Dark Water: Rememory, Biopower, and Black Feminist Art (original) (raw)
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Water, particularly in the lives of Black Americans, has historically been characterized by its danger, offering up notions of fear, horror, and death. Ironically, Black children's schooling experiences regarding "literature" have been described similarly. Throughout this essay, I take up Sharpe's (2016) wake work and King's (2019) black shoal as I detail my own experiences with water alongside my reading journey. I explicate how both reading and water can and have served as sites of trauma and healing and what that can tell us about how, as educators of Black children, we might more meaningfully think about the texts we select for students and how we teach them. I conclude with three texts and accompanying questions that may provide educators with an entrée into discussing the healing nature of water with Black students.
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Long touted in literary and historical works, the Mississippi River remains an iconic presence in the American landscape. Whether referred to as ‘Old Man River’ or the ‘Big Muddy,’ the Mississippi River represents imageries ranging from pastoral and Acadian to turbulent and unpredictable. But these imageries – revealed through the cultural production of artists, writers and even filmmakers – did not adequately reflect the experiences of everyone living and working along the river. The African-American community and its relationship to the Mississippi River down the ages is occluded by these discourses. In focusing on this alternate history, namely the African-American experience with the Mississippi River, the overarching framework of this paper will consist of three lenses on the river as: refuge, labor, and cultural icon. From the moment of their arrival, the intersection of their lives with the Mississippi River reveals a history where the river offers freedom, oppression, escape...