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Created January 6, 2020
Community? Engagements? Arts? Well, for starters this is a class taught at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY by professors Kremena Todorova and Kurt Gohde. The goal of this class is to form a relationship with the community by engaging in artistic projects with the community. The outcome of this will manifest itself in many ways, some recognizable and others not so much.
CETA 2020: Our first 2 emojis (of hundreds)
Created January 6, 2020
Individual Tasks
Collect addresses, make & write thank-you cards, design pronoun buttons--Anna Davis
Blog Manager--Paige Wessling
Recorder/archivist for This I Believe essays--Sarah Metcalfe
Social Media--Lydia Baggett & Garrett LeVan
Photographic Inventory (3 people)--Yousef Alsdudi, Sarah Bennett, & Faith Boles
Space, raw material, & tool inventory manager AND order enforcer--Emily Neat
Quality Control & Class Ethicist--Alex Toney
Software Design Team (3 people)--Shelby Barker, Emily Cecil, & Abby Pearson
Fabrication Team (3 people)--Brooklyn Greer, Will Hemingway, & Marissa Price
Finishing Team (4 people)--Nannie Baze, Emon Daneshmand, Ally Frederick, & Madison Phillips
Additional photographic documentation--Kremena and Kurt
Working with production design at Kre8Now Makerspace--Kurt and Kremena
Publicity for the class--Kremena and Kurt
Securing materials needed--Kurt and Kremena
There are many comments I came away with after listening to the first episode of 1619. Before addressing the many problematic and disturbing topics discussed in this podcast so far I must first call to attention the beautiful composition of the episode. Within seconds I was entranced and invested in the rest of the podcast.
ReplyDeleteI realized early on I needed to be taking notes, as every few minutes I was struck by what was being presented by Nikole Hannah-Jones.
First, within forty minutes I learned four facts that I have never been taught or informed of. My attention has frequently been drawn to the hypocrisy of Thomas Jefferson writing the Declaration of Independence, declaring all men equal, despite being a slave owner himself. However, I never knew that in his original draft Jefferson deemed slavery a crime forced upon the American people by King George. Clearly this was struck from the Declaration, but I still find it shocking this has never been mentioned in a US history class. I have heard mention of Abraham Lincoln's mis-deeds but the illustration of Lincolns racism that this episode provides highlights a different side of our treasured president, rarely broadcasted. Jones mentions "The Great Nadir" or second slavery when discussing sharecropping and the continuation of slavery in the south after abolition. While I am familiar with some of this content, I have never been presented with this name which I find extremely peculiar. Lastly, I have never learned about Isaac Woodard, the returning WWII veteran beat blind by two police officers, without provocation. All four of these incidences are pivotal to not only race relations in the US but the course of US history, and yet, in fourteen years of schooling, they have never been taught to me.
Which brings me to the second thing that caught my attention. When the first clip of the one hundred and ten year old black man plays in the beginning of the episode he comments that people don't talk about the atrocities of slavery, because it's too hard for others (white people) to acknowledge. A man traumatized by his own enslavement and that of his family members, is more concerned with the emotional well being of others than subjecting them to the truth of what they have permitted to happen to him. It should not fall on the people who have been discriminated against and harmed by society to protect those who participated in such discriminatory systems. Being shielded from our mistakes doesn't protect anyone and instead jeopardizes the future of the US and its race relations.
Finally, drawing the entire episode together the idea of being American. Jones comments in the beginning that she struggled to identify herself as an American for many years despite it being her country as much as any other American citizen's. As she wraps up the episode and commentates on the influence of African Americans in this country from the moment they arrived, she reminds the audience that without them we would have gotten no where, for as Jone says "It has been black people that have been the perfecters of this democracy".
This was a moving episode and I am looking forward to the rest!
Ally, I have now listened to this episode 4 times. It moves me deeply every single time. Every single time I struggle with emotions I have so many words for and every time I wish I could share what I've learned with others.
DeleteThank you for sharing what you learned. May we never forget it.
I'm excited for the rest too!
DeleteI was going to write a paper in my history class a few years ago about the lynchings and beatings of African American WWII veterans, but I ended up writing about something else. Still, the topic stays with me, though.
ReplyDeleteI think what is important about African Americans serving in WWII is that their time in Europe showed them a society where they were not judged on the color of their skin. While some Europeans were just as racist as Amercians were, most tended to be progressive, especially in France. Servicemen of color were able to live a freer life in Europe, allowed to enter and exit from the front doors of shops, allowed to speak freely, and be seen as a person. When they returned to the Jim Crow South, they became aware of what a truly limited and policed life they had to live. They were given wings (quite literally when it comes to the Tuskegee Airmen), and then had their wings cut.
It was the realization that they could have lived a life in America the way they did in Europe that, I believe, spurred a lot of the civil rights movement beginnings. These men fought for a country that did not want to fight for them, excluding them from veteran benefits like the GI Bill and allowing them to be beaten and killed for trying to express their freedom. The worst of it all is that even after all African American servicemen and women did for the country and continue to do for the country, they are still not given respect. Just a year or two ago, I saw a video of two black servicewomen, one of whom was pregnant, being harassed by a white family at a restaurant. Even when things became violent and the pregnant woman was assaulted, nothing was done to punish the assailant. If people claim they respect the troops, then they should respect all of the troops regardless of identity.
Thank you for sharing with us, Madison. And for using gender-inclusive language.
DeleteThis reminds me of Hidden Figures. A story of the woman who got us to the moon and yet was still not given respect by her country. Disgraceful.
DeleteI think it was very interesting towards the end of the episode that it talked about how the struggles of freed slaves paved the way for the rights of other groups such as LGBT and women. People tend to think of the Civil Rights movement as just as a ‘black’ thing, which it was not although don’t get me wrong it was done through their struggles and determination for equality but the results worked in the favor of other groups discriminated against. It was where people fought to have equal rights that they deserved. It was to end discrimination against nondominant social groups such as Black people, LGBT, and women. Are things equal now? No. There are just new forms of discrimination now. Our society has placed White people at the top of the hierarchy which in turn puts other groups at disadvantages. For Black people, they may not be enslaved like they used to be but now we have mass incarceration that is keeping them at the bottom of the hierarchy.
ReplyDeleteI wish more people knew about the issues with and history behind mass incarceration. I like to think if more people knew and listened to those it has affected, maybe things could change for the better.
DeletePaige, I notice this point every time I listen to this episode. It is such a powerful statement and a truth few white people are aware of.
DeleteLike Madison, I believe education can change things for the better.
I also thought the point about the Civil Rights movement helping other minority groups interesting. I'd never heard it framed in that way.
DeleteThis part of the podcast reminded me of a discussion I had in another class that I believe was about how the Civil Rights movement focused mostly on Black men and lacked gender equality. I don't remember much of the conversation but I'd like to know more
I found this incredibly interesting as well. I had never directly made this association but it is an important one. As the podcast says, black Americans are the ones perfecting our democracy.
DeleteThis was a very moving message. I loved the end when Nikole Hannah-Jones said “The Civil Rights movement was never just about the rights of black people. It was about making the ideals of the Constitution whole.” I think this is interesting because of what was mentioned about Thomas Jefferson in the beginning. As he was writing the Declaration of Independence, he is writing ideals that all Americans are supposed to follow. He was writing this knowing that he was a slave owner himself, meaning that he was saying that all men are created equal while he forced another human to work for him. I did not know that Thomas Jefferson had slaves as he was writing the Declaration of Independence, but if someone with his power and magnitude did it after it was written, then it shouldn’t surprise us that others did it as well.
ReplyDeleteThe message of the podcast is so overwhelming, and an important one in this time in which the President would refer to the coronavirus as the "Chinese Virus." My comment about this piece is the confusion it caused me, in which she spoke about Thomas Jefferson fighting for human rights, like the "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," yet he could enslave humans at the same time. How could that work? Ally's comment about the notion of defining an American as discussed in the podcast, also makes me think about the racism against Americans of color throughout police brutality and other situations. How can patriots defend Americans, but some not include people of color?
ReplyDeleteThe President's comments are evil. Unfortunately, they are also indicative of how many in our country think about non-white people.
DeleteI saw a video where Trump was blatantly called out for using that phrasing and he refused to stop and I just can't fathom how horrible it is that he'd use that phrasing over the actual name of the virus (which I believe is SARS-COV-2) and the disease it causes (COVID-19). He even had the nerve to say it wasn't racist. I still can't believe this man was ever elected into power.
DeleteAnd I was also stunned by the idea that someone who enslaved people also wrote that all men are created equal-- did he not notice the hypocrisy?
Our current administration demonstrates how far we still have to go to treat all Americans and the whole world, with the respect they deserve.
DeleteEvery time I listen to this episode of 1619, the beginning gets me.
ReplyDeleteThis episode starts with its author Nikole Hannah Jones narrating:
“They say our people were born on the water.
When it occurred, no one can say for certain. Perhaps it was in the second week, or the third, but surely by the fourth, when they had not seen their land or any land for so many days that they lost count. It was after the fear had turned to despair and the despair to resignation and the resignation gave way, finally, to resolve.
They knew then that they would not hug their grandmothers again, or share a laugh with a cousin during his nuptials, or sing their baby softly to sleep with the same lullabies that their mothers had once sung to them.”
What gets me is not simply Jones’ lyrical language, nor is it only her voice--which knows exactly when to descend to a low note and when to draw out a syllable. It is also and primarily the separation of families--of mothers and children, of grandparents and grandchildren, of cousins--which marked the beginning of our country.
This gets me not only because it is so obviously evil, but because this same evil continues to be part of the thread of our society. Today. In 2020. Hundreds of years after 1619. We see this separation at our South border. We’ve been hearing about it for more than a year now. And it’s become old news. Like the separation of mothers and children, of grandparents and grandchildren, and of cousins--which marked our beginning.
The beginning of this episode of 1619 gets me every single time.
I am learning that when the US loses one target, they swiftly move to the next. We have a long way to go before the US can truly be called a free nation.
DeleteI am learning that when the US loses one target, they swiftly move to the next. We have a long way to go before the US can truly be called a free nation.
DeleteFaith Boles
ReplyDeleteAs I listened to the podcast, I was almost struck by some of the things I learned that I didn’t really ever even think about before. Thomson Jefferson owning slaves? Brings slaves with him to the signing of the declaration? The words he wrote and that others signed, claimed that all men are created equal. The hypocrisy behind the writing takes away so much of the meaning. Abraham Lincoln trying to send black men and women away after slavery was over? He, a man that all little children are taught was amazing and freed all the slaves, didn’t even see them as people deserving of a home. It truly breaks my heart to think about the millions of men, women, and children that never knew freedom. Or even those that did, but were then beaten, abused, and segregated that never truly got to have freedom either. While I believe America is making strides to become a place of acceptance, we haven’t yet righted the wrongs, not will we ever truly be able to. We still hold prejudices and fears that are attached to a sad and corrupted past. I also believe that one of the most moving parts of the entire podcast was hearing the voice of the man that was 101 years old. When he wanted to sing the songs of enslaved his ancestors, I felt the loss he has lived with his entire life. Even today, there are an uncountable amount of people that carry the weight of the past on their shoulders. They forever have to try to look through a wall sorrow that is attached to them to even be able to make it to the future.
I always think about how jarring it is for us to realize Lincoln was a proponent of the Back-to-Africa movement, when we were taught all throughout school that he was a determined to free the enslaved and make them citizens.
DeleteThis information about Lincoln saddens me because I was taught so much that he was an advocate for ending slavery that I always said he was my favorite president when I was a kid
DeleteAs I listened to the podcast, I found myself relating it to the world today. One of the parts in the podcast explained how Abraham Lincoln freed slaves, but at the same did not believe in equality for all people. So things like voting, integration, etc. were not allowed for people of color. Today, people look at Abraham as the greatest president because he freed the slaves. Obviously, the fact that he freed slaves is amazing, but he did not believe in equal rights. Likewise, the world today has people that claim they are not racist because "they have a black friend", or the world is equal in general, when these are simply not the case. My point is, although schools are integrated, and people have more opportunities than before it is still filled with racism. This podcast was touching and important because it explains between the cracks of what happened during that time. At the same time, it relates to issues today in regards to how black people feel in a white dominated world/society.
ReplyDeleteTotally agreed, Brooklyn.
DeleteI agree! I think it is easier to relate things that happened a long time ago to things that happen today so we can get a better grasp of what is really going on.
DeleteI definitely agree with you!! I think we all want to believe that racism is over, but it is still, sadly, all around us!
DeleteI... have to be honest, reading these comments, I have to feel like everything I have to say has already been said, but more eloquently. This story left me speechless, honestly, and I don't really know how else to express that... All I can say is that it's... shocking to realize just how little of this i was taught in class. I never learned of the Great Nadir, among a ton of other things... I know I already said this, but I'm speechless. This was an amazing podcast.
ReplyDeleteI felt similarly upon reading these comments, Alex! The best I could do to say something meaningful was relate it to my own experience. I also did not learn about these things in class and wish that history had significantly less bias and ability to cover things up.
DeleteSigh... I wish history was more fair to its subjects too, but sadly, history is written by the victor.
DeleteAlex (and Emily), don't think you have to say something different than what others are saying. You could, as Emily did, relate what you hear to a personal experience. Or just focus on what's most impactful for you. It doesn't matter that it may be the same as what others feel/think/experience. We are all responding to the same set of words. It makes sense that many of us will have similar responses.
DeleteI agree it is crazy the things that I learned just listening to a single podcast... It is heartbreaking that it has taken 21 years for me to find these things out.
DeleteWhat new conclusions can we draw from history when we stop accepting that "they" (historical figures of seemingly any time) "didn't know better"?
ReplyDeleteThis episode immediately explores the answer. The authors of the Declaration of Independence could see injustice. What's more is that people of color and their allies were challenging their beliefs directly. They didn't even have to attempt to cut through their privilege to catch inequality. The same goes for racist people of all times. Abraham Lincoln, as mentioned, was challenged in his racist beliefs. During the lynchings of the late 19th and early 20th century, Ida B. Wells and other black women activists spoke against the violence across states and nations. Into the 1900s POC were telling whites about the experiences of voting oppression. Leading up to and during the civil rights movement, there were POC singing, writing, crafting, and speaking about inequality and what it would take to change things.
Today as we experience massive amounts of racism and so many white people ask where it is and, "how do we get rid of it?", there are POC saying exactly what needs to be done. Listening, like we have done with this episode, is a large part of making a better future.
Educating everyone on this is so important
DeleteThis is why I sigh whenever I hear people say "it was the morals of the time! of course they were racist" as if they shouldn't have been able to challenge their own beliefs.
DeleteRight on, Shelby!
DeleteGetting people to challenge their own beliefs is so difficult. I know I've, on occasion, asked people to stop using racist language or to notice their own biases, and it's often hard to convince them because no one wants to believe they've been doing things that are morally wrong. Understandably so, but still, we have to be willing to improve.
DeleteFirst of all, this podcast brought a lot to my eyes. Growing up I always thought Lincoln was a great president until I found out that he was not really for equal rights. I find it so frustrating that minorities have to take incremental steps into reaching basic human rights. There is so much more majority in America that it had to be a slow, step-by-step process for any equal rights. It is not fair and I feel like this podcast brought up a lot of issues that are very similar to today.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's amazing how the present must mimic the past, especially in terms of human rights. As we discussed in class one Wednesday, it seems racism is no less rampant than it ever was, but that the manifestations of it are what's changing.
DeleteIt really is eye-opening to see some of the people we thought could do no wrong actually, do terrible things. I didn't know Jefferson had slaves when he was writing for equal rights.
DeleteIt is crazy that a country that claim all men are created equal fought against the right of other to have equal rights and even in today's society, does not treat minorities equal.
DeleteAt the end of this episode, Nikole Hannah-Jones tells the story of her younger self getting an assignment when she was in 5th or 6th grade. Her teacher asked all the kids in the class to research their ancestral land in order to write a short report about it, and then to draw its flag. As a descendant of enslaved Africans, Jones could not know which African country her ancestors had been kidnapped from. So she chose a random country to write about, all the while feeling a deep shame—both because she knew she was lying and because she wished she had a country—other than the U.S.—she came from.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, I respond to this story with trepidation and a dose of fear. I wonder whether similar to the teacher who meant not to sadden but to empower the kids in her classroom, I may have given an assignment (or assignments) that made students in my classes embarrassed or ashamed. And I understand my responsibility to continue to educate myself so no student in my classes ever has to lie out of shame.
Same here, Kurt.
DeleteOne conversation within the podcast that I thought was interesting was the one about the narrator's father loving his country even though the U.S. has such a history of racism and oppression, and about the narrator coming to love it, too. I thought of how we're taught to recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day in K-12th grade and how patriotic many Americans are, even though the U.S. has deep systemic issues. I think it shows strength that they love the country even though it is flawed and are committed to trying to help it improve.
ReplyDeleteYes, Marissa. It was a slightly unexpected, welcome turn of events to hear she has come to love the US as much as her father. There is often negativity surrounding how Americans view the US, so it was refreshing to hear a positive journey.
DeleteI thought that was powerful, too. I think the only way to really, truly love your country is to know its faults and ensure they never happen again.
Deletewhen it talked about reciting the pledge and that we all have been taught to know it was like ope I don't remember all the words to it lol
DeleteI agree. I think, at least for me, it is really hard to understand how people who were treated so poorly here can still fly a flag. It shows a strength that I don't know I would have if I were in the same situation.
DeleteI really enjoyed listening to this podcast! There were so many times that I had to pause and think about my previous knowledge. I loved that the podcast made it clear what information is omitted in our mainstream history. The part about Abraham Lincoln really stood out to me. I live a mile down the road from the Lincoln boyhood home and have been fed the same “Lincoln is the best!” Propaganda for years. Hodgenville bases it’s identity solely on the boyhood home. I find it fascinating to think what the town would think if accurate history was taught. Would there continue to be so much pride for him?
ReplyDeleteI agree it is curious! In a sense, glorifying his positive aspects creates a positive role model figure, but it also warps the way in which we view individuals. No one is perfect, so why do we shape and choose role models to be a fake level of "good" from which one will only learn one-dimensional lessons.
DeleteI was fed the 'Lincoln is the best' knowledge as well.
DeleteThis podcast gave me an entirely new perspective on the founding of this nation. In my mother's house, there is much respect for the founding principles of our founding fathers--their God and their belief in freedom. This is usually brought up when I mention something positive about another country or some problem I see within the United States. The go-to excuse is that "America is unlike any other country. It was founded on freedoms and no one can take them away." While this is a true statement, as the narrator said, these values were not designed to come to fruition. What would change for my mother if she listened to this podcast episode, I wonder? It certainly made me question the altruistic way in which our founders and even Abraham Lincoln are portrayed. It breaks my heart, but it also reminds me that what is written as perfect history was once lived as an imperfect present.
ReplyDeleteEmily, why not suggest to your mother that she listen to this podcast...?
DeleteI also felt saddened that these men have been so valuable to our country's history without us realizing the full story of who they truly were. You and your mom should listen to this together!
DeleteI really enjoyed listening to this. It was really interesting and enlightening. I learned a lot from this, I’ve learned about the Revolutionary War since elementary school, but I’ve never stopped to really process the hypocrisy of the 13 colonies saying they’re enslaved while literally owning people. I also didn’t know that Jefferson attempted to blame the King for slavery-which of course the colonies took out.
ReplyDeleteWhen writing the Constitution they face the issue of slavery once again and their hypocrisy, however slavery is something they finacially rely on and protect it in the Constiution. It seems to me after feeling enslaved for so long and having to fight a war to be free. It would be easier to understand how slaves felt, and how awful it is to be controlled, but they don’t seem to care enough or find any empathy and I find that impossible to believe or understand. How can you see someone as so much lesser than you just because of the color of their skin? Why do people tend to attack things you can’t change-like the color of your skin, who you love, or your religious beliefs?
“Your race suffers very greatly, many of them, by living among us, while ours suffer from your presence. In a word,” he said, “we suffer on each side.”’ How do white people suffer from the presence of slaves?
American hypocrisy tends to come out surrounding war I think. Even during the Revolutionary War, colonists witnessed free black people and slaves fight and die for freedom, yet they still denied them that request and wrote them out of history. I think specifically about Crispus Attucks, a freed slave who was the first man to die for American patriotism, yet in all artworks he is left out or replaced by a white man.
DeleteI can feel your emotions in this post. I do not understand either.
DeleteThis first podcast episode taught me several things I did not know, and it made me feel a wide array of emotions as I imagined the various scenarios the narrator described. I knew Thomas Jefferson owned slaves, and I knew that he also had children with women he enslaved, but I did not know that he blamed slavery on King George or that this remark was originally in the Declaration of Independence. This hypocrisy seems cowardly to me, if I am understanding it correctly, because I do not think it matters where the slavery originated because Jefferson still owned slaves as a founder of our country. I was also shocked to learn of Abraham Lincoln's desire to emigrate formerly enslaved black people from America. All of these revelations make me sad, but I am also angry that I had never been given this information. I'm looking forward to listening to more episodes.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first clicked on the podcast, I was not expecting what I heard. I was expecting a lecture, but the artful composition and recorded voices in combination with the speakers nearly brought me to tears. I learned many things about our history and historical figures, but the phrase that stuck in my head throughout the entirety of the podcast happened within the first few minutes. Nikole Hannah Jones says, “But in the suffocating hull of a ship called the White Lion, bound for where they did not know, those who refused to die understood that the men and women chained next to them in the dark were no longer strangers. They had been forged in trauma. They had been made black by those who believed themselves to be white.” She perfectly encapsulates the social constructions of race with those last 13 words. Additionally, she explains that through collective trauma, communities and cultural connections were immediately formed. It’s devastating, but necessary to address our country’s history of oppression; we must educate ourselves. And we must include the triumphs of the African American community in our common history. As the rest of the podcast implies, education and knowledge of our history and society is necessary for a fair democracy.
ReplyDelete