Honored by Student Organization

On Friday, February 3, 2012, Unplugging Society: Woman of Color Think Tank held a Hat and Gloves Tea in honor of 4 women role models, and they counted me among them!

Before the event, I got some proof that I had actually found appropriate attire!

My English Department colleague Andrea Williams made the time to share this moment with me.

Thanking Unplugging Society for the award and for their presence. The work that this organization is doing on campus and beyond is nothing short of amazing. They are working against human trafficking, facilitating serious inter-faith discussions, mentoring students in under-resourced public schools, and more. It is truly humbling to have them see that my work emerges from similar investments, even if in a seemingly less hands-on way.

This is Dr. Patricia "Patty" Cunningham. She took a graduate literature class with me a few years ago on her way to the PhD. It was a really rough quarter for me, so I'm shocked that I managed to leave a positive impression. I am honored that she thought enough of me to nominate me for this award and that she made enough of a case that the organization's leadership decided I was suitable for recognition this year.

As a part of this celebration, the organization showed a 20-minute video featuring the honorees. It is now available here. What extraordinary company!!! I am truly humbled that they could see my contributions as even remotely in the company of the amazing work that these 3 women are doing!

Guest on Street Soldiers Radio Broadcast

On February 5, I was a guest on the STREET SOLDIERS radio program, which broadcasts live on Sundays from 7 to 9 PM on Power 107.5 FM. Host Walter Smith gave me the opportunity to highlight my book and my Wednesday, Feb 8th lecture at the Wellington School in Upper Arlington.

The lecture at the Wellington School was at 7:30pm on Wednesday, February 8, 2012. Though the staff photographer typically documents such events, no one was charged with this duty for my lecture, so I don't have a single picture from that night! But, about 50 people attended, so the school head declared it a success. The talk itself went smoothly and the audience was engaged, asking important questions that still have me thinking about links between my findings and our current historical moment.

To my delight, Street Soldiers host Walter D. Smith hurried back into town from one of his speaking engagements in order to support the Wellington event that he so generously helped me promote.

The night that I was on Street Soldiers, the Super Bowl was on, but we still had quite a few callers and I got to respond to them during the live broadcast. It was a great experience!

Walter D. Smith is a force for good in the city and beyond. He was wrongfully incarcerated for 11 years and was the first person to file a formal motion seeking DNA testing. Since being exonerated and freed on December 6, 1996, he has been a motivational speaker and healthy living advocate. For a bit more on him, click here.

This is everyone else who was in the studio that night, including Street Soldiers regulars Elisha and Kwodwo. Kwodwo runs New Harvest Cafe & Urban Arts Space.

Interviewed on Social Justice Website

After seeing my interview on Left of Black, Archetype in Action leader Skip Conover reached out to me. His work on archetypeinaction.com is a real model of global social justice activism. I am honored that he saw the connection between that work and mine.

The online interview appeared on 1/22/2012 and is located HERE.

Interviewed by Michael Eric Dyson

Michael Eric Dyson gave a lecture in Columbus on January 10, 2012. His message really resonated with me: If you want to honor King's legacy, live it out in our own day by working for the equality of immigrants, LGBTs, the poor, the incarcerated.

The next day, he tweeted this picture that we took after his lecture.

The day after that, the picture he tweeted was of him and Gabrielle Union!

Before I could come down from the high of being inspired by his lecture and being tickled that I was in the same Twitter album as Gabrielle Union, he invited me to be on his radio show. I was the guest for the entire one-hour special in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2012. You can listen to the show HERE.

After this show aired, I wrote a blog post that further analyzes the pimp imagery connection that was made during the conversation with Dyson: "What Are You Speaking to Power?" I also spoke in that Dyson interview about my commitment to marking white privilege, especially in "diversity" conversations about hiring. Those views are further elaborated in an earlier blog post: "The American Way: Mediocrity, When White, Looks Like Merit."

Columbia University

12/2/2011: The invited lecture at Columbia University's IRAAS (Institute for Research in African American Studies) was a real honor. The Institute was founded by the great Manning Marable, who had a brief stint as a professor at Ohio State before going to Columbia. He passed 6 months before this visit, so it was especially humbling to share my work in that space.

And I was blown away by how many people whose work I admire made the time to be there. It made for an intense Q&A that still has me thinking!

That weekend was the best weekend ever! I gave the lecture at Columbia on Friday, flew from New York City to Las Vegas on Saturday, and ran a half marathon on Sunday. This is only about half of the women of Black Girls RUN! who ran that race too! Yes, running is an important part of what keeps me empowered to do the work that I think is important. I bet your city has a group. Check us out at blackgirlsrun.com