In Issue 2 of the Black Language Magazine during this Black History Month 2021, we want to introduce you to the co-editors of the Black Language Syllabus, our three wonderful Ph.D. Students: Kashema Hutchinson, Kaelyn Muiru, and Toya Mary Okonkwo. They have each created content at this website designed to help you connect to the history and politics of Black Language. This content is called THE BLACK LANGUAGE HOMEWORK and it is an important aspect of our work here.
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In this Black History Month, we celebrate ALL the Black youth who are out here creating their own original content... we see you! In the video focus for this issue, we have highlighted a compilation of our favorite videos from The Twins. Watch these young men as they guide us through some of the Black Classics and share their own perspectives and reactions. We know the culture--- and the language--- are safe in your hands! |
It seems like every time we turn around, some fool wants to come up to us telling us that we are doing, thinking, and saying about Black Language is problematic. When they aren't just all the way wrong on their historical content, they are just all the way white-washed. Black Language is. That's just not up for debate. Your knee-jerk reactions, your vague feelings, your undying love of standardized language versions, or your dry white, written prose that no real audience ever reads DO NOT change the fact of Black Language. In this Black History Month, we ask that we take some time to (re)commit to learning about Black Language, especially from new and young scholars, so that we remain steadfast against the folk talkin outta both sides of their mouths without a clue or a political purpose.
For your BLACK LANGUAGE HOMEWORK during this Black History Month, we encourage you to look at Dr. Carmen's overview of Black Language (click here). Click on some of the readings and watch some of the videos. Also go back to our first issue of the Black Language Magazine where Dr. McMurtry tells you some of the science behind BL. Learn the centuries-long patterns or grammar, phonetics, and style of our language.
For your BLACK LANGUAGE HOMEWORK during this Black History Month, we encourage you to look at Dr. Carmen's overview of Black Language (click here). Click on some of the readings and watch some of the videos. Also go back to our first issue of the Black Language Magazine where Dr. McMurtry tells you some of the science behind BL. Learn the centuries-long patterns or grammar, phonetics, and style of our language.
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Make sure that you read what Dr. April has to say about about Black Language Education (click here) where she sheds light on how Black scholars, teachers, and community educators have gone hard in the paint for generations for Black Language. The clips and resources will provide you with an entry point into historical and contemporary conversations, themes, and topics related to Black Language Education. BUT let us be clear, this is not a comprehensive list of resources. Part of your homework is to dig deeper and do your own study. Are y'all ready to get this work?! |
Kaelyn, Kashema, and Toya have built extensive content for you here based on their own areas of expertise. They are the focus of this issue of the Black Language Magazine--- three Black women doing their PhDs with the liberation, beauty, and community-building of their communities in mind. That's not the norm for a Ph.D. (and rarely welcomed) so we take note of all they have been and are becoming to keep their eyes on this prize for us in this way. We see yall, Kaelyn, Kashema, and Toya, and we love you for what you are doing and who you are! Kaelyn will explore the connections between Black Language and Black Young Adult Literature and Black Children's book. Kashema will explore the connections between Black Language and Hip Hop as our culture. Toya will explore Black Rhetoric as a way for us to understand what Black Language does. We ask that you spend some time this Black History Month with the content that these Black women have created for you. See the overview below of their content and follow the links to their webpages for more of what they have brought to us at this site. As you will surely see for yourself, these sistaz are doin it up REAL BIG! There is so much here that we are sure it will tide you over for this Black History Month!
We ain't new to this. We true to this! So we hope you will join us in this truth-telling moment of our 2021 Black Language/ Black History Month! Blessings to you all.
With Love and Solidarity,
Dr. April and Dr. Carmen, the founders of the Black Language Magazine and #BlackLanguageSyllabus
February 2021 | More about the Editors
We ain't new to this. We true to this! So we hope you will join us in this truth-telling moment of our 2021 Black Language/ Black History Month! Blessings to you all.
With Love and Solidarity,
Dr. April and Dr. Carmen, the founders of the Black Language Magazine and #BlackLanguageSyllabus
February 2021 | More about the Editors
Kaelyn Muiru is a PhD candidate in English at Michigan State University. In this section of the website, she looks at Black young adult literature for the way it speaks to the life experiences of Black youth and captures what it means to be Black and young. She also looks at Black picture books as a genre of Black children's literature where both pictures and words are written for Black children. |
Kashema Hutchinson is a Ph.D. candidate in Urban Education at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. In this section of the website, she shows us that there is no Hip Hop without Black Language—no matter the element. The whole culture revolves around the elaborate Black storytelling that catches audiences' ears, imaginations, and hearts. |
Toya Mary Okonkwo is a Ph.D. candidates in English at Texas Christian University. In this section of the website, she examines the powerful ways Black Language has been used throughout the history of the US as a means of Black Americans doing, moving, and persuading themselves and their audiences. |