tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76639078247957288882012-02-12T00:21:03.820-05:00Cultural observations after the first cup of coffee in the morning.Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.comBlogger65125ConfessionsOfABathrobeBloggerhttp://feedburner.google.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-91987787383914247512012-02-08T09:39:00.002-05:002012-02-08T09:39:36.500-05:002012-02-08T09:39:36.500-05:00

Changing the Course of HIV/AIDS,  ONE BLACK LIFE AT A TIME!  Tuesday, February 7, 2012 was National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day. Black people continue to be disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, and today is a day that we can use to talk about HIV/AIDS. Below is a quote from Healthy Black Communities, Inc., on this year's initiative, along with startling information about

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-28508515257649224442012-01-28T09:37:00.005-05:002012-01-28T09:39:09.035-05:002012-01-28T09:39:09.035-05:00

"Ships at a distance/ Have every man's wish on board"/ So wrote our Zora. Photo by Carl Van Vechten, 1940 Today, Saturday, January 28, marks the anniversary of the death of Zora Neale Hurston (b. 1891 - d. 1960). I came across this rare color photo of her while surfing the Internet, only to discover that the Beineke Library at Yale had digitized all of Carl Van Vechten's nearly 2,000

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-53519095652918230412012-01-25T11:58:00.001-05:002012-01-25T12:05:35.197-05:002012-01-25T12:05:35.197-05:00

The words she lived by/ We take note of them today/ "And justice for ALL." Constance Baker Motley, 1921-2005 On this day (January 25) in 1966, the Hon. Constance Baker Motley was appointed as a federal judge by President Lyndon Johnson, representing New York's Southern District. She became the first African American woman so named. Her legacy endures--there are far too many

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-88227005937809647312012-01-03T09:15:00.000-05:002012-01-03T09:15:01.484-05:002012-01-03T09:15:01.484-05:00

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Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-31816194680319433572011-12-07T09:50:00.001-05:002011-12-07T17:46:28.489-05:002011-12-07T17:46:28.489-05:00

With Christian Estevez, Executive V-P and Chair of Education Committee of LAN Please read this press release from the Latino Action Network, which includes its policy statement on the "Opportunity Scholarship Act." It is important that we all remain aware of the continuing efforts toward corporatization of our public school system. Yes, the system certainly needs improvement, especially in

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-42220888219549111652011-11-07T03:15:00.001-05:002011-11-07T09:19:56.194-05:002011-11-07T09:19:56.194-05:00

From the series, "Indian Photographing Tourist Photographing Indian," Zig Jackson November is Native American Heritage Month. The Library of Congress (in concert with the National Archives, the NEH, the Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, and other partners) has a comprehensive website devoted to the observance. Here is the main link, Native American Heritage Month 2011,

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-80481228273457458982011-10-11T00:14:00.000-04:002011-10-11T00:14:37.970-04:002011-10-11T00:14:37.970-04:00

Today is National Coming Out Day, an international observance held annually on October 11. As an advisor to the Gay/Straight Alliance at the college where I teach, I will be celebrating with my LGBT students, colleagues, and friends.  Click on this link for the Human Rights Campaign's National Coming Out Day page, and show your support and pride!  All best, Rebecca

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-17803690332416777212011-09-27T00:05:00.002-04:002011-09-27T00:05:00.700-04:002011-09-27T00:05:00.700-04:00

Dear friends, fellow writers, and upholders of intellectual freedom, Did you know that in some schools and libraries, books such as Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, and Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn have been challenged or banned?   This week marks Banned Books Week, sponsored annually by the American Library Association. Several years ago,

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-40792242610951578632011-09-15T00:05:00.004-04:002011-09-15T00:29:32.164-04:002011-09-15T00:29:32.164-04:00

 Ballad of Birmingham(On the bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963) Clockwise from top left: Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Denise McNair, and Addie Mae Collins Mother dear, may I go downtown Instead of out to play, And march the streets of Birmingham In a Freedom March today?" "No, baby, no, you may not go, For the dogs are fierce and wild, And clubs and hoses, guns and jails

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-28014063421589319272011-09-03T09:39:00.003-04:002011-09-03T09:49:16.777-04:002011-09-03T09:49:16.777-04:00

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 9:30 am  Volunteers Meet on Library StepsGloves, rakes, bags, and water will be provided Councilman Adrian Mapp with Vivi and Gigi at past community cleanup! @font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math"; }@font-face { font-family: "Calibri"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-size: 11pt; font-family:

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-2480390151071549272011-08-14T16:23:00.000-04:002011-08-14T16:23:02.031-04:002011-08-14T16:23:02.031-04:00

What hope is there if/Apathy is the new black/Who will speak for her? Gabby protested while politicians stayed home. (Photo credit: Dan Damon) When I was a kid, I remember learning to write haiku at school as a way of learning to be concise in my thoughts. More recently, the work of my friend Stafford (who writes brilliant haiku) has inspired me to express myself in this poetic form

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-32162809823884172642011-08-06T23:56:00.002-04:002011-08-07T00:13:04.527-04:002011-08-07T00:13:04.527-04:00

While checking out the Plainfield Municipal Code—Chapter 10, Morals and Conduct—I was surprised to discover that Plainfield had a law on the books concerning  phrenology.*Sec. 10:7-12.  Fortunetellers, soothsayers, palmists and phrenology.13 13State law reference: As to fortunetellers, See N.J.S.A. 2A:170-7.     (a)     No person shall advertise himself or herself as a clairvoyant, soothsayer,

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-62532578524061813142011-08-02T15:04:00.003-04:002011-08-02T18:25:34.411-04:002011-08-02T18:25:34.411-04:00

James Baldwin, Aug 2,1924 - Dec 1,1987 “Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock.” August 2nd marks the birthday of the late James Baldwin, one of the most important American intellectuals of the 20th Century. Baldwin articulated his humanity as a black gay man through a number of novels, essays, plays,  and

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-70379977832324868702011-07-19T00:12:00.002-04:002011-07-20T11:49:16.563-04:002011-07-20T11:49:16.563-04:00

From July 13-17, 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, the worst race riot in American history took place in New York City. Among other buildings, the Colored Orphans Asylum (pictured above) was burned to the ground. There are several good histories of the riot, its causes, and the immediate aftermath--I recommend In the Shadow of Slavery: African Americans in New York City, 1626-1863, by Leslie

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-80062563911689270742011-06-23T17:13:00.003-04:002011-06-25T00:26:53.050-04:002011-06-25T00:26:53.050-04:00

This past Monday, I introduced and read the following resolution in recognition of Pride Month on behalf of the Plainfield City Council, and I want to publicly thank our Municipal Clerk, AJ, for researching and drafting the resolution! (Cross-posted on "And My Point Is" City Council blog) Bayard Rustin My own life has been informed and influenced by many thinkers, both LGBT and non-LGBT--in

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-64346374752617481292011-04-08T23:09:00.001-04:002011-04-09T00:29:39.480-04:002011-04-09T00:29:39.480-04:00

Today, I chaired a panel at the 42nd Annual Northeast Modern Language Association Convention (NeMLA 2011) titled Narrating the Public Self: YouTube, Facebook, and Contemporary Feminism. I put this panel together to invite scholars to consider how, as twenty-first century modes of communication have altered, the ideological work of feminism has shifted to accommodate those changes, and how new

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-69705393138831058862011-03-31T00:04:00.000-04:002011-03-31T00:04:10.686-04:002011-03-31T00:04:10.686-04:00

Illustration from original edition of The Monster We are reading  Newark, New Jersey native Stephen Crane's 1898 novella, The Monster, in my English Honors class--it's the story of a black servant, Henry Johnson, who rescues the son of his employer, a white doctor, from a terrible fire. Henry is disfigured in the process and is, at first, regarded as a hero by the community. However, due to

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-80221666272551890712011-02-24T00:40:00.003-05:002011-02-24T00:48:32.575-05:002011-02-24T00:48:32.575-05:00

"All struggles are essentially power struggles. Who will rule? Who will lead? Who will define, refine, confine, design? Who will dominate? All struggles are essentially power struggles,and most are no more intellectual than two rams knocking their heads together." --Octavia E. Butler  Today, February 24, 2011, marks the fifth anniversary of the passing of novelist Octavia E. Butler (b. June

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-53194517254658816022011-02-22T00:04:00.002-05:002011-02-22T00:46:30.827-05:002011-02-22T00:46:30.827-05:00

"Only the BLACK WOMAN can say 'when and where I enter, in the quiet, undisputed dignity of my womanhood, without violence and without suing for special patronage, then and there, the whole Negro race enters with me.'"--Anna Julia Cooper, A Voice from the South, 1892 February 22nd marks the centennial of the death of abolitionist, feminist, poet, novelist, and Unitarian Frances E. W.

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-75893662796468859972011-02-12T20:05:00.006-05:002011-02-12T20:34:25.998-05:002011-02-12T20:34:25.998-05:00

Last known Lincoln portrait, March 6, 1865. If A. can prove, however conclusively, that he may, of right, enslave B.—why may not B. snatch the same argument, and prove equally, that he may enslave A?— You say A. is white, and B. is black. It is color, then; the lighter, having the right to enslave the darker? Take care. By this rule, you are to be slave to the first man you meet, with a

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-70164190202165440132011-02-04T00:17:00.001-05:002011-08-15T23:33:48.888-04:002011-08-15T23:33:48.888-04:00

At 9:15 a.m. this Saturday, February 5, 2011, I will be heading over to the Plainfield Quaker Meeting House (225 Watchung Avenue--next to main post office) for a Black History Month presentation titled "Quakers, African Americans, and Racial Justice: In the Lead Up to the Civil War," sponsored by the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs. Most of my own research focuses on the

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-60996844546049762992011-01-29T12:23:00.004-05:002011-01-29T13:24:01.302-05:002011-01-29T13:24:01.302-05:00

"Stop acting like a politician and behave like a human being."   --Michael Evans from Good Times admonishing Alderman Davis In returning to topics in American popular culture, I lately have been reminded of this show, which I used to watch when I was a kid.  Many of you will remember "Alderman Davis." In Clip #1, an idealistic challenger of the status quo attempts to take on Alderman Davis on

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-73394923878290927462011-01-23T14:13:00.007-05:002011-01-23T22:31:20.244-05:002011-01-23T22:31:20.244-05:00

Frederick Douglass, ca. 1840 We are coming up on Black History Month (February), wherein the inestimable accomplishments of African Americans are commemorated and honored. I teach American literature, and one of the authors I teach is Frederick Douglass. My students and I will be considering the works below--I have provided links to all of them, should you have an interest. Many of you are

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-61223348894137969192010-12-29T22:38:00.002-05:002010-12-31T11:28:47.370-05:002010-12-31T11:28:47.370-05:00

There were several moments during the Plainfield City Council’s agenda session and special meeting this past Monday evening (December 27, 2010) that puzzled me—including Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs’s two attempts (in violation of the law) to have the videographer stop the recording of the meeting/edit the record.  I want to mention just one of those moments. At one point during the meeting,

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7663907824795728888.post-36697862045685959312010-12-23T09:51:00.002-05:002010-12-23T09:52:35.415-05:002010-12-23T09:52:35.415-05:00

The Soup Kitchen, ca. 1937 Norman Wilfred Lewis (American, 1909­1979) Lithograph; Sheet; 21 1/2 x 17 1/4 in. (54.6 x 43.8 cm) Image: 15 1/2 x 11 1/8 (39.4 x 28.3 cm) The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York Gift of Reba and Dave Williams, 1999 (1999.529.118) Dear friends, This promises to be an extra-tough

Prof. Williamsnoreply@blogger.com0