Well, for like the 50th time, you have managed to completely blow me away. Thank you for sharing the poem, which I love. More importantly, thank you for writing about and modelling the kind of thoughtful reading and thoughtful pedagogy that is the most clear and compelling response to all of the businessmen and politicians who try to mandate what we should or should not be teaching, and what students should or should not be reading. You praise Hurston for suggesting "a more imaginative and sustainable way of interacting with the world." That's what you yourself are doing in this blog and in this post in particular, and as a man who spent 50 years in the classroom trying as best I could to do the same, I am grateful to you, on my own behalf and on behalf of your students and readers.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is among those books at the very top of my lifetime favorites list and has been there since I first read it in the 1980s and then listened to it as an audiobook recorded by Ruby Dee. As relevant today as it was then. Good to know that your students are reading it.
My home is near the border of the U.S. and British Columbia where that question is asked of everyone who is stopped at the border crossing. Lena Khalaf Tuffaha's reflection on the emotional ties to home and community and of having to cross complicated borders to get there goes deep just as Zora Neale Hurston's reflections did in her writing. Kindred spirits to each other and to you.
Well, now I have to re-read Hurston's book. Thank you for that. I have no doubt your students took in your discussion about Janie in invisible reverberating ways. I guess that's what teaching is all about. You have to trust your labor will make a difference and in some cases endure. Another case of measuring the immeasurable.
In Ordinary Plots and other writings, Kevin, I have found so much to keep me coming back.
Intelligence. Curiosity. Insight. Imagination. Passion. Compassion. All to be found in the attention & care that you bring to your reading and writing.
Magnificent, and reassuring; thank you! I am embarrassed to say I've not read "Their Eyes" yet, though I have a copy here, along with some others of Zora Hurston's books. But, even without reading it completely - over the years, I've seen excerpts and references to it (thus I'm acknowledging some casual acquaintance and affection so far) and I can't fathom how those early reviewers missed the poetry of her sentences. Their fears and agendas got in the way?
Also, in the Lit Hub piece, the link to Alice Walker's essay, "Looking for Zora", is broken -- here is one currently available --
Also this, Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s poem -- "You will need to state the reason for your visit." -- symbolizes for me the cold obstinate uncaring bureaucracy that permeates so much of our world -- from greatly consequential ways along a spectrum of needs to simple local ways.
My travails with my local supermarket (and its corporate 'parent') or the endless uphill climbs of my daily office work pale in comparison to questions of identity and boundary crossings but the common principle of non-humanity is still present.
"It is a juxtaposition that you can bear witness to every day, if you are paying attention." -- Yes, so much.
Well, for like the 50th time, you have managed to completely blow me away. Thank you for sharing the poem, which I love. More importantly, thank you for writing about and modelling the kind of thoughtful reading and thoughtful pedagogy that is the most clear and compelling response to all of the businessmen and politicians who try to mandate what we should or should not be teaching, and what students should or should not be reading. You praise Hurston for suggesting "a more imaginative and sustainable way of interacting with the world." That's what you yourself are doing in this blog and in this post in particular, and as a man who spent 50 years in the classroom trying as best I could to do the same, I am grateful to you, on my own behalf and on behalf of your students and readers.
Thank you, Bruce. Truly. This means the world. Thank you always.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is among those books at the very top of my lifetime favorites list and has been there since I first read it in the 1980s and then listened to it as an audiobook recorded by Ruby Dee. As relevant today as it was then. Good to know that your students are reading it.
My home is near the border of the U.S. and British Columbia where that question is asked of everyone who is stopped at the border crossing. Lena Khalaf Tuffaha's reflection on the emotional ties to home and community and of having to cross complicated borders to get there goes deep just as Zora Neale Hurston's reflections did in her writing. Kindred spirits to each other and to you.
Thank you, Amanda. Hurston’s work is timeless. I’m so glad it continues to endure.
Well, now I have to re-read Hurston's book. Thank you for that. I have no doubt your students took in your discussion about Janie in invisible reverberating ways. I guess that's what teaching is all about. You have to trust your labor will make a difference and in some cases endure. Another case of measuring the immeasurable.
Thank you always, Leanne!
In Ordinary Plots and other writings, Kevin, I have found so much to keep me coming back.
Intelligence. Curiosity. Insight. Imagination. Passion. Compassion. All to be found in the attention & care that you bring to your reading and writing.
Magnificent, and reassuring; thank you! I am embarrassed to say I've not read "Their Eyes" yet, though I have a copy here, along with some others of Zora Hurston's books. But, even without reading it completely - over the years, I've seen excerpts and references to it (thus I'm acknowledging some casual acquaintance and affection so far) and I can't fathom how those early reviewers missed the poetry of her sentences. Their fears and agendas got in the way?
Also, in the Lit Hub piece, the link to Alice Walker's essay, "Looking for Zora", is broken -- here is one currently available --
https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/engl-6100-fall2023/files/2023/08/walker_in-search-of-our-mothers-gardens.pdf
Also this, Lena Khalaf Tuffaha’s poem -- "You will need to state the reason for your visit." -- symbolizes for me the cold obstinate uncaring bureaucracy that permeates so much of our world -- from greatly consequential ways along a spectrum of needs to simple local ways.
My travails with my local supermarket (and its corporate 'parent') or the endless uphill climbs of my daily office work pale in comparison to questions of identity and boundary crossings but the common principle of non-humanity is still present.
"It is a juxtaposition that you can bear witness to every day, if you are paying attention." -- Yes, so much.