The Echoes of History. The Knowledge Dr. Yohuru Williams Brings to All of Us Who Think Big Pictures Are Simply Astounding. Blessed.

I attended the Center for Social Impact, Black Studies, and Peace & Justice follow up workshop for faculty, where Dr. Yohuru Williams shared insight about the Jesuit mission, his work while at Fairfield, and his recent film projects outlining complex histories in Minneapolis. Dr. Williams is the rare combination of highly educated, deeply committed, and brilliantly well-spoken. It's hard not to be captivated by his knowledge of history, the way it echoes, and the way some narratives find themselves back at the forefront despite knowing where hatred, cruelty, inequity, and propaganda bring us. Asking questions, finding solutions, and having students enter the work with critical thinking skills, an appreciation for the humanities, an understanding of our human complexities, and the ability to decipher truth from non-truth should be central to the scholastic enterprise.

I am not going into the dense ways he brought so much forward to our thinking, but I do understand that we are living in a period of echoes - the same struggles so many of our ancestors: immigrants, indigenous people, freed slaves, and the poor have struggled with forever in the two-sided narrative of the American dream and democratic enterprise. In the end, character always shows itself. There are those with empathy and faith in the good of humanity to do better for others and there are those that (like Rip Van Winkle) prefer to sleep and ignore the complexities brought forward by our histories. The Archie Bunker Effect - those were the days. They were the days, but they continue to be the days today. 

I taught late last night and was happy to see that students really enjoyed and were intrigued by Derrick Barnes The Incredibly Human Henson Blayze. It's a middle grade read, but it's also one to elicit conversations amongst academics and adults. I knew I loved it, but I couldn't pinpoint the exact intrigue of it all, except there were echoes of Jordan Peele's body of work, especially Get Out. 

This morning, I'm back at the dentist, then off to a lecture, and finally home to plan a 2.5 hour turbo on Thursday morning before an evening of recording another episode of The Write Time. I need to shout out Melissa Quann, too, as she fed us lunch and I was able to snag items to make a dinner, too, so my drive home was doubly-served with dinner, too. For those that want to know, I-95 is a parking lot past 7 in both directions as they do construction. It's insane. The 14 mile drive turns into almost 2 hours either direction  you go. Even hopping off and taking backgrounds creates obnoxious delays.

I know Yohuru isn't a day-to-day colleague any longer, but any chance I get for friendship/professional time is a blessing. In 24 hours, I feel as if my mission has been refueled and recentered. I don't have but a decade left to fight the good fight, but I know it is much easier to counter the ugly when you have good men like him at your side. 

Hello, October. That was quick.