Tag: blacklivesmatter

Random Thoughts, Social Commentaries

my first response to Biden & Harris’ appointments

Note: The below work is excerpted from an epistolary essay I wrote for the Race, Equity, & Education course I am taking with Dr. Kathy Hytten of University of North Carolina-Greensboro (UNCG). It includes references to Eddie Glaude‘s Democracy in Black and Joel Olson‘s The Abolition of White Democracy–which I suggest everyone read, especially during this tumultuous, yet promising, political time. 7 November 2020, 1230p … Continue reading my first response to Biden & Harris’ appointments

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Poetic Endeavors, Reviews, Social Commentaries

“What a friend we have in Jesus” (& Nikki): A musing response to Nikki Giovanni’s “A Good Cry”

I turned myself into myself and wasjesusmen intone my loving nameAll praises All praisesI am the one who would save —Nikki Giovanni, “Ego Tripping (There May Be a Reason Why)”  Jesus wept. (John 11:35) I find Jesus and Nikki to be quite similar, maybe even one and the same. Admittedly, however, I don’t know either that well. But I think I know enuf about them to make such … Continue reading “What a friend we have in Jesus” (& Nikki): A musing response to Nikki Giovanni’s “A Good Cry”

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Classroom Musings: The Courage to Teach

in Defense of Andrew Gillum: Come on Black People

I am 41. I am unwed, & the older I get, the more I am opposed to what appears—in its traditional sense—to be a narrowed, confining arrangement wherein too many folks are lonely, depressed, & unfulfilled; too many married people are unhappy people. Aaaaaaaand, considering America’s marriage is born from a white racist imperialist supremacist capitalist patriarchy—that just opened itself to LGBTQ+ persons—I’m str8 on … Continue reading in Defense of Andrew Gillum: Come on Black People

Kendra N. Bryant5 Comments
Classroom Musings: The Courage to Teach

We, the (Black) People: Contemplating America’s Democracy amid Two+ Pandemics

Since middle school, I was a “revolutionary with no cause,” said my daddy—who apparently was amused by (or weary of) my dashiki wearing, Black nationalist poetry writing, presiding member of the Afro-American Heritage Club and NAACP Youth Council daughter of his who participated in Black History Brain Bowls, Theodore Gibson Oratorical Contests, and high school step shows. I was a “revolutionary with no cause,” he … Continue reading We, the (Black) People: Contemplating America’s Democracy amid Two+ Pandemics

Kendra N. Bryant1 Comment
Social Commentaries

I’m sick an’ tired (of white folks)

I know I’m not the only one carrying absolute exhaustion toward all of white America for their overwhelming performance re: this year’s Black Lives Matter Movement. I’m so tired of receiving emails from corporate America’s CEOs claiming to support the Black Lives Matter Movement–to being culturally sensitive & aware & intolerant of the racism (& classism & sexism & homophobia) that have been cornerstones maintaining … Continue reading I’m sick an’ tired (of white folks)

Kendra N. Bryant9 Comments
Family Musings

“A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet”: Unearthing Grandma’s Black Feminism

I was an 18-year-old fresh(wo)man at Florida A&M University when Grandma Rose died. Cancer. I don’t remember if I had yet told my family I was lesbian—altho I had been planning my comingout story since I left my parents’ home. I planned to tell them I am “pansexual”—a term I read w/which Alice Walker identified over 20 years before Janelle Monáe popularized the word. Being … Continue reading “A Rose by any other name would smell as sweet”: Unearthing Grandma’s Black Feminism

Kendra N. Bryant3 Comments
Poetic Endeavors, Social Commentaries

Furious Flower + Nikki Giovanni: from the Black Arts Movement to Planet Mars

In the beginning was the Word. But I promise you, I have no words to express my week long adventure at Furious Flower’s The Living Truth: The Life and Work of Nikki Giovanni, a professional development seminar for college professors & high school teachers. Words just won’t do; they are inadequate. But I will try my best. For six days, I–along w/circa 50 other professors, … Continue reading Furious Flower + Nikki Giovanni: from the Black Arts Movement to Planet Mars

Kendra N. Bryant4 Comments
Intermediate Composition 2017

remembering daddy, remembering me: a 5-paragraph writing assignment for intermediate composition

Daddy told me I was a revolutionary w/no cause. I don’t know what I was doing at that very moment he made that comment. Maybe I was reciting a poem I wrote about crackers makin it on black folks’ bended backs. Or maybe I was organizing a showcase for Black History Month. I probably was just sittin at the dining room table wearing a dashiki–most likely … Continue reading remembering daddy, remembering me: a 5-paragraph writing assignment for intermediate composition

Kendra N. Bryant2 Comments
#TBT

#TBT “no es facil”: tryin to capture President Barack Obama

I spent two years trying to paint President Barack Obama. My first attempt was a lightweight disaster: However, my Instagram responders were supportive: So, I tried again: But I stopped. I was afraid to continue painting–afraid that if I kept going, I would lose him. ‘Cause this looks like Barack Obama, right? I left that painting unfinished, & I placed it–as well as the one … Continue reading #TBT “no es facil”: tryin to capture President Barack Obama

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Reviews, Social Commentaries

“Up, you mighty race!”: from the African American Museum Inauguration to the Black Panther’s 50th Anniversary

Martin Luther King held fast to dreams, while Huey P. Newton gave all power to the people, & Jesse Jackson insisted we keep hope alive. Thru each of them, & many others, Barack Obama assured us we can— Be young, gifted, & black. Be unbought & unbossed. Be revolutionary. Be-long. In light of the #icantbreathe #amInext #blacklivesmatter movement, the inauguration of the Smithsonian’s National Museum … Continue reading “Up, you mighty race!”: from the African American Museum Inauguration to the Black Panther’s 50th Anniversary

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