A Professor Returns to the Classroom by David J. Leonard

A Professor Returns to the Classroomby David J. Leonard | @DrDavidJLeonard | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
Just off of sabbatical, when the spring 2017 semester began I was drowning.  Maybe it was the election or  the nastiness that is university and departmental politics.   Maybe it was the deluge of academic “Ls” that is the new normal in the post-Reagan, post recession, and post-2016 academic landscape.  
Sabbatical notwithstanding, I walked into the classroom apprehensive.  I was distraught in that so much of my identity for close to 20 years was wrapped up in my passion for teaching.  Without that love and sense of purpose anchored in my place as a teacher, I was lost.
Several months later, I feel my feet on the ground; I am walking the path I was destined to be on; I am back where I had wanted since that first guest lecture at UCSB.  The other noise is still there but easier to tune out.
While this transformation has been the result of lots of soul searching  and  support from family and friends, this spiritual renewal is because of this past semester’s classroom experience with an amazing group of students.  The students  threw me a life preserver as I was drowning.  My classes gave me life, reminding me of what is beautiful and meaningful.  My course on the Black Freedom Struggle, and  the contributions of black women within these movements, was particularly impactful. The reasons why are endless.
At a certain level, this class had every ingredient needed to make it a transformative experience.  The content was inspiring,  spending 15 weeks with Ella Baker, Rosa Parks, Diane Nash, Angela Davis, Assata Shakur and Shirley Chisholm, with Freedom Rides and Sit-ins, with SNCC and Panthers. This was also a class made up of student-activists, scholar-organizers, artist, and thinkers, who work tirelessly in classrooms and communities in the name of justice, empowerment, education, and equality. My students were a daily reminder of the continued legacy of the movement; a daily reminder of those committed to something bigger than themselves.  
Through our classroom conversations or the ways they brought the history to life on the page or on other canvasses, the students  made the class a space of learning, thinking, and “freedom dreaming” (s/o to Robin D.G. Kelley). The students’ love of history, of those who paved the way for them, as well as their respect for each other, and their collective genius,  made me excited to be in class each and every day. These students  will never be forgotten individually or collectively for what they taught me.  
What this past semester reminded me was how much I missed post-class chats about history, the newest album to drop, sports, or campus issues; I missed having the opportunity to embrace creative assignments that allow students to showcase their talents and analysis in a myriad of ways. I missed being in a community that transcends the classroom walls, the syllabus, or dates on the academic calendar.
In an era of neoliberal logic where numbers and ledgers are everything, these classroom experiences are becoming less frequent.  In an era of adjuncts and exploited “contingent faculty,” the beauty and possibility of collective learning has become a relic, alongside a non-bloated university administration and football coaches being paid like professors.  In an era of hyper surveillance, assessment, and rewards for grant dollars, the prospects of creating a beloved classroom community are challenging.  Yet, these spaces are more necessary than ever.
I am so grateful for the students I was blessed to share space with this semester.  They are gifts; teachers in every sense of the word.  When I walked out of the classroom at the end of the semester, I had  tears in my eyes; I already missed them because they reminded me of my life’s mission and me who I am.  
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David J. Leonard is Professor in the Department of Critical Culture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. His latest book A Playing While White: Privilege and Power on and off the Field was just published by The University of Washington Press. You can follow him on Twitter at @drdavidjleonard