples' experiences in classrooms, workplaces, academic spaces, sports, politics, entertainment, healthcare, and other areas of our lives and society. As teachers, we are not detached from our identities, histories, and experiences. We are also, whether intentionally or accidentally, not devoid of doing and saying things that have potentially made other people wonder about whether they belong in the places they are in.
Students being present in the classroom does not result in them being detached from their identities, histories, and/or experiences. Whatever the present and current moment is, we are always in that moment together, even if we are experiencing it differently. Considering this, it is important to, as others have encouraged, think about what types of environments we are creating and maintaining for ourselves and students while also thinking about how the writing, reading, activities, and dialogue they engage in invite them, their communities, their histories, and experiences to be present. Do- ing the work of making people, communities, and cultures that have been oppressed welcome in spaces that history tells us they were told they could not go involves suppressing ideas, attitudes, and language that tells them they still don't belong in those spaces. The work of suppressing harmful and oppressive ideologies involves engaging with work, texts, materials, and activities that acknowledge those who have been oppressed.
As a Black and queer scholar and teacher, I am inspired and encour- aged by scholarship, resources, communities, practices, and perspectives that affirm me and the communities I am a part of. I find it productive for students to engage in writing, speaking, and reading that affirms them and inspires them to think about the power of their contributions and ability to create solutions. This is work that contributes to suppressing ideologies and practices that aim to prevent people from considering their histories, identities, and experiences in educational spaces where such considerations are essential for envisioning and creating enhanced experiences and futures for people who have historically not had access to essential resources, support, and opportunities. My original version of this article was written because of an invitation to the kind of panels and experiences that we need to see an increase in.
In 2023, I was invited to be a panelist on the "Pedagogy of the Sup- pressed: Teaching about Cultural Erasures"2 virtual panel organized by Dr. Denise Troutman, Dr. Ellen Moll, and Dr. Bethany Meadows3at Michigan State University. I was honored to receive an invitation to be a part of a panel that Dr. Troutman and Dr. Moll said would ". . .feature educators sharing their thoughts as well as specific approaches or assignments/activities related to teaching college students about cultural erasures" (Moll and Troutman). In accepting the invitation to be on the panel, I sought addi- tional information about the panel, which included asking Dr. Troutman the following question:
Can you please provide information about how you, as organizers view the Pedagogy of the Suppressed: Teaching About Cultural Erasures and what topics and scholarship you have in mind? While I accepted the invitation based on my understanding of the title, I want to make sure I am doing work that is in alignment with the goals and purposes of the panel and that I am qualified to discuss the topics and matters that are being focused on. (Botex, "Possible Panel")
While I shared the Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of the word "suppress," sharing Dr. Troutman's response to my question about how she and the other organizers envisioned and defined the panel positions me to present a deeper and more insightful view about why the suppression of oppressive language and practices that I am advocating for is necessary. Along with this, Dr. Troutman's remarks provide an example of the kind of work that can be done to invite people to consider effective practices for students who have been suppressed. Troutman wrote:
At the heart of many conversations about DEI and teaching, from abolitionist teaching to anti-racist pedagogy to accessibility, is the idea that traditional academic ways of doing things have actively excluded, erased, or demeaned some students' experiences, cultures, and identities. Various academic disci- plines continue to grapple with how their fields have contributed to cultural erasure, colonialism, racism, sexism, and other intersecting oppressions. These conversations can be difficult, but they have been richly generative, both intellectually and otherwise. This proposed series is a united vision of how general education, which includes IAH (Integrative Arts and Humanities) and many WRAC (Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures) instructors, can provide a learning experience that values diverse student experiences, cultures, and identities as essential parts of academic inquiry in writing, the arts, and humanities.
As teachers and scholars who should be invested in suppressing practices and language that intentionally and maliciously oppress people, it is impor- tant to consider and apply Troutman's insights into the ongoing dialogue happening about the need to value historically underrepresented and de- valued communities and academic communities' efforts and aspirations to reconcile the injustices and inequalities that they have contributed to.
In Jacqueline Jones Royster and Jean C. Williams's article, "History in the Spaces Left: African American Presence and Narratives of Composi- tion Studies," Royster and Williams call composition studies scholars to acknowledge and learn from Black teachers' and students' experiences and histories and to make them and their histories present in composition stud- ies. In this piece, as I do in my dissertation, The Progress and Prosperity in African American Rhetoric and Composition Scholarship, I express that there is always a need for engaging with African American rhetoric and composi- tion scholarship, and as I do in this work, I talk about the pedagogical and scholarly purposes served by such work. Engaging with work like Royster and Williams's and other African American rhetoric and composition schol- arship is always essential and is even more necessary in these times when people are trying to ban entire histories of communities who created the country where their history is being banned. In Louis Maraj's Black or Right: Anti/Campus Rhetorics, he sheds light on scholars advocating for educators to engage in culturally aware teaching. Maraj writes:
Black or Right adds to that growing corpus of antiracist research in centering Black folk and their traditions, languages, literacies, and rhetorics in white institutional spaces. A focus on the traditions and theories of people of color responds to Adam Banks's (2010) and Lisa Corrigan's (2016) calls to these fields for attention to be paid to them. Continuing such work remains vitally neces- sary as scholarship and classrooms in the United States continue to marginal- ize people of color, particularly Black folk, and their cultures/literacies. (10)
In Maraj's aforementioned insights, he calls (10) for the continuation of work that acknowledges people and their cultures and histories and recognizes the ways those calls existed before he echoed them. In writing studies, whether from Maraj's (10) insights in Black or Right; Royster and Williams's article, "History in the Spaces Left," which predates Maraj's text by twenty-one years; or in invitations that are shared through calls like Jen- nifer Sano-Franchini's 2024 CCCC call for proposals, it is evident that there is an expressed interest in work that answers Sano-Franchini's powerful and important question, "So, how does writing abundance encourage a mindset of humility and responsibility with our specific positionalities and discursive contexts in mind, as scholars like Bo Wang suggested (387)?" (Sano-Franchini).
In my dissertation, in this article, and in my work as a teacher and scholar, like other scholars in the field of rhetoric and composition such as Adam Banks, Maraj, Royster and Williams, Carmen Kynard, Eric Darnell Pritchard, and those who are unnamed yet doing work that is as equally valuable and essential, I consider what Sano-Franchini in her CCCC call for proposals referred to as "our specific positionalities." As a Black queer woman, the thought of stepping into the classroom as anything other than a Black queer woman never crossed my mind. As a result of never intend- ing to leave behind my identities or my communities, when I enter into classroom settings, like other scholars in writing studies, I consider texts, scholarship, and resources that shed light on my identities in relation to writing, reading, and literacy.
In "When and Where I Enter: Race, Gender, and Composition Stud- ies," Shirley Wilson Logan acknowledges (430) her own identities. Logan discusses (430) being a Black woman and her role as an educator, details (425-27) the history of Black women compositionists, and discusses (430-33) her experiences with students writing about Black orators and writers in the classroom. Like Logan, I consider my identities relevant to my work as a teacher and scholar. I consider my identities and literacies in the same way that Pritchard considers their identities and literacies and other Black LGTBQIA+ people's literacies in Fashioning Lives. As scholars and educators invested in doing essential work that positively impacts those we teach and work alongside, the ways we share knowledge about what we love and value and our acknowledgement of what other people love and value position us to do transformational and life-enhancing work that I know the field is invested in doing.
It is important that we work to trans- form mentalities and mindsets that sug- gest that we should not focus on our own identities within educational spaces and texts, while also thinking how this work suppresses harmful language and hateful attitudes and action. I have not perfected what I am suggesting and under- stand that I may not in my lifetime, which is why Davis's (1:29:02-1:30:53) remarks and reflections about what she has learned throughout her journey are so necessary for me to keep in mind.
Even though we are aware of negative outcomes, such as harmful legis- lation being enacted in ways that impact people's lives, words have typically been heard, read, and treated as words that on their own do not result in consequences for the speakers and writers, regardless of the ways the words may impact the listeners and readers. When those words become actions that impact people, we mourn, we become bewildered, and we are at a loss for words about how to move through the pain, trauma, and tragedy that potentially stem from the harm that someone's words suggested they would cause. Knowing this, it is not enough to have a "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" mentality, because such a mentality is not necessarily truly reflective of everyone's reality. While some people may not view words and language as influencers of oppressive action or see that words and language have a lasting and enduring impact, other people may associate words and language with inequities and tragedies that impact people, whose bones have been broken by actions that gained momentum from somebody failing to combat the ideas before they became action.
I have and still am navigating through the wide range of perspectives about what it means to suppress words and thoughts that oppress people. I find myself doing this work even when I am not at work and working to avoid harshly judging myself when I come up short of not suppressing words and language that are connected to oppression. Still, I am invested in working to ensure that people, including students, faculty, and staff I work with, will feel confident and comfortable with showing up and that those who have already endured and still endure oppression do not feel like I am going to use language and words that will lead to more oppression.
There is value in suppressing histories, cultures, practices, and ide- ologies that have oppressed people and ensuring that such practices do not negatively impact people who have finally accessed opportunities and experiences that they should've always had access to and should be guaranteed future access to. I see power in intertwining my identities and cultures into my teaching, because doing so connects me to my communi- ties and histories in ways that better position me to ensure that students can do the same as they shift into new professional and academic spaces. I hope that educators will see how they can shape the institutions they are in and eliminate calls that oppress and endanger people, their histories, their identities, and their futures.
When I taught the first-year writing course at Michigan State Uni- versity (MSU) for the first time, an example of insights that affirmed and encouraged me were Bettina Love's discussions of "Black joy" in her book, We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom. In considering students' work on their cultural artifact assignment, which is a part of the shared curriculum in the First Year Writ- ing Program, meaning it is one of various assignments all first-year writ- ing students at MSU are supposed to do some version of, I believed Love's discussions about culture and Black joy would be productive for students to read and reflect on in relation to themselves and their own experiences and culture. Love explains:
There is joy and then there is Black joy. Both are necessary for justice; however Black joy is misunderstood. Black joy is to embrace your full humanity, as the world tells you that you are disposable and that you do not matter. Black joy is a celebration of taking back your identity as a person of color and signaling to the world that your darkness is what makes you strong and beautiful. Black joy is finding your homeplace and creating homeplaces for others. Black joy is understanding and recognizing that as a dark person you come with grit and zest because you come from survivors who pushed their bodies and minds to the limits for you to one day thrive. (120)
As an educator, when I can, within educational settings, think about what it means for me to create and maintain the kind of Black joy Love reflects on and consider the histories I am connected to in ways that she and other scholars acknowledge the importance of, I am better prepared to help students consider their own cultures and identities and what it means to create joy for themselves and other people.
As a teacher at MSU, I was fortunate to teach in the First-Year Writing Program, where I could use scholarship that I valued, felt connected to, and viewed as relevant to students' learning experiences. I exposed students to written, audio, and visual content that I viewed as connected to their learning experiences and invited students to find examples of content they viewed as relevant to course work and discussions. In the classes where I as- signed the learning narrative assignment, I was a graduate student teaching a first-year writing class in the program directed by Dr. Julie Lindquist. While faculty members and instructors in the MSU First-Year Writing Program taught within a program where their design of the course and assignments needed to be in alignment with the First-Year Writing Program curriculum, we were invited to create our own in-class activities and assignments and choose texts and course materials we wanted to assign.
According to the Michigan State University Department of Writing, Rhetoric, and Cultures Department "About the First Year Writing Cur- riculum" page:
The Learning Narrative Project invites students to engage inquiry as a means to discover and communicate new knowledge about something they already know pretty well: their own histories as learners. In telling their stories of learn- ing, this project asks students to consider their experiences with learning in and out of school to encourage them to reflect on their relationship between their learning histories and their present lives.
Lindquist provided support for teachers and directed the program in ways that gave them opportunities and encouragement to share their teaching ideas and approaches and invitations to design their courses, materials, and assignments. I created my learning narrative assignment guidelines with an awareness that the cultural artifact assignment was the next major graded project the students would work on. The learning narrative assignment guidelines served as a writing space where I could identify my experiences, histories, interests, and identities in ways that I hoped would be useful for the students. In my learning narrative assignment guidelines, I explained to students that:
As people, sometimes our best lessons, and the knowledge and wisdom we apply in our lives comes from someone who has inspired us, looking for in- formation about a topic we wanted to learn more about, or engaging in an activity we love doing. In this paper, you will focus on yourself as a learner, while reflecting on what you've learned from a person who has inspired you, what you have learned from exploring or researching a topic you wanted to learn more about, or what you've learned from engaging in an activity that you love doing. (Botex "Learning Narrative")
The aforementioned aspect of my learning narrative assignment guidelines evidence how I considered programmatic goals for the assignment and wrote content that I viewed as valuable for students to reflect on. In reading the content from my learning narrative assignment guidelines, I can see my investment in inviting students to write about something they loved. When thinking about my encouragement for students to write about something they love in the context of my work about suppressing language, attitudes, and practices that oppress people, sharing this portion of my assignment guidelines illustrates how I offered students an opportunity to write about topics they wanted to write about and to consider concepts like love, in- spiration, and learning.
Within the assignment guidelines, I provided the following examples to show students how I would approach the assignment:
o When I think about who I could write about as a person who inspired me that I could learn from, so many people come to mind, but I would write about my paternal grandmother (Botex, "Learning Narrative").
o If I was going to consider a topic that I would potentially consider writing about for this paper, I might consider writing about Black women scholars, or Black communities writing and communication practices (Botex, "Learning Narrative").
o If I was going to consider an activity I would like to write about, I would write about running." (Botex, "Learning Narrative")
In sharing these examples, I shared some of my research and personal interests with students and identified my paternal grandmother as some- one who inspired me and running as an activity that I love and would be interested in writing about. While the learning narrative assignment did not require students to discuss an aspect of their cultural identities, experi- ences, or histories, the cultural artifact assignment did.
As described on the Michigan State University Writing, Rhetoric and Cultures Department website, the cultural artifact assignment ". . . invites students to engage inquiry as a means to discover and communicate new knowledge about their influences. The moves of this project ask students to inquire into cultural values in which they are implicated as learners by choosing an everyday object as the focus of guided exploration. This experience gives them further practice in processes of inquiry ( formulat- ing questions and forming theories of cultural value. . .)" ("About the FYW Curriculum").
With the Writing, Rhetoric and Culture Department's first-year writing objectives for the cultural artifact assignment in mind, I created assignment guidelines. The following is an excerpt from the guidelines I assigned while teaching the course at MSU:
What is culture? How do you define culture? For this assignment, you will consider and draw on the discussions about culture that we have had in our class and your understanding of culture to write about and research a cul- tural moment (an event, experience in your life, situation in society) that you view as having a significant impact on you and society; a cultural group or community that you are a part of (organization, work, team, aspect of your identity) or a cultural item/content (clothing, poster, song) that is important to you and that you value. (Botex, "Cultural Artifact Assignment")
According to my "Writing 101 (88) Schedule" for the fall 2021 semester, I assigned some of Love's We Want to Do More Than Survive. Assigning a portion of Love's text provided me with a chance to present a source that discussed Black culture, Black joy, community, and identity in ways that gave our class a shared understanding of terminology that was useful for the cultural artifact assignment and our discussions about culture. Along with the aspects of Love's texts that we focused on, other sources provided students with a chance to deepen their awareness of what it means to dis- cuss one's own cultures and the cultural communities they were a part of, which was necessary for the assignment.
I hope to always find ways to integrate texts, music, and content I have watched and view as relevant to course work into students' learning experi- ences and encourage them to do the same. From semester to semester, if I teach the same assignment, I keep an open mind about how formerly used content can still work and consider what other content may be valuable for the teaching of a topic and an assignment. When I taught a different section of first-year writing during the spring 2023 semester, in assigning the cultural artifact assignment, I used some previously used sources to present insights about culture and to create a shared understanding of the concept. Among the sources referred to for lessons about culture was the clean version of Kendrick Lamar's "The Heart Part 5." The presentation slides for the February 8 class where we listened to Lamar's song include the following questions:
What cultures does Kendrick Lamar talk about in "The Heart Part 5"? What lyrics in the song make you believe those are the cultures Kendrick is talking about? Do Kendrick's insights about culture portray culture as positive, nega- tive or both? What do Kendrick's discussions suggest about how people shape and define culture? (Botex, "The Culture Continues")
My question about what Lamar's lyrics "suggest about how people shape and define culture" (Botex, "The Culture Continues") is akin to a question students needed to address in their cultural artifact assignment, where they were asked, "How do you contribute to or shape the culture? What is the same or different about your personal understanding of the culture and other ways the group or community is defined?" (Botex, "Cul- tural Artifact Assignment").
Using Lamar's "Heart Part 5" and content from Love's We Want to Do More Than Survive also illustrates how I make connections between my scholarship, cultural identities, communities, and histories in ways that show students how they can do these things. While people who teach writ- ing likely have their own approaches for considering histories, cultures, and communities that have historically been oppressed and not included in classroom spaces, here, I outline some practices that I believe are useful to consider when thinking about how to create classroom activities, assign- ments, and dialogue where you look to those who have been overlooked to learn. This is a part of the work of suppressing oppressive language and action. For me, it was productive to:
o Find Commonalities and Connections Between Course Materi- als, Sources, and Assignments: Consider how scholarship and sources I related to aligned with assignments and work students were doing in the class.
o Acknowledge My Own Culture, Identities, and Experiences: Consider my own identities, histories, and experiences. Engaging with Love's work that shed light on my culture, identities, and ex- periences provided students with examples of how they can do the same thing.
o Programmatic and Institutional Support: Working within a de- partment where the learning narrative and cultural artifact assign- ments were a part of a shared curriculum provided opportunities to design assignments in ways that were meaningful for teachers and students.
In ensuring that the educational spaces we create are places where people from historically marginalized communities can be celebrated and thrive in ways that scholars, including Royster and Williams (572, 573, 575, 581, 583), Baker-Bell (3), Kynard (23, 24), Love (120), Banks (qtd. in Maraj 10), Jackson II (118), and other people within academia advocate for, we are inspiring and motivating students, colleagues, and anyone in academic spaces to contribute to creating those spaces outside of academia. In Roys- ter and Williams's (580-81) work they advocate for accurately representing people who have been "suppressed" and call (565) the field to recognize the importance of acknowledging African American people and their histories. Royster and Williams (575) write, "Given the historical place of African Americans as a suppressed group in the United States, the work of these professionals has not been historically celebrated in arenas of the dominant academic culture." Royster and Williams celebrated African American educators who greatly contributed to academic spaces. When considering my identities, it is productive to consider work like Royster and Williams's and experience Black joy in ways that Love (120) defines it. I recognize that when I experience Black joy, I can encourage others to experience joy and to maintain that joy-even when there are attempts to suppress them and their identities and/or attempts to cause detriment to them and their experiences. Conversations about what Black joy is and what it means are not new and not limited to Love's (120) definition.
Black joy is acknowledged in music, scholarship, television shows, and other forms of entertainment and education. As teachers, it's important that we are able to value and affirm our identities, which invites students to value their identities and their classmates' identities. This is important for every student and must not be overlooked when considering the ways not doing this can negatively impact and further isolate students who are underrepresented. As I communicate in my dissertation, I believe it is productive to turn to African American rhetoric and composition scholar- ship because doing so exposes readers to a wealth of knowledge about the essential and transformative
Creating inclusive and
equitable academic institutions and learning spaces is a must.
contributions that Black people have made and how they have used their literacy practices to make essential contributions. For example, in Vernacu- lar Insurrections, Kynard educates readers about how
[i]t was the demands made by African Americans for free, public education that became the impetus for the system of public education that was established in the United States after the Civil War. Up until that point, public education as we know it today, did not exist. Kelly argues that it was the newly emancipated African Americans who had the clearest agenda and sense of importance of education and thus, cleared the path for everyone else to have access to public education. (34-35)
Teaching that considers discussions like Kynard's (34-35) discussions about Black people creating the educational systems that we are currently teaching in and working in and where students are learning is a part of the work of suppressing ideologies, practices, and language that suggest that the people from the communities who built the institutions don't belong there. Creating inclusive and equitable academic institutions and learning spaces is a must. Creating a university where hate and racist, transphobic, homophobic, anti-Black, antisemitic, anti-Palestinian, misogynistic, anti- Asian, anti-Hispanic, and anti-Indigenous attitudes and other oppressive attitudes and actions are suppressed is a must. That is the only way state- ments like "Hate Has No Home Here," which was a statement presented at MSU, can be true. When you consider your university, what do you know about the histories of the students and faculty members who have been historically underrepresented and oppressed and whose presence needs to be increased by enrollment and employment?
What are we doing to be accompanied by texts, resources, news head- lines, and other resources that acknowledge the experiences and histories of people that are underrepresented? It is essential for me to consider when and how texts that shed light on my culture, identities, community, and history are valuable for me as a teacher. Within any professional, institu- tional, recreational, or communal space, I should be able to find legacies and histories to celebrate and work that combats the kind of atrocities that I reflected on at the beginning of this piece. As a proud MSU alumna, I take pride in the histories, legacies, accomplishments, and contributions that I learned about during my time as a graduate student. Legends like
Darlene Clark Hine and Geneva Smitherman,
What are the histories and legacies within your cultures and communities that are worthy of celebrating because of the good they and their work do for humanity? Your answer to that question is important to explore in relation to your teaching and scholarship.
whose work has reached beyond the walls of MSU and into the depths of society, worked at Michigan State University. Possessing an awareness of such legacies is inspiration that moves us forward if, and, when somebody tries to suppress us.
According to Hine's bio, she is "a leading historian of the African-American experience who helped found the field of black women's history" ("Darlene Clark Hine"). Smitherman's
Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America, which was published in 1977, transformed people's understanding of Black language and called readers to accept and affirm Black people's language and literacy practices and histories and to recognize the essential role they played in shaping society. According to Kimberly Popiolek's story, "The Trailblazing Life of MSU's First Black Faculty Member," David W.D. Dickson became the first Black faculty member at the university when he joined the Department of English in 1948 (Popiolek).
Jemele Hill, who graduated from MSU, uses her speaking and writing abilities to create social commentary about topics ranging from sports to politics and to call for transformative change, such as ending violence, which she did in her February 2023 Detroit Free Press editorial piece, "We Need Long-Lasting Rage-Not Hashtags-after MSU Shooting | Opinion." The legacies of Black alumni and faculty from the MSU Spartan community that I spotlighted are just some of the legacies from the university that can be celebrated. I focused on these people to share some contributions made by Black people who, during and after their time as Spartans, have profoundly impacted society. There are many more legacies to celebrate, including those of Black faculty members, students, and staff members who are currently making essential contributions that positively impact the university com- munity and society. While I focused on Black legacies at MSU, there are many communities who have been oppressed and still achieved essential and extraordinary accomplishments. Those legacies and the people from the communities associated with those legacies should be acknowledged, present, and learned from and within academic spaces.
When legacies of those who have not been present in ways that Royster and Williams (582, 583) call us to make legacies present are present, we are in a better position to suppress the practices, attitudes, and actions that aim to oppress and exclude them. What are the histories and legacies within your cultures and communities that are worthy of celebrating because of the good they and their work do for humanity? Your answer to that question is important to explore in relation to your teaching and scholarship. As a new faculty member at a university, I am invested in finding these histories and lega- cies at my new university and in my community. So far, I am inspired by what I have found. As members of any academic institution and any community, we should pay attention to legacies and histories that have helped eliminate ills that threaten people's lives and well-being and reduce or eliminate their access to opportunities. Within our work as scholars and educators, and in our lives, we should also exhibit an awareness of the calls made by a myriad of Black scholars and non-Black scholars to consider them-their communities, cultures, and histories-and other people and their communities, cultures, and histories.
The Culture of a Classroom Working to Heal and Collectively Suppress a Culture of Violence
In February 2023, when the Michigan State University community was terrified and harmed by the tragedy that occurred on campus, educators, students, faculty, staff, and the community had to reflect on what learning and living in a community that was struck by such violence and terror meant for us as we moved forward. Like oppression, racism, homophobia, classism, ableism, and sexism, violence is a culture we have to suppress. As I worked to heal from hurt, pain, and trauma felt by myself, members of the MSU community, and other people who have experienced the trauma and pain that comes from gun violence, I took moments of silence with students and reminded them that taking care of themselves was the priority.
I felt like routine check-ins, where I asked students how they were doing and feeling, were not enough and like maybe they had had enough of the routine check-ins. Still, I checked in, and during the check-ins, I
shared information about support for dealing
We participated in a moment of silence to honor and acknowledge those who were killed in the tragedy and those still healing. I wondered what the appropriate pace for doing my job was and when it was the appropriate time to grade and assess students' work.
with the tragedy. We participated in a moment of silence to honor and acknowledge those who were killed in the tragedy and those still healing. I wondered what the appropriate pace for doing my job was and when it was the appropriate time to grade and assess students' work. I won- dered what topics were appropriate to discuss. I wondered which topics should be avoided.
As a class, we wrote and shared poetry, listened to music, and connected with one an- other. As I worked to transition back into teach-
ing focused on the cultural artifact assignment, I wondered if the time was right. I considered how there might not be a right time but also knew that the time for transitioning back into the work we were doing in the class had to come. Ultimately, I presented a class session titled "Learning About Cul- ture From Legends." The day I taught the class, I defended my dissertation, The Progress and Prosperity in African American Rhetoric and Composition Scholarship. During class, I shared the news about my successful defense of my dissertation with my students, who congratulated me and wished me a happy birthday. Based on comments shared by students and the smiles and looks on some of their faces, it was clear that some of them were happy and had a sense of pride about me defending my dissertation. The looks on some of their faces made me feel like my reaching the academic milestone had a positive impact on them. I felt joy.
For the class session, I decided that we would continue to engage in the moment of silence that had become a part of our routine, and I encouraged students to remember to work at their own pace and take time outside of the class if and as they needed to. I referenced the cultural artifact assignment and shared the questions for our class discussion. As a class, we watched a portion of the video, "Carol Bebelle: Champion of Culture," which I needed to watch as much as the students. In the video, Bebelle, a Black woman, talked about her work with the Ashe Cultural Center, her experiences, people who inspired her, and the concept of "radical hopefulness," which I believed the students and I could benefit from applying to our lives.
For this article, I will spotlight Bebelle's insights about "radical hopefulness" to illustrate how I shared a source that was relevant to my life and to the students' course work. Bebelle's wisdom, including her recommendation to "extend our concept of we, of who we're talking about when we say we" (30:38-30:47), served as a potential tool to navigate through circumstances that should never be a part of any human being's life. Discussing "radical hopefulness," Bebelle stated:
And, the issue of radical hopefulness, is like I feel for myself, I feel like as a Black person I can't sit here and, um, look at and learn from Hannah Nikole Smith [Nikole Hannah-Jones]3 and the 1619, um, reality, as well as the proj- ect, and not be hopeful. Because . . . ya know, I like the journey of our people during that period of time has been sufficient at every almost decade to have been um, um, grand enough to destroy us, and we're still here, and that, that is an enduring lesson of, of hope that we should not ever forget and so that is resilience to the max, the X degree and (if ) we can be radical in resistance and radical in our thinking and radical in our race theory, then certainly we can be radical in our hopefulness. (Bebelle, 32:52-33:55)
During our class, which was conducted as a Zoom and in-person experi- ence,4 we talked about the knowledge and wisdom Bebelle shared. Students were asked: "What are your thoughts on the concept(s) 'radical hopefulness'? What are your thoughts on Bebelle's discussions on her involvement in community-service and caring for her community? What are some of the ways you believe you contribute to the communities you are a part of ?" (Botex, "Learning About Culture From Legends").
Along with the aforementioned questions being connected to the cultural artifact assignment that the students were working on, the ques- tions aimed to encourage students to learn from the legacies, traditions, and cultures of Black people who have, as Bebelle reflected on, excelled despite everything they have endured. Such lessons are valuable because in a moment where life is stolen by violence, educators and scholars need to be able to draw on histories, experiences, cultures, and practices that consider the hurt and trauma caused by the tragedy while also inspiring and motivating people to move forward, as Bebelle proudly reflected on the Black community doing when talking about "radical hopefulness."
Incorporating the Q&A with Bebelle into the work of preparing for the cultural artifact assignment exposed students to another perspective about culture, gave an invitation to learn about Black legacies, and provided a chance to consider how to apply Bebelle's reflections about her experiences, humanity, and "radical hopefulness." As a teacher, I left the classroom feeling like students' contributions to the discussions evidenced how they found Bebelle's wisdom useful for their lives. I left the class feeling like we were all more inspired and hopeful about our healing process and continuing our journey and considering what contributions we wanted to make to society. While there are no guarantees that we can rid society of the -isms and ills that oppress people, there is a guarantee that we can invest in suppressing histories that have oppressed us and experience joy in the process. I look forward to doing that work with you.
What is the difference between banning a book by a Black queer author because the subject matter is too Black and too queer and banning a Black queer person?
It is important that we work to transform mentalities and mindsets that suggest that we should not focus on our own identities within educational spaces and texts, while also thinking how this work suppresses harmful language and hateful attitudes and action.
In the video, Bebelle, a Black woman, talked about her work with the Ashe Cultural Center, her experiences, people who inspired her, and the concept of "radical hopefulness," which I believed the students and I could benefit from applying to our lives.
Notes
1. Referred to the "23rd Annual Dr. Williams G. Anderson Slavery to Freedom Lecture Series-Dr. Angela Davis" Michigan State University College of Osteo- pathic Medicine" webpage to verify event information: https://osteopathic- medicine.msu.edu/events/2023/23rd-annual-dr-william-g-anderson-slavery- freedom-lecture-series-dr-angela-davis.
2. I referred to the "Pedagogy of the Suppressed: Teaching about Cultural Erasures" flyer to verify the panel title. Flyer emailed by Bethany Meadows, "Pedagogy of the Suppressed and Expressed Gratitude." Received by Sharieka Botex, 22 May 2023.
3. At the time when Dr. Bethany Meadows contributed to organizing the panel, she was in the PhD Rhetoric and Writing program at Michigan State University.
4. In Bebelle's reference to the 1619 Project, she is referring to Nikole Hannah- Jones, instead of Hannah Nikole Smith, which is the name she said in the interview.
5. I referred to my 02.22.23_WRA101_40 Presentation slides to verify that the February 27, 2023, class was hybrid.
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Dr. Sharieka Shontae Botex
Dr. Sharieka Shontae Botex is an assistant professor of the Practice in Writing Studies in the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University. Sharieka is a scholar, writer, poet, and educator. She is a moderator of dialogue and creator of content, scholarship, experiences, and events that uplift and affirm people and their work. She works to connect people to resources and opportunities that they can use to help them shape their lives, communities, institutions, and society. Sharieka is dedicated to inspiring people to be confident writers, who use their literacy practices to progress and prosper in their personal, profes- sional, academic, and communal endeavors.
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