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In addition to bringing 4 printed hard copies of your rough draft to class on Friday, please upload a link to your Google Doc here.

Hey Everyone! I hope you all are finding Mean to be as interesting as I do. This reading has really opened my eyes to the extent in which sexual assault is occurring. Myriam Gurba is brave enough to share her intimate story with the world in order to bring awareness to the issue. What I found while reading this book is how she uses the philosophy meanness. Gurba is mean as a type of sublimation. I believe she is as mean as she is because it is her way of standing up for herself and preventing others from harming her. In this blog post, I am going to show different instances in which Gurba uses meanness.

“We act mean to defend ourselves from boredom and from those who would chop off our breasts. We act mean to defend our clubs and institutions. We act mean because we like to laugh. Being mean to boys is fun and a second-wave feminist duty. Being rude to men who deserve it is a holy mission. Sisterhood is powerful, but being a bitch is more exhilarating. Being a bitch is spectacular.” (page 17).

This quote addresses multiple reasons as to why Myriam Gurba is portrayed as mean. The first line in the quote really puts you in her shoes. Her being mean is a way to prevent what happened from happening again. She is mean because she doesn’t want to go through the pain of a man forcing himself onto her against her will. Gurba believes that if she is mean, a man will pay less attention to her and ultimately ignore the fact that she even exists.

The next sentence that stood out to me in this quote is “Being mean to boys is fun and a second-wave feminist duty”. Gurba is convinced that all boys and men are like the one that raped her. I understand this is her mindset, but this is obviously not true. She believes that it is her job to treat all men like they are pieces of trash because that’s how she herself views them. In a way you can’t blame her… you have to understand all that she has gone through has shaped the way she views the male species.

The last line from the quote I would like to talk about “Being rude to men who deserve it is a holy mission”. This quote is difficult to agree or disagree with as it is debatable. I could see why she thinks God would want her to be mean to men who deserve it. If anyone who is religious that reads this, knows that God does not believe in those types of actions and believes in forgiveness. Therefore being mean to men is not a holy mission, but is Gurba’s mission.

Questions to consider and elaborate on:

1. Do you agree or disagree with “Being mean to boys is a fun and a second-wave feminist duty”?
2. What are your feelings towards the quote above from page 17?
3. What other uses of meanness did you find while reading Mean?

I hope everyone is enjoying the book so far, because I know I am. Myriam Gurba does a fantastic job at using humor to dissect different things that has happened in her life and brings us along through her story. She does a fantastic job at describing different characters as well as looking at the “ghosts”  that affect her life.

The characters are well described and the detail is easily noticed. She seems to have a lot of stories involving her friends (Frida, Ashley, Conchita, and Ida). Conchita holds a job so you can tell that she has motivation, but she’s carefree at the same time, saying “I don’t care what we do as long as I can smoke” (43) and Myriam describes her as “so European.” (43) she “loved high fashion and was half black and half spanish.” (42). Myriam believes her friends are the type of “girls whose best years wouldn’t be in high school.” (42), so she believes that they will be doing bigger and better things once they get out. She allows us to look at the different personalities of her friends without ever really being too direct. It is important to know everyone in the story so we can try to experience the same thing Myriam experiences.

Myriam is comfortable with being gay and even came out to her mother. She is open with her friends about it as well, which is nice to see because not everyone has the ability to be so open. She replied with “I’m homo.” (48) when her and her friends were at a festival to get out of performing a sort of activity. After talking about a show, she let us know that “Pedro partly made (her) come out to Mom.” (59)  It is important to be able to come out to loved ones so you feel more accepted and don’t have to hide anything from anyone.

She uses the ghosts to talk about guilt, her past experiences and portrays her sister. Ofelia, as a ghost when she is sick. She hangs out with ghosts (60) which can imply that she is dealing with her guilt all the time. She constantly thinks about what has occurred in her past which makes it so she shows little compassion and uses humor to cover everything up. “Guilt is a ghost…Ghosts have no etiquette…” (55). When Ofelia was sick, she “got as wispy and quiet as a ghost” (52). Anorexia is a terrible disorder that plagues many girls (and boys for that matter, everyone can have an eating disorder). Myriam uses the ghosts to explain things she can’t see or things that are sad to see.

Some questions to consider…

1. Is describing her friends and family a good way to let us into her life? Or are their pieces missing?
2. How does her use of humor hide the abuse she experienced and witnesses around her?
3. How does being gay affect her relationships with family and friends so far? If at all?  

Hello all! I hope your weekend was everything you needed it to be in order to begin a positive week filled with productivity. I wanted to take some space on our blog page to express my thoughts and opinions on the reading that took place on April 4th. Before I begin writing all of my emotions, I want to mention that Sapphire’s voice is a “prominent and well-needed one in contemporary literature” because she pushes us to look for the hard truths in a society that we often try to avoid or hide. Her work is the kind of literature that stays with you forever. With that being said, I would like to continue discussing two main takeaways that I discovered during the reading. The first relates to the writing Saphirre creates and the performance she gives when she reads her beautiful work. The second ties to a question that one of the members in the audience asked Sapphire after her reading.

As I listened to Sapphire read a couple of her poems, I became captivated by the way she spoke and the feelings she evoked within me. In the final line of the poem titled “Nagasaki Number 2,” Sapphire states that “there is no rest or forgetting, the only justice is peace”. Personally, I found this statement to be extremely powerful and true. A couple of lines before this, she literally states that male, African American balls were used for tobacco similar, to how female, Native American uteruses were also used for tobacco. This part of the poem stabbed me right in my chest. The way she stated each word with extreme passion and anger made me feel genuinely angry for how people treat other people. There is a type of rawness behind her writing that cuts right to the point.

In another poem she states, I am a person who says “hi ma’am and bye bitch”. When she says “hi ma’am,” her tone was calm and her voice was gently flowing into my ears. Then, when she exclaimed “bye bitch,” her tone was fierce and demanding. Her voice abruptly interrupted the flow before. She mixes cursing and heavy language into her writing which creates a much more impactful point. It also adds to this underlining humor she plays with throughout her writing. She intertwines extremely dark topics and humor together in a very beautiful, captivating way. She performed each piece she read that made it impossible for the audience to stray away from the power within each word she spoke.

At the end of her reading, an audience member asked her how much time she devotes to writing. She replied that “she does not have much time but it isn’t about time but more about just writing every day”. For her, the best time to write is in the morning. She acknowledges that not everyone is a morning person, some enjoy the nighttime better (I am definatley on eof those people). However, she said that she tries to catch your energy when she has it. A crucial point that she ended on is that “before she takes care of anyone else or teaches anyone else, she has to understand her own vision because nobody else has those visions but her”. I am a full believer that you cannot help or take care of anyone else until you help and take care of yourself. This follows with the statement that “you cannot love others unless you love yourself”. How are you suppose to give others a piece of yourself, (whether that be love, knowledge, etc.) if you do not take a moment to understand what is already within you?

I encourage you all to take Sapphire’s advice: try to catch your energy before it blurs in with our busy lives and take a moment to write about your visions. If anyone had the desire to read this post, please feel free to comment on any questions, thoughts, or feelings you had during my long post (I apologize, I get carried away). Anyway, thank you all and best of luck with the ending of the smester!

Hi all, although this event took place a little while ago, I feel it is necessary to discuss! I attended Sapphire’s reading on April 4th, in Jacobus Lounge.

Walking into this event, I did not know what to expect. I knew of Sapphire and her talents, but was unaware of her powerful voice and strength. For those of you who don’t know, Sapphire is the author of 2 best selling novels, Push and The Kid. Push was adapted into Precious, the movie, which received 2 academy awards. Her work is well known world-wide, as it has been translated into at least 13 languages. Her voice is a prominent one in literature, but it’s also well needed, as she gives voice to the people that are set aside to be invisible. She never holds back in her writing. Her work is so intimate, as her characters draw us in to their realities. Sapphire urges us to look at the harsh truths experienced. Sapphires voice is moving, with the ability to affect all who reads. Her voice is crucial. She pushes us to examine our own ideas and preconceptions, so we’re left with the heavy emotions she evokes in us within her writing. Simply put. Sapphire is a captivating writer, and speaker. You cannot help but keep every ounce of your attention on her as she reads. Watching her speak is like witnessing the pain she has seen and experienced within others all over again. I recall her slamming her fists on the podium, just ready to burst. I can honestly say that I am so grateful to have experienced this power up close in personal, and I am lucky that Cortland granted me this experience. If you were unable to attend, I strongly suggest you buy her novels, so you can experience some of this power as well.

I would like to focus on her reading of “Speaker Of The House.” The poem is not necessarily about Dennis Hassett (the longest speaker of the house) but refers to him multiple times. For those of you who don’t know, Hasset went to prison for sexually abusing the young boys that had been entrusted in his care when he was a wrestling coach. This poem is for the victims of this abuse, who were greatly affected by Dennis Hassett. The poem evokes a great amount of anger within me, as it discusses how the abuse impacted the abused boys. Sapphire takes the persona of these young boys, saying that they feel “I’m nothing, watching you on T.V…” These boys are left broken as this man continued to have power of them and their bodies, years after the abuse stopped. One victim in particular was unable to get job, left broken over the abuse. Unfortunately, this is the harsh reality that victims of sexual abuse face every day.

Another important message I gained from Sapphire’s reading/ Q&A was to read and write every single day. When asked how she found time to write, Sapphire expressed that no matter what, or how busy she gets, she finds time to write. Now unfortunately, I have never been able to section out a specific time to focus on my writing. However, since this reading, I have been writing at night before bed, whether it be a simple poem about the day or how I’m feeling, or my thoughts compiled in to a few pages of my journal! I’ve found that if you make a priority, it will get done!

Overall, I cannot express how happy I am to have experienced the strength of Sapphire. During this reading, Sapphire was the “speaker of the house,” and had her audience captivated throughout.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post!

Hi all,

My apologies again that I can’t be in class on Friday! Your homework for Monday is to bring in a short text (article, form, document, song lyrics, bill, etc.) that makes you mad or upset, that feels inaccurate or offensive. Be prepared to write on it. We will be making our own found poems. Also, bring Zong!, since we will continue our discussions.

In order to receive participation credit for Friday’s class, please follow the instructions below and post your comment by midnight on Friday. You will need your copy of Zong! handy.

First, watch this video of Phillip reading Zong 17, 18, 19 (29-34). Start from the beginning and watch until about 4:36. You may want to listen twice: once while looking at the poems she is reading and once without, to take it all in.

Next, please listen to this short lecture (20 mins), which will help you answer one of the discussion questions below. Follow along in your book. (Bonus = my cat interjects throughout!)

In your comment, please respond to one of the following discussion questions. You are encouraged to quote from the text and engage with the ideas of your peers.

• How did watching the video of Phillip reading change the way you read the text? Did it help you see any aspect of the text in a new way?
• In what sense is this an “impossible” story to tell?
• How did you read the names at the bottom of each page? What do they suggest?
• What strategies did you develop for reading these difficult poems?
• Phillip repeatedly compares the process of writing Zong! To the actual Zong massacre itself. Why? What is she inviting us to think about?
• Was there a particularly striking detail, pattern, or theme you observed in the poems for today (20-76) that raised an interesting thought or question? Please explain.

Comments are due by midnight on Friday. Looking forward to reading your responses. Have a great weekend and see you Monday!

Hello fellow classmates! I hope you all enjoyed reading parts of Zong! by M. NourbeSe Philip! There is so much to dissect here, but what I found intriguing and also quite engaging was Philip’s use of fugue. So, if you all don’t mind, I’m going to hash out all the ideas I have here.

Fugue is typically seen in a musical sense, which is fitting because Philip sees Zong!’s structure as “…more towards the lyric and less towards language” (197). She uses fugue as “…a frame through which I could understand Zong!” (204). For a while she wrestles with the poems as a whole, saying that there are in fact two poems at play here, “… the one I want to write and the one writing itself” (192).

First, I would like you all to re-read and compare poems Zong! #1 (3-4) and Zong! #5 (8-13), to Zong! #8 (16) and #9 (17). How did you read them? Did you use the same voice throughout, or a different voice? Did you notice any repetitiveness or common themes? This is essentially fugue, defined by The English Oxford Dictionary as “a contrapuntal composition in which a melody or phrase (the subject) is introduced by one part and successively taken up by others and developed by interweaving the parts”, and also “a loss of awareness of one’s identity… associated with certain forms of hysteria and epilepsy” (“fugue,” [English Oxford Dictionary]).

*Here is an example of a birthday fugue, if you’re like me and need extra help understanding the definition! *

Both definitions of fugue are utilized by Philip to place the reader on the Zong during those long, cruel weeks with little to no water, and of course the slaughter of 150 slaves. She appeals to our sense of hearing, and by arranging her poems in this way, gives up snippets of what one might have heard on the Zong: moans, cries, and chants from the enslaved (3), as well as the cold calculative voices of those who doomed them (5). Sometimes, these even occur on the same page (9). There is a feeling of mass hysteria, and loss of individuality. Most likely, many of the slaves could not understand each other because of the many different African languages. Even more likely is that they could not understand the crew’s command to be thrown overboard and sentenced to death by drowning, adding to the hysteria effect. They are no longer Bantu, Ibo or Yoruba; now they are just humans fighting for “…sustenance…” (5,9,11,12, 17) and “…preservation…” (6). We could even venture to suppose that the poems she wanted to write was the voice “…of someone who appears to be white, male, and European” (204), but the poem that seemingly wrote itself were the voices of the slaves.

In this video, if you skip to minute 20 you will get to see Philip preforming Zong! #5, and I believe about five minutes in she switches to another part in the book that I have yet to find. However, I think it’s a commanding visual, and you can also hear the different voices I discussed earlier.

Here is another live reading, much different than the video above. What voice/s do you hear in this reading?

Some questions to consider:

1. How is this book an anti-narrative? (please give specific examples or page numbers!)
2. How did your inner voice read the poems, more like the first video of Philip or the second? Which do you prefer?
3. Did you read the poems in a non-linear way? And if so, how did it change your interpretation, if at all?

Works Cited

“Fugue” def. N 1.2 Oxford English Dictionary, 2019, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/fugue. Accessed 8 April 2019.

Philip, Marlene Nourbese. Zong! Wesleyan University Press, 2011.

*Also, sorry for the formatting, this was copied/pasted from Word because I found it easier, I know there’s an issue with formatting of my first work cited, I can’t figure out how to fix it!*

Poetry is defined as a type of literature or artistic writing that attempts to stir a reader’s imagination/emotions. It can help us understand issues that occur not only in the present but in the past as well. In M. NourbeSe Philip’s Zong! the author composes a found poetry book with a complex writing structure throughout. In the acknowledgments, the author discusses how the book is inspired by “Black Ivory” written by James Walvin. Walvin is known for writing about slavery in the British Empire. With this, readers can expect the book to be connected to slavery in multiple ways. We can get a little taste of the theme that will be prevalent throughout the book.

It’s clear when we read to the first section of the book how the writing is a little difficult to follow/understand. For me, I had to read the poems out loud in order to try to get a grasp on what was being written in order to comprehend it. In fact, this happened to be the first time I across a poem that allows the readers to read the poem in multiple ways as a result of the way it’s structured. In other words, there is no clear way to read the poems, would you agree?

On another note, the first poem has an emphasis on the idea of water as you can see on pages 3 and 4:

• 

• 

The water being a main element in the first poem made me think about why the author would decide to start off the book this way. I started to question the importance of the water, and how it had anything to do with race. Water can symbolize a series of things such as life, birth, a right of passage, or refreshment. After doing some research on slaves and water, I found some of the history behind it.

Zong was the name of a ship that was headed toward Jamaica in 1781. The trip was approximately 12 weeks long and on the ship, there were 417 slaves. Toward the end of the voyage, there was a shortage of water and an outbreak of disease. With no clean water or food, it was going to be very difficult for the slaves to fight off the sickness. As a result, the ship’s captain claimed that the slaves were going to die anyway, so in order to save money and himself, he threw slaves who seemed very sick off the ship. He knew that all of the voyages were insured, but didn’t insure sick slaves or those killed by illness. It did however, ensure slaves that died through drowning. 54 Africans were chained together and thrown overboard while another 78 were drowned over the next two days. By the time the ship had reached the Caribbean, 132 people were murdered. When the ship returned to England the owners claimed they should get their money back for all the slaves lost. The case was taken to court and the jury decided since it was allowed to kill animals for the safety of the ship, it was ok to kill slaves for the same reason. Eventually, this became known as the Zong Massacre. It’s clear the poem is alluding to this historical moment as Philip writes, “The some of negroes … over… board” (6) and “Justified a throwing of property (16), which is a clear indication of the slaves being thrown off the ship. Below you can find an image of this moment.

• 

Finally while reading the poems, I noticed the phrase “negroe” is often repeated. This phrase has a clear connection to the Zong massacre as this was a word African American slaves were called. This language shows the theme of racism and how there was racial prejudice during the 1700s. In addition, it shows how those of color lives were not valued or cared much about. It’s sad to say in today’s society the Zong massacre still exists in its own ways. For example, police brutality against those of a Black/Latino race is still prevalent, and those of color face unfair punishments every day.

With that, I leave a few questions for you guys to think about:

1. How was your experience reading the book? Did some of the complex structures confuse you while reading?
2. How does this Zong massacre image make you feel? What comes to mind when you see this image?
3. Have you ever witness a discriminatory act? If so, how did it make you feel? Did you do anything about it?

In many cases, experience outweighs classroom learning or lecture when it comes to education. Simply being told something does not mean that an individual will understand a concept. Only through encounters can some truly learn an idea. Rankine uses this as a device in her writings. She does not merely invite the reader to experience her experiences; she forces those willing to experience it. In her work, Claudia Rankine’s repeated use of the pronoun “you”makes the reader the subject of her work. While reading this part of Citizen I used a Marxist critical lens to better understand the social hierarchy Rankine works to dismantle. During her poem, Rankine hails her audience by saying, “Hey you—” (140). By hailing her readers directly, Rankine “[I]nterpellates individuals as subjects” (Althusser 119). Interpellates means to give an identity to something. By calling out to her reader, Rankine uses her power as the author of this book to make the reader the subject of the poem and helps her audience understand her position by switching the roles of the narrative. I believe that this gives a new meaning to the following excerpt:

           You are you even before you grow into understanding you are not anyone, worthless, not worth you. (139)

This excerpt helps the reader understand the deep-rooted, sometimes subconscious institution of racism in America. Rankine invites the reader to imagine being seen as worthless in the eyes of a society before the reader is even born. In this way, Rankine makes her argument by forgoing the writing convention showing, not telling by having the reader experience first-hand what she argues. Rankine employs this strategy again when she says, “what happens to you doesn’t belong to you, only half concerns you” (141). The audience experiences Rankine’s experience of not owning her life. This idea of ownership stems back to the middle passage when Africans were brought to the Americas as slaves. Their experiences, their home, and their autonomy ripped away from them so that they held no ownership over their life. Rankine needs her audience to not only be aware of this fact but live it. Only through this experience can someone truly understand the pain, the injustice, and the inequality of the situation. And, the moment you question this ideology and this institution, “you are pulled back into the body of you receiving” (141). Rankine makes clear that the current system condemns the questioning of itself and has measure to defend itself from someone dismantling it: having them pulled back and become a receiver again. Rankine shows the ridicule people experience when showing any autonomy. The persona of the poem takes on an authoritative tone in the following excerpt:

Who do you think you are, saying I to me?

You nothing.

You nobody.

You. (142)

The pronoun “I” holds a special place in the English grammar: the only pronoun capitalized in any point during a sentence. It also holds the place as the subject of a sentence (me being in the objective case.) The word “you,” on the other hand, remains the same in the subjective case or objective cases. The persona ridicules the audience for assuming they have any power in this society, they have the right to individuality and they have the freedom to define themselves. Instead, the persona of the poem flips it on audience and tells them where they stand in the social hierarchy. Rankine experienced all the problems she has her audience live, and she realizes that silence and tolerance only perpetuates the problem. She recognizes that her audience needs to experience this social injustice in order for them to see that it exists. This shared experience will be used as a first step in dismantling a society that promotes and institutionalizes racism. The first step starts with the individual experience and blossoms from there. Thank you all for reading my ramblings! Here are a couple of questions I’m hoping to get your opinion on:

1. Does Rankine use any other elements in this poem or in the story to make the reader the subject of the story other than using the pronoun “you”?

2. Do you think the subject of the story is not the reader (“you”)? If so, who is it?

3. How do you think the final images of the story contribute to how Rankine includes the reader in her text?

Code-switching is defined by Carlos D. Morrison, a writer from Encyclopedia Britannica, as “[the] process of shifting from one linguistic code (a language or dialect) to another, depending on the social context or conversational setting.” Everybody code-switches all day long without even knowing they’re doing it, and it’s pretty cool. Do you talk to your friends the same way you talk to your Mom or Dad, the same way you talk to your professors? Though you may speak in a single language to all of those people, you most definitely use different dialects depending on who it is. That is code-switching.

Jamila Lyiscott, a poet and educator, delivered a TED Talk back in 2014 about code-switching in which she also explains that she is trilingual. Please take four and a half minutes to watch that TED Talk here…

This is the least boring TED Talk ever. If you’re rolling your eyes at the thought, I swear you won’t regret watching this.

Lyiscott makes it clear that, when done properly, code-switching is a fabulous tool that enables you to speak to various groups of people in their respective dialects, or simply just the way they want to be spoken to. Though it may be perfectly okay for a sibling to call you names, most would agree that it would be inappropriate for a teacher to call you those same names. It is a normal occurence to code-switch, a part of everyday life. It is strange to think that someone would choose to go against this norm.

A particular micro-aggression experienced by the narrator in Citizen happens when she is called a name by a friend: “This friend says, as you walk toward her, You are late, you nappy-headed ho. What did you say? you ask, though you have heard every word. This person has never before referred to you like this in your presence, never before code-switched in this manner” (Rankine 41). Included on the page is a photo of the Rutgers women’s basketball team, relevant because white announcer Don Imus referred to them by the same name during a live broadcast. The women in the photo are angry, but not violently so. Imus apologized soon after. The narrator does not include the race of the friend who said this, but as this is a book about racism and it is a racially charged comment, I would imagine that this friend is not black. The narrator is immediately taken aback by the comment, able to quickly acknowledge the false use of the dialect. To be able to code-switch properly, you obviously need to understand the social context that you are in at any given moment. The friend clearly does not understand that she is not the person to be making comments like that, nor is it the time or the place. Perhaps what is worse is that, after the narrator expresses her distaste, the friend is unable to recognize her mistake and instead insists to the narrator that it was just a joke. The narrator intensely compares this whole event to the reopening of a wound (Rankine 42). This is yet another metaphor that Rankine is employing in this book to help express what dealing with these micro-aggressions feels like. These metaphors create some powerful juxtaposition, since the events may be small (micro) but the feelings are huge.

How do you feel about the idea of code-switching?

Has someone ever wrongfully code-switched when speaking to you?

Are there other instances of wrongful code-switching present in the novel that have stuck out to you?