"We cannot possible leave it to history as a discipline, nor to science nor ecomonics to tell the story of our people...instead, that story must be told by writers."
~Nikki Giovanni~
I just wanted to take a moment to say we must have the best disciplines to teach to students, because we have an opportunity (and a duty, almost) to investigate other people's, as well as our own, stories/histories. Nikki Giovanni may have been speaking to "her" people, but it applies to everyone. Stories and poems and writing in general has the power to transform and enlighten. It has the power to move and strike and conquer. Can the times table do that for anyone??
Reading Giovanni's poems has made me want to write again and consider the importance of my story, or what "my people's stories" could possibly look like.
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We have such an amazing profession because we are opening up the world to our students through stories, something that as humans we crave. I think this is one of the best ways in which we learn about life, and I can't imagine our life without our stories and the stories of those of whom we connect to.
ReplyDeleteBut her comment leaves out our own stories and histories. I reminds me of Jamaica Kincaid's memoir, A Small Place. In this story, Jamaica is lacking her own history, and as she looks around her all she shes is the layer of post-colonialism. It is sad, but her story shines brighter than what she was lacking in the first place. she turned her lack of a history into a powerful story that transformed my life.
This leads me to say, Erika...StArT WrItIng!
Erica and Amanda, I know what you mean. I can't imagine myself doing anything else but teaching English. THe fact that so much of who we are, of the ideas of others and the world converges through the "texts" we read. But like Amanda, so much more meaning comes from our applying more of ourselves to the texts that we create. :-)
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