Angie Powers > Recent Status Updates

As a nerd, I 100% melted when I read this line: "Every story is the sound of a storyteller begging to stay alive." Don't we all just want to be seen and heard?

I found the story about Cotton Mather, a Puritan minister, really interesting. He had an enslaved African who told him of a practice from home that was basically similar to vaccination. Despite a major smallpox outbreak, colonists refused to try the procedure just because it was "African." I couldn't help but be frustrated that people's racism kept them trying something that could have saved lives!

In the second chapter, the reader is introduced to a neurologist named Dr. Gazzaley. What intrigued me the most was his description of "attention": "it allows us to interact with the world through our goal sand not by led by or be a slave to our environment" (35). I had never thought about attention as something uniquely human before!

I love Angela Davis' focus on "optimism of will" and "pessimism of intellect." A collective movement needs hope for change like a car needs gas. But it cannot survive in a fog of optimism.

WOW: "I share a literary lineage with writers who make the unmastering of English their rallying cry—who queer it, twerk it, hack it, Calibanize it, other it by hijacking English and warping it to a fugitive tongue. To other English is to make audible the imperial power sewn into the language, to slit English open so its dark histories slide out."

Linguistic rebellion....YASSS.

I 100% picked this because I loved reading the children's book of the same title to my kids when they were young. So far, this comic is pretty darn serious, as the author is writing about her experiences with a dysfunctional family. I loved the part in which she sequenced the photos of her and her mom when she was a baby, as those pages showed the dad's lasting negative impact on her.

Definition for reference later: “Minor feelings occur when American optimism is forced upon you, which contradicts your own racialized reality, thereby creating a static of cognitive dissonance. You are told, ‘Things are so much better,’ while you think, Things are the same... When minor feelings are finally externalized, they are interpreted as hostile, ungrateful, jealous, depressing, and belligerent.."

Today's reading did a really nice job illustrating what it feels like to be the family member of somebody wanted for murder. After a police officer was killed and Wes was arrested for this death, "a collective sigh of relief seeped through Baltimore’s brisk winter air [but at] home, [his mother] wept" (73%). Even if Wes IS guilty, this brought out his humanity.

What I read today focused on how Wes' reading impacted him. He read Malcolm X, which spoke to him as a black man. But he also read Colin Powell's autobiography, which spoke to his experience more. MIRROR MOMENT FOR THE AUTHOR!!

It also struck me that in Colin Powell's book, he wrote about how black GIs in WWII had more "freedoms when stationed in Germany than back in the country they fought for" (63%). Ouch.

I was surprised that Wes wasn't that concerned about becoming a teen father until the author illustrated his relationship with his own father. The third time in his life he saw his father, the father was passed out on a couch. Wes poked him to wake him up and his father's reaction was, "Who are you?" Ouch. No wonder he isn't scared of becoming a father; he doesn't know what being a father means.

The last chapter in this book was about Flint, MI. I have a teacher friend who lives there and she does a lot of advocacy work around the fact that the city, mostly made up of brown and black people, STILL may not have safe drinking water. What this book helped me understand was how this impacts the undocumented community. Without English proficiency, some of them didn't get the warnings to stop using the water.

I never thought about who the people were who cleaned up the 16 acres of the "pile" left after the 9/11 attack. Turns out that after the first responders left, the second responders came in, many of whom were undocumented day laborers. The stories of what these humans cleaned up are haunting, and then you get the 9/11 fund for survivors and those who cleaned up. Guess who didn't have the right documentation?

I am frustrated with Wes Moore right now! The teen Wes Moore just got picked up by the cops for tagging a corner. He was scared and regretful in the cop car--but then the cop let him go with a warning. The chapter then ends with, "A week later, Kid Kupid [his alter ego] was on the loose again" (42%). UGH!

What I'm noticing about the author's style is his use of juxtaposition. Each section begins with an interaction between the two Weses in prison in "present day." Then, each chapter tells a story from each Wes's past in order to show how they are similar--both miss their fathers and have strong mothers--and their differences--one Wes's brother is "in the game" (selling drugs).

This is my 2nd time reading this, and what's capturing my attention is the point of view. Of course, it's first person since it's a memoir of sorts--but what's most interesting is how he weaves the child perspective in with his adult perspective. For example, when his fam moves to the Bronx, the child is drawn to the court because he's a talented player but the adult narrator explains the neighborhood dynamics.

Just finished "How to Write about Black Women," which begins as satire and ends with savage honesty.

What hit me the most was the poll about grades. When asked if THEIR grades are accurate, most teachers say that their grades are accurate. When asked if their students' previous teachers' grades were accurate, most teachers say no. Yikes. Sounds like most teachers think they are just better at navigating the ridiculous grading system than all of their colleagues....(salt intended)

I am re-reading this book for a study group I am part of. I found a few places to focus our conversation: pages 21-22 outline the problems with grades so I will ask what spoke to them from those pages and/or what they would add. I am looking forward to hearing other teachers' thoughts!

I had NO idea that "pledging" was such a long process. Since I had a kid in college, I never had time to pay any attention to frats or sororities. I knew there was a process, but this last chapter helped me understand that this process is MONTHS long. I am surprised that George wanted to be in a frat, but it sounds like he found a place at his HBCU in the organization.

I saw a connection between Simon (the book and movie) and this book. In this last chapter, the author is talking about coming out, which he hadn't done. Somebody asked him is he was gay, and he said no, even though he wanted to say yes. When he finally did come out, he was surprised at how he kept having to do it over and over and over again.

That last chapter shook me. I don't want to spoil anything, but the last chapter chronicled abuse, which itself was enough to impact me However, the author told the story with this completely earnest empathy--not to excuse his abuser's behavior but to show his understanding of the cycle of violence. W.o.w.

While much of this book is a window into intersecting identities of blackness and queerness, the chapter I am on right now is very much a window. The author's mother, Nanny, had a major medical issue and is in the process of passing away. The author's words, "[n]o one's days are infinite," are a haunting reminder of all of our morality.

I am predicting that the author will have a complete emotional breakdown before this memoir ends. He's been taking care of everyone else the entire book and doesn't seem to be handling his mother's move back to Mexico well. He is drinking a lot and obsessing over things like water coming in the windows to an unhealthy extent.

Today's reading made me feel like I was listening to an inspirational speech. The chapter I just finished is about how history impacts the present, specifically it goes into the history of water and black people. The ending was really inspiring: "Are you teaching people how to swim or are you letting them drown?"

This book opened with a bang. The narrators opens the door to ICE, who is looking for her father, who has already been deported. It haunting how she was scared of ICE before, but the fear got even worse after they left and told her that they would be back.

This book connects with my sophomore English classes because it's a perfect example of a mirror and window book. On one hand, the author wrote it to help him "exist as both a Black and queer in the same space and be loved for it" (12-13). On the other, he says that his book "is a story for us all." It reminds me that I can find mirrors even in window books!