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

Interviewed by Mark Anthony Neal

Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal's webcast Left of Black has been an amazing resource for me. It has exposed me to research from other fields that I would not typically discover in a timely fashion. I was therefore truly excited to have an opportunity to share my work on this show. What a great conversation!

It originally aired on 12/12/2011 and is available here. My segment begins at 14:00.

Before it aired, I worried that I had not been firm enough in my answer to one of his questions, so I wrote this blog post: "Black Art ≠ Protest Art: A Contrarian View, Indeed."

Interviewed on Writers Talk

Doug Dangler of Ohio State's Center for the Study and Teaching of Writing was one of the first people to interview me about Living with Lynching. This was a great experience, especially because it drew some connections to my time as an undergraduate at Ohio Wesleyan University.

30-minute audio-visual interview aired 12/12/2011 and is available HERE.

Community Extension Center

My book talk at OSU's African American & African Studies Community Extension Center. 11/15/2011

The intense Q&A session after my talk at the Community Extension Center.

So lovely to have Theresa share this moment with me! Her book is now out from Duke UP: Spiritual Mestizaje: Religion, Gender, Race, and Nation in Contemporary Chicana Narrative.

Lehigh University

Man, I'm cheesin' hard! Having a ball soaking in the Autumn beauty of the Lehigh Valley. Part of a wonderful visit to Lehigh University, where the fabulous Ed Whitley, scholar of 19th-Century American literature, does his thing! James Braxton Peterson is also there building Africana Studies in remarkable ways. It was an absolute treat to experience their intellectual community. 11/9/2011

OSU Frank Hale Center

Me and Anne after today's lecture at Ohio State. She's a fabulous graduate student who took "Lynching's Literary Legacies" with me a couple years ago. What a joy to share the experience with a student who's been on some of this journey with me. 10/28/2011

American Studies Association

The day before my book signing at ASA, when I first saw the display. A blow-up of my cover is top left. 10/21/2011

The Book Has Arrived!

10/4/2011: That glorious day when the book was delivered!