Today, as an ice breaker to Intro to Women’s and Gender Studies, we did Beverly Daniel Tatum‘s “I am From” poem activity. Tatum, President of Spelman University, wrote the book Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria. I learned about this activity when I attended the POD Conference in 2002 with Dr. Saundra McGuire. I don’t remember the specifics of the activity, but I generally do it like this: 1. Write “I am from” and list the sights, sounds, and smells of your home. 2. Write “I am from” and list your family foods. 3. Write “I am from” and listRead More →

I don’t like scary movies, but the Skeleton Key was fun to watch because it was based outside of New Orleans. What a fabulous cast — Gena Rowlands, John Hurt, Kate Hudson. The movie wasn’t terribly scary, thank goodness. I love Gena Rowlands, so that made it entertaining. I agree with the Tomato Meter’s 39 rating, but I think some of the reviews were unfair. In any case, the Slant review made a nice point about race in the film: In the tradition of Angel Heart, it looks to stir cultural anxiety by introducing a pretty white thing into a sinister world where “black” magicRead More →