We’ve only just begun! Our first ICP class

One of my favorite images from *Sweet Breath of Life.* I’m determined to make a quilt from it one day. The blogpost “Intimate Moments in the African Diaspora,” gives a peek into the Kamoinge process. (Click the photo).

Welcome Back to “The Worlds of Ntozake Shange & Digital Storytelling”! On Monday we’ll start a new phase of our adventure.  We talked about how Zake moved knowledge from the body to the page/stage; how do we move “carnal intellectuality” to the visual and the digital?  We’ve talked (and felt) a lot about art and various forms of embodiment; this semester we’ll begin talking more about visuality—both about how we make stories from objects/things we see and how we read differently when we see text on screen as opposed to a book or paper.  How do we make visual knowledges that come with motion, that emerge from connections between people, and that reside in everyday acts like cooking or everyday objects that are not usually recorded?

You’ve also been given some exposure to the Black Arts Movement and Ntozake Shange’s place as a feminist “Daughter of the Black Arts Movement.” I hope this has given you a framework through which you can make some sense of your archives.

Our first International Center for Photography (ICP)  session will introduce us to the space and launch us into a new arena of discussion . We have the amazing fortune that artist Bradly Treadaway, who is co-teaching the class this semester,  has an interest in African-American photography, particularly in Roy DeCarava, whose photographic collaboration with Langston Hughes, The Sweet Flypaper of Life, inspired Shange’s collaboration with the Kamoinge group, The Sweet Breath of Life. 

Original cover of The Sweet Fly Paper of Life From the Duke University Library.

After we get an introduction to ICP, he will lead a lecture/discussion on these two texts (the selections are available on our OLD courseworks site, which we will keep using all semester).

ASSIGNMENTS FOR MONDAY:

READ selections from:

• Langston Hughes and Roy DeCarava, The Sweet Flypaper of Life  (Courseworks)
• Ntozake Shange and Kamoinge, The Sweet Breath of Life  (Courseworks)

LOOK at some online exhibits (student or professional) and choose one that stands out for you as intriguing, interesting, surprising or compelling.  I’d prefer you to put the link in comments to this post, but hold onto it for later. You can find one on your own through googling or start with some of the links below:

“The Great Migration and Philadelphia” is by a class that was somewhat of an inspiration for WS&DS.

The Special Collections Department at Hofstra University keeps a page of exhibits that use their collection.

Michelle Moravec is a Feminist Digital Humanist who works on the development of women’s cultures and is particularly interested in cross-racial feminist dialogue (hmm, is there something about the name Michelle?). Her blogposts  frequently highlight feminist work on the web.

The Black at Bryn Mawr group has a couple of archivally based digital projects.

These sites have been recognized for excellent use of WordPress.

These sites were chosen by Omeka for excellent use of their software.

MONDAY CLASS ARRANGEMENTS

Don’t forget class will meet at ICP (1114 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036). Please gather in the main entrance lobby.  Class will begin at 2pm. It doesn’t take an hour to get there, but because of likely weather conditions, I will give myself extra time. If you will want to travel with me, say so in the comments and meet me in the lobby of Barnard Hall at 1pm.  We had hopes that Sarah could get the MTA cards by Monday morning, but that is looking unlikely with the blizzard. You’ll get them in time for next class for sure.

​Here’s a photo of ICPs entrance from street view—