Tell Me a Story

By Gwendolyn Bennett photograph collection at NYPL Digital Archives - https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/370048f0-0c0f-0131-bd26-58d385a7b928, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75748946 One of my frustrations is the celebration of certain marginalized groups that last for the day and then disappear.   Martin Luther King Jr Day was January 17th.  Many of us have gone on with their lives.  Instead of dedicating one post to honoring Zora Neale Hurston, I wanted to continue this month with discussing other aspects of African American literature.   Today's blog will focus on one of the epic eras of African American creativity, the Harlem Renaissance. Many people have heard of the Harlem Renaissance but don't quite understand it.  One of my goals with my blog and my other social media platforms is to help readers learn about literature as well as the historical contexts that contributed to their creation.  I want you, my readers, to not see lit

One of my favorite books of all time is, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.  Zora's novel follows the quest of her heroine, Janie Crawford, and is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance.  Today, we celebrate Martin Luther King, Junior who was clearly a strong and heroic leader.  But I also want to celebrate authors and artists such as a Zora Neale Hurston who also contributed to a better understanding of what being African-American is like.  What being human and struggling is like. More can be found here: https://www.biography.com/writer/zora-neale-hurston Photograph:  Courtesy of Photographer Van Vechten, Carl (1880-1964)

I work for Chicago Public Schools but am part of a union called SEUI.  It is different than Chicago Teachers' Union since I am not certified as a teacher but rather work as a Special Education Classroom Assistant III (long story..future blog)  Still, an important job as I work with my colleagues to support diverse learners and also contribute in other functions at my school such as lunch and recess supervision, after school tutoring, mentorship, etc. Covid cases have been multiplying at schools across the district since winter break and I agreed that we should go remote for a couple of weeks to give families a chance to get tested and vaccinated.  Too many of my colleagues were getting sick as well as students and we already had a sub shortage moving into the new year. I have been so disappointed and angry to see the politics playing out-- I thought I was agreeing to remote learning for a little while-- not cancelling school altogether.  I am VERY ANGRY that this was not thought th