Category: local

talk about ‘this heirloom’ during current seen walking tour

amanda chestnut and i will be talking about my art series ‘this heirloom’ when folx drop in at the Douglass Auditorium at 36 King St. join this ‘current seen’ walking tour on friday!

Current Seen – Biennial for Contemporary Art, Image credit: Quajay

Student essays about ‘The Niceties’

So we saw ‘The Niceties’ at Geva Theatre Center last week. I had my students read Edward Baptist’s ‘We still lie about slavery: Here’s the truth about how the American economy and power were built on forced migration and torture’ which connects slavery to capitalist enterprise and the transformation of the American economy from a backwater to global hegemon. Later in class, Luticha A Doucette used Dr. Edwin J. Nichols’ ‘The philosophical aspects of cultural difference’ to analyze the play through a cultural/historical lens. Much of our syllabus connects back to ideas explored in the play, e.g. we saw a video about ‘Why is my curriculum white’ on the first day of class. I asked students to use all these texts and frameworks to write an analysis of the play. They wrote solid essays. This is how one of them began:

‘Attending a play at Geva Theater in the heart of downtown Rochester that consists of two characters conversing in an office for the entirety of the performance is not something many would think to be enjoyable. I truly did not enjoy this play, but that is because it opened my eyes to how small-minded I have been. This play was not enjoyable, it was eye-opening. The microaggressions and subtle racist and insensitive occurrences that were repeatedly pointed out throughout the play were things that I would not bat an eye at before seeing this play. However, after watching the performance and taking part in discussions that took an in-depth look at the deeper meaning behind the play, I understand the people who spend their lives struggling in a world dominated by whiteness.’

I wish I could have these students for an entire year [St John Fisher College Honors Program].

let’s talk about class

so this is happening at 5pm today! Stevie Vargas, Ashley Gantt, Vincent Seravallo and Elisabetta Sanino D’Amanda are all on the panel. Johannes Bockwoldt will be introducing ‘i daniel blake’ and sharing a clip from an interview we did with Ken Loach himself, and i will be moderating throughout the evening. it’s an event that took one year to bring together. pls join us (all the details are on fb). hope to see u soon.

deconstructing ‘the niceties’

with my sister the brilliant (and stylish) Luticha A Doucette who led a discussion in my class today
she used dr edwin j. nichols’ ‘the philosophical aspects of cultural
difference’ to #deconstruct #theniceties a #play we saw together with my #students at Geva Theatre Center last week
it’s #empowering to offer students an alternative #lens to analyze and understand #difference and potential points of #conflict
here we are together (at the end of the class)
love u luticha jaan ?
St. John Fisher Honors Program

thoughts about autumn

what a delicious day. radiant light, gentle yet fortifying, showing off fall colors at their fullest, most vivid. a warm wind swirling gold leaves and dotting the sky with shimmering confetti. pools of burnt orange and lustrous red at the feet of trees that shiver and sing with the wind. nature can be so generous with its beauty. sometimes i forget to breathe. grateful to live on seneca land and for the stewardship of indigenous people who understand this is our sustenance and only magic.

linda’s film class at SJFC

visited linda moroney’s #documentary & #nonfiction #film #class at #SJFCthis evening and talked about the #partition of #india (her students had just seen #AThinWall) but also about borders in general and what #nativeamericans think about ‘#illegal #immigration’

powerful on #indigenous #peoples’ day. also showed clips from #TheInjuredBody: a film about #racism in #america [photograph by linda moroney]