Living with Lynching received a favorable review in the journal Legacy, alongside a book I very much admire, Crystal Feimster's Southern Horrors (Harvard UP). The reviewer, Jennie Lightweis-Goff, is author of Blood at the Root: Lynching As American Cultural Nucleus.
She begins by marking how dramatically scholarship on racial violence has proliferated since 2002. She notes, "However, despite the upsurge of scholarship on lynching, Koritha Mitchell's Living with Lynching suggests that the process of
redress has scarcely begun.
Mitchell begins her book with a bracing introduction that
radically reimagines the relationship between scholarship on lynching and
the photography of the dead.... " Also, "In addition to unearthing an underexplored archive of black
women's writing, Mitchell engages with one of the central problematics
of feminist and critical race theories: the ethics of representing
atrocity."
Lightweis-Goff concludes, "Mitchell's alternative account of black communities and values and
Feimster's counter-narratives about white and black women's
responses to lynching are essential reading in a scholarly climate that
provides a plethora of writing on collective violence"
For the full review, see Legacy 30.2 (2013): 417 - 20.
On Thursday, November 14, 2013, I gave a lecture at the University of Richmond. The event was sponsored by the Department of Theate & Dance and took place on Cousins Stage of the Modlin Center for the Arts. Department Chair Dorothy Holland made the visit possible, and I was warmly greeted by several colleagues, including professors Patricia Herrera, Walter Schoen, madison moore, Chuck Mike, W. Reed West, Anne Norman Van Gelder, Johann Stegmeir, and Alicia Díaz.
The majority of those in attendance were undergraduate students, one of whom asked how I cope with all the violence I study. What an incisive and crucial question! Among other things, I shared with her that I would be running the Richmond Half Marathon that very Saturday. I told her that that fact was very much related to just how important her question was.
Professor
Patricia Herrera was a wonderful host and she asked a question about recent movies about slavery that
allowed me to articulate many of my concerns with how the entertainment
industry treats black pain.
Cousin Nate lives in Richmond, so he made a point of coming to talk to me afterward. So nice to have an unexpected family element to the weekend!
On Friday, November 15, 2013, I gave a book lecture in Charlottesville at the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. It was a special treat! Nearly everyone in attendance was an established scholar, so they were extraordinarily engaged. Author Hermine Pinson of William and Mary helped make the visit possible, and Foundation president Robert C. Vaughan, III made time to attend. University of Virginia colleagues, such as Marlon Ross and Lisa Woolfork, attended and asked questions that will continue to inform my thinking. It was also a treat to have rising literary scholar Laura Goldblatt there. As usual, her contribution to the discussion was challenging and invigorating.
The next day, Saturday, November 16, 2013, I ran the Richmond Half Marathon and set a new PR! Cousin Nate even got a picture of my finish! This was my 10th half marathon but definitely the first time that I finished with so much energy that I threw my hands up in victory! A great way to cap off an amazing weekend!
On November 7, 2013, to coincide with the beginning of the 2013 conference of the National Women's Studies Association, Feministing.com featured my research and dubbed me an "Academic Feminist." The interview covers my book Living with Lynching
as well as my theoretical approaches and social justice investments, and it
offers a preview of my most recent essay, which draws parallels between
lynching and anti-LGBT violence. I am grateful that Feministing and independent scholar Gwendolyn Beetham saw enough value in this work to highlight it and encourage more people to read the essay "Love in Action." I
think we can all benefit from grappling with these
realities.
The Academic Feminist feature is HERE.
The Ohio State University English Department maintains a Tumblr blog. This week, they are placing a spotlight on Queer Studies. The feature includes a video interview with me about the essay in which I draw parallels between lynching and anti-LGBT violence. I'm so grateful that the site's managers wanted to highlight this research and that they followed through and made it happen. They did a great job with the interview!
Please let us know what you think.
Video can be viewed from here: osuenglish.tumblr.com
On Friday, October 18, 2013, I was very pleasantly surprised to see my essay "Love in Action: Noting Similarities between Lynching Then and Anti-LGBT Violence Now" listed in Feministing's Daily Feminist Cheat Sheet.
They call the essay "long, but totally worth the read." I'll take that any day!!
Their listing here.
(I described the essay on this blog here.)
