"Decolonization
via ethnoautobiography"—to raise that to 60 first-year college students
is, among other things, to appreciate and respect more those who teach for a
living, and especially those addressing such tough if not fraught topics. Deep
gratitude to decolonialism scholar and professor Leny Strobel
for inviting me to lecture and workshop. I presented both the hay(na)ku and the
MURDER DEATH RESURRECTION projects as
exercises in destabilizing centers of power (at least poetically) and thinking
more creatively and with more empathy. The last two images are sample
hay(na)kus. I see that these students are living with so many types of pressure
(as affirmed by one who wanted to show me her journal after class). "Deep
Grief" (referring to how the environment is personalized) simmers about.
Afterwards, I'm glad students used the word "interesting" more than
once when asked their opinion about poetry and what unfolded in class. From
what I understand, poetry doesn't always end up ... interesting. Lastly and
certainly unexpectedly, I learned something about my son's life from these
students, de facto his peers—hopefully it improves me as a Mom.
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