Fall 2020 seems like the start of a school year like no other. We couldn't think of a better way to set off our social and cultural imaginations for a radically new kind of teaching than to draw on the energy and intellect of Mrs. Callie Evans and Mrs. Audri Williams, the teachers whose video we have highlighted on this page. We want to more than simply welcome teachers and young people back to school though. We want to welcome BLACK!
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We want you to notice here the ways that Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Williams transform what is possible in and for classrooms as Black Language speakers and performers. Also, pay attention to how Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Williams not only welcome their students back to school, but consider how they are welcoming Blackness and Black Language to school. |
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Mrs. Evans kicks open her rhyme by reminding us that even while we are virtual, we can take it up a notch despite the stresses of COVID-19. Mrs. Williams brings us the second verse and tells us that there's no stoppin us because her teaching swag and drip still center her classrooms. While we may not all be able to chant up "that green, that gold" alongside this beautiful cheer squad and these two sista-friend-teachers at Monroe Comprehensive High School in Albany, Georgia right now, we can live out and imagine the new Black alternatives that these Black women have offered us. We encourage you to watch the interview here on this page as these two teachers talk about what it means to live and teach in this moment in community with one another and their students.
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Like so many of us today, Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Williams have witnessed the hardships that the Coronavirus has wreaked on their community, in their students' lives, and amongst their colleagues' experiences. They came thru for us in this moment by reminding us of who we are and who we are meant to be. Their lyrics, rhythms, vibe, flow, vision, message, and dynamism are all of what Black Language means for us and we... are... here... for... it. For that reason, we have opened this very first issue of the Black Language Magazine with this now-viral video featuring Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Williams. Like these educators, we--- Dr. April Baker-Bell and Dr. Carmen Kynard--- are two sista-friend-teachers who are here to lift one another up and push toward new Black ways of love and life. Welcome BLACK to school to all the educators out there who keep on pushin!
About the Black Language Magazine . . .
The Black Language Magazine is part of the #BlackLanguageSyllabus. We wanted a space at this website that was dynamic, constantly changing and moving... you know, like, the re-mix, like what Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Williams are doing! We have been inspired by so many of the open syllabus projects that are available to us now online and we wanted Black Language to have a similar kind of space online. We wanted to make sure though that we did not create a static syllabus since a syllabus is much more than just a list of relevant books to read; it is a purpose and vision for learning in and about the world we are in.
Our #BlackLanguageSyllabus has many components. The very first section is called BLACK LANGUAGE DEMANDS. Dr. April and Dr. Carmen were part of a team asked to write a statement that connects Black Language to Black Lives Matter. We knew we needed a different kind of writing politics for that work so we took our inspiration from the 1966 Black Panthers' 10-Point Platform and demands articulated today by numerous activists connected to the Movement for Black Lives. We decided as a team that we were no longer asking for respect and acknowledgement for ourselves and our ancestors. We would demand Black-radical teachers, researchers, and classrooms. But we couldn't just end there so we started building out this syllabus project to compliment our demands.
The Black Language Homework section will launch mid-October 15 and then re-launch in early December. We call this the homework section because we want you to do things with what you read, view, and observe. You will find relevant readings and resources here and we will do more than merely list stuff. We certainly imagine this section as a place where students in education, composition/writing studies, rhetoric studies, and communication studies might come to design reading lists for oral examinations, theses, lesson plans, and dissertations. However, we do not confine the homework space to those who are doing formal study in and for school. Schools did not create Black Language and they do not control or decide how we think, talk, know, and study about it either.
The Black Language Magazine will be the most dynamic part of this website as it will regenerate every two months, perhaps even more than that as we grow this site. Teaching and learning from the space of Black Language means that we have to do things entirely different---- that we ask for a different kind of schooling, that we demand a different kind of relationship to bodies, movements, sound, words, communications, and meaning. So we created The Black Language Magazine as a space that is always progressing, always remixing. In the months to come, we will continue to feature videos in the magazine where Black Language lifts our spirits and minds. We will feature essays, interviews, and other multimedia projects and hope you will even submit to us.
Teaira McMurtry's "Black Language BEEN Matterin... You Just Late to the Party" is our first feature article in the Black Language Magazine. In her article, Dr. McMurtry takes on anti-Black linguistic racism. She directs her responses especially to Black folx who have internalized anti-Blackness and have therefore self-colonized our own language. Dr. McMurtry will teach you what BL is and will, most importantly, challenge you to stop denying and denigrating the beauty of how our minds and spirits communicate. Follow the weblinks and the videos that she has chosen for you and expect to be skooled! Thank you especially to Dr. McMurtry, Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Williams, and Black women teachers like them who are helping us to re-imagine what is possible in this time and always.
If you can get REALLY down with Black Language, please stay tuned with us here at BlackLanguageSyllabus.com. Welcome to the very first issue of the Black Language Magazine!
Our #BlackLanguageSyllabus has many components. The very first section is called BLACK LANGUAGE DEMANDS. Dr. April and Dr. Carmen were part of a team asked to write a statement that connects Black Language to Black Lives Matter. We knew we needed a different kind of writing politics for that work so we took our inspiration from the 1966 Black Panthers' 10-Point Platform and demands articulated today by numerous activists connected to the Movement for Black Lives. We decided as a team that we were no longer asking for respect and acknowledgement for ourselves and our ancestors. We would demand Black-radical teachers, researchers, and classrooms. But we couldn't just end there so we started building out this syllabus project to compliment our demands.
The Black Language Homework section will launch mid-October 15 and then re-launch in early December. We call this the homework section because we want you to do things with what you read, view, and observe. You will find relevant readings and resources here and we will do more than merely list stuff. We certainly imagine this section as a place where students in education, composition/writing studies, rhetoric studies, and communication studies might come to design reading lists for oral examinations, theses, lesson plans, and dissertations. However, we do not confine the homework space to those who are doing formal study in and for school. Schools did not create Black Language and they do not control or decide how we think, talk, know, and study about it either.
The Black Language Magazine will be the most dynamic part of this website as it will regenerate every two months, perhaps even more than that as we grow this site. Teaching and learning from the space of Black Language means that we have to do things entirely different---- that we ask for a different kind of schooling, that we demand a different kind of relationship to bodies, movements, sound, words, communications, and meaning. So we created The Black Language Magazine as a space that is always progressing, always remixing. In the months to come, we will continue to feature videos in the magazine where Black Language lifts our spirits and minds. We will feature essays, interviews, and other multimedia projects and hope you will even submit to us.
Teaira McMurtry's "Black Language BEEN Matterin... You Just Late to the Party" is our first feature article in the Black Language Magazine. In her article, Dr. McMurtry takes on anti-Black linguistic racism. She directs her responses especially to Black folx who have internalized anti-Blackness and have therefore self-colonized our own language. Dr. McMurtry will teach you what BL is and will, most importantly, challenge you to stop denying and denigrating the beauty of how our minds and spirits communicate. Follow the weblinks and the videos that she has chosen for you and expect to be skooled! Thank you especially to Dr. McMurtry, Mrs. Evans, Mrs. Williams, and Black women teachers like them who are helping us to re-imagine what is possible in this time and always.
If you can get REALLY down with Black Language, please stay tuned with us here at BlackLanguageSyllabus.com. Welcome to the very first issue of the Black Language Magazine!
With Love and Solidarity,
Dr. April and Dr. Carmen, the founders of the Black Language Magazine and #BlackLanguageSyllabus
September 2020 | More about the Editors
Dr. April and Dr. Carmen, the founders of the Black Language Magazine and #BlackLanguageSyllabus
September 2020 | More about the Editors
Communicative Event |
Have you ever witnessed your parents (or yourself) put on your “White Voice” when you got on the phone with an entity of perceived importance--- like a bill collector, your child’s school calling with some sanctioned report, a possible employer? How’d it sound? Did you refrain from “droppin’ your g’s” on your gerunds, and unnaturally enunciate them, like this: “This is she speakING, who’s callING?”
Did you really believe that plastering on your “White Voice” would make you sound like a white person when you got historical soul resounding in your tone? No, for real; you do. [Click here for Rickford and Rickford’s (2003) description of “Spoken Soul”] Black folks got a way of sounding, and it really sound so good, don’t you agree? If your innate response to this question is not an affirming nod, let’s break it down a little more to deepen your understanding. |
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While linguists might not agree on what to call Black Language, they surely agree on this: in every language there are about five aspects that deem it a language. Yes, it’s levels to this. Matter-fact, this piece of game alone debunks any misnomer that renders Black Language as merely slang or street talk. Is there slang in Black Language? Yes, but just like there is not one kind of Black person, there are multiple slangs, and those slangs are both historical and evolving components that make up Black language, or any language, as slang isn’t unique to the language of Black folks.
To give you an abridged linguistics lesson, these are the main aspects: syntax/grammar and morphology, phonetics/phonology, semantics, and pragmatics. |
Syntax/Grammar & Morphology |
MEANING: The way you structure your words in an utterance to create intelligible meaning to folks in your discourse community. [click here for examples]
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Phonetics/Phonology |
MEANING: The rules for the way you sound when yo soul emits these utterances. [Click here for more linguistic information] [Click here for PDF]
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Semantics |
MEANING: The associations that we attach to lexical items/words, even if there are several definitions of the word. Slang fits into this category. [Click here for Cab Calloway's 1939 Dictionary] [Look here for examples from today] [And here] [And here] [And here] [And here] [And here]
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Pragmatics |
MEANING: The stylistic use of a language; this includes the paralinguistics or the nonverbal communication that one uses to create extra meaning.
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So, when you answer that call that might be of perceived importance, you may be aligning your syntax to White linguistic norms, but the way you utter your words from yo’ soul might have a Black ring to it. And, that is what you should be proud of. Keep this in the forefront of your frontal lobe the next time you answer the phone trying to front on Black Language... even if you add or conjugate your be verb, there are multiple aspects of your language (i.e., phonology, pragmatics) operating in concert that may signal that you are a Black person-- or worse, a Black person trying to sound white.
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Part TWO
Communicative
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Now let’s check out this communicative event between entertainer Steve Harvey and a Black retired English teacher on his show during a segment called Ask Steve. We will refer to this teacher as Ms. Bret (Black Retired English teacher). When you watch, write down what you find interesting and anything else that comes to mind.
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We’ve all had a teacher like her. You might be this teacher. We love our teachers like Ms. Bret. But her performance of internalized Anti-Blackness is harmful to not only her students, but also to herself and her ancestors. Further, It perpetuates white supremacist language ideologies. To put it more clear: she out here “on the frontlines reinforcing a system of white supremacy and upholding racist policies and practices that legitimizes [her] own suffering and demise” (Baker-Bell, 2020, p. 6). If you see yourself in her, it’s okay. Keep reading to understand why this is a nonexample of a raised Black Linguistic consciousness while unlearning white supremacy.
The irony is that many Black folks, like this familiar teacher, who denounce Black Language use Black Language in some form, feature, and fashion, while they are denigrating it. In fact, many of our most iconic Black folks (i.e., Jesse Jackson, Maya Angelo) have bad-mouthed the very language that they relied on to propel their acclaimed fame up the socioeconomic ladder.
Ms. Bret’s unconscious use of Black language, particularly the phonology/phonetics aspect, is all up in this clip. How did she pronounce the word “correct”? Yes, you are correct; she pronounced it as “correck.” In linguistics, this is referred to as a consonant cluster reduction or a difference in the consonant cluster that precedes a vowel. That is the cluster of consonants (-ct) that comes before the vowel (-e) is reduced to one sound (e.g. the hard c or -k sound). Did you peep Ms. Bret’s use of an illogical fallacy of circular reasoning to explain why using White Mainstream English is necessary? If not, go back to 3:30 in the video and watch or check out the transcript below. |
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Steve: Who does that? Why are you spinnin’ yo life tryin’ use proper grammar when clearly dat aint necessary? [say with emphasis toward Ms. Bret] Dat, dat ain’t necessary.
Ms. Bret: [inaudibly mouths] Yes, it is. Steve: Give her the mic. Ms. Bret: It is necessary, Steve. Steve: Why? Ms. Bret: Because I’m an English teacher and it bothers me when you don’t do that. Steve: Look’a’heah. That’s another one: [says again demonstratively] look’a’heah, look’a’heah, look’a’heah-- Ms. Bret: [overtly corrects Steve mid-thought] Everything. Steve: Er’thang I say gon’ botha you. Ms. Bret: It is. But, I can correk you. Steve: I love you too-- Ms. Bret: But I can correct you-- Steve: No, don’t do dat. Ms. Bret: But it bothers me, Steve. Steve: I aint finna talk no other kind of way. Ms. Bret: Oh, no, not ‘finna.’ Steve: I aint finna talk no other kind of way. Ms. Bret: Not ‘finna’ Steve. Please not ‘finna’. [Steve and Ms. Bret overlapping] I aint finna talk no other kind of way--Not ‘finna’ Steve. Please not ‘finna’. Steve: See, you don’t understand. |
Right out the gate, we see that the only explanation Ms. Bret can give about why White Mainstream English should be used at all times is that it bothers her when Steve doesn’t; she even signals that Steve’s Black Language use hurts her ears.
Now, don’t get it twisted. There are some common misunderstandings about language that peek through Steve’s speech here, like his misinformed reference to phonological features of language as grammar and his naming of White Mainstream English as proper and thus improperly positioning it as superior to his own communicative practices that he is intentionally using to validate his claim. Now, make no mistake, his actuation of unintentional white linguistic supremacy is a by-design by-product of traditional, ineffectual language arts instruction, which is saturated in the center of “the cycle of miseducation” that the majority of students receive in this country. However, what he is interrogating here is exactly what no teacher who swears by the language that has historically oppressed Back people can answer (which renders it erroneous and simply outta order).
Now, don’t get it twisted. There are some common misunderstandings about language that peek through Steve’s speech here, like his misinformed reference to phonological features of language as grammar and his naming of White Mainstream English as proper and thus improperly positioning it as superior to his own communicative practices that he is intentionally using to validate his claim. Now, make no mistake, his actuation of unintentional white linguistic supremacy is a by-design by-product of traditional, ineffectual language arts instruction, which is saturated in the center of “the cycle of miseducation” that the majority of students receive in this country. However, what he is interrogating here is exactly what no teacher who swears by the language that has historically oppressed Back people can answer (which renders it erroneous and simply outta order).
You see, Black language BEEN matterin’ you just late to the party. But you here now.
Late is better than not showing up.
Late is better than not showing up.
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With their Motherland languages, enslaved Africans had to informally acquire pieces of English to create not only a mutually intelligible language amongst other African peoples, but also construct an oppositional language. In the spirit of Beyonce’s “Let me upgrade you,” let me (help) liberate your own voice so that you can lift it to the rising sun. This requires what En Vogue instructed us to do: “Free yo mind; the rest will follow.”
Don't you know that your ancestors were so genius that they had to make a way out of no way, or as the classic Black adage goes: make a dolla outta 15 cent? |
Don't you know that the way in which you utter your words, put them together, and morph them to create exact, new, and stylistic meaning and messaging can be traced to West African languages? Language is the quintessence of culture that speaks life into identity; thus Black Language along with loyalty and royalty-- according to Kendrick’s bars-- is deeply rooted inside your DNA. [click here to hear a word from the Motha (aka) Geneva Smitherman]
Now why you wanna go and denounce or deny that, huh? If you didn’t know all of this, it’s OK. You get a pass until reading the end of this essay.
Let us all allow Biggie Small’s to check us here: “If ya don’t know, now ya know.” And now you know your Black Linguistic Consciousness is raising/raised when you:
Now go out and spread the word!
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Teaira McMurtry, PhD, a Milwaukee native, is an Assistant Professor of Secondary English Education at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Teaira’s work focuses on humanizing pedagogies that place students’ native language at the epicenter of instruction, fostering cultural maintenance, empowerment, and success of African American students. Thus, she urges educators to critically reflect on their acceptance or rejection of students' rich linguistic capital and equips teachers (in and preservice) with the knowledge, attitudes, and approaches to use language as a tool to empower students. |
To reference this page:
McMurtry, Teaira. "Black Language BEEN Matterin... You Just Late to the Party." Black Language Syllabus, 1 Sept. 2020, http://www.blacklanguagesyllabus.com/black-language-magazine.html
McMurtry, Teaira. "Black Language BEEN Matterin... You Just Late to the Party." Black Language Syllabus, 1 Sept. 2020, http://www.blacklanguagesyllabus.com/black-language-magazine.html