Welcome :-)

Ah, the first blog post, like starting the first page of a new journal... you try to sit and think of what to write and the ideas just seem to get lost in some void somewhere.  But here it goes... I should state that the purpose of this blog is to discuss the works of the poet Nikki Giovanni (A virtual  book talk or literary club... just with my coffee in my favorite mug, not a paper cup.)  

Ok, so as I continue to ramble on a bit, I'll share something I read in an article for another class.  The class discussion was primarily about the role of censorship within schools.  The link to the article is above (in case that doesn't work: www.jstor.org/pss/819676 ).  The article is written by a teacher from Southwest Virginia who was challenged by her school board, administration and some members of the community for her use of a textbook in a Literary studies course.  The primary problem was the use of "inappropriate language" in Nikki Giovanni's poem "Woman Poem" (Don't mind the web page, I was just looking for a page with the poem) - if you have a chance the article isn't too long.  

It got me thinking about the institution of school and just how much power words can have.  Giovanni's words are simple and they cut straight to the core of the issue, rather than dancing around it.  I'll keep my ramblings short at the moment, but take a look around tell us what you like and what you don't :-) Everything is always a work in progress.

Lauren :-)