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What I Learned from Teaching Black Literature

JL;DR SUMMARY In 1970, amidst the volatile socio-political climate following student-led strikes for ethnic studies, Michael Krasny, a young white Jewish professor, was tasked with teaching Black literature at San Francisco State University. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

Cultural Representation1970sStudent ProtestsMichael KrasnyBlack LiteratureAcademic ChallengesJean ToomerHarlem RenaissanceSan Francisco StateCross Cultural Learning

Places mentioned

San Francisco, California, United States
"In the late 1960s, protests at San Francisco State and UC Berkeley helped usher in ethnic studies and a mandate for more Black faculty members."
Berkeley, California, United States
"In the late 1960s, protests at San Francisco State and UC Berkeley helped usher in ethnic studies and a mandate for more Black faculty members."
Watts, California, United States
"He would also learn that he had been a house painter and had grown up in Watts, in South Los Angeles, where 34 people died in 1965 in what was commonly referred to back then as rioting."
Flint, Michigan, United States
"But even before we became aware of the lead-contaminated water crisis in Flint Michigan in 2014 linked to environmental racism, the dangers of harmful pollutants in neighborhoods housing predominantly people of color had begun to emerge."

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Retrieved 2024-12-18 05:31:10 UTC
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