The Bluest Eye Symposium: Teaching Panel
Hosted by Marissa Kassenich with support from Humanities Texas
Facilitated by Alonzo Smith, TCU English Department
Project organizers: Stacie McCormick and Sarah Ruffing Robbins, TCU English Department
Presenters
Lorena Germán, Multicultural Classroom
Title: “The Bluest Eye is Our Grandmother’s Doily”
Lorena Germán is a Dominican American educator working with young people and adults on social justice-focused literacy practices. She’s Co-Founder of Multicultural Classroom, Co-Founder of #DisruptTexts, and Chair of NCTE’s Committee Against Racism & Bias in the Teaching of English. https://www.multiculturalclassroomconsulting.com/
Chanea Bond, English and Literacy Teacher, Fort Worth ISD
Title: “Beloved: Caring for Black girls while teaching The Bluest Eye”
Chanea Bond is a North Texas teacher, mentor, and advocate. Her areas of interest and study include Womanist literature, diversifying curriculum, abolitionist education, and centering student voice. You can learn more about her work at chaneabond.com.
Micah-Jade Coleman Stanback, TCU English Department
Title: “Morrison and Diamond Side-by-Side: Teaching Genre and Adaptation through The Bluest Eye”
Micah-Jade Coleman Stanback is a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate in English at TCU, where she specializes in Black Childhood Studies. Her dissertation, “Beyond Innocence: Examining Black Childhood in the Long 19th-Century” seeks to complicate our collective understanding of innocence—a framework widely used to discuss children—and invites readings that understand Black children in more complex ways. Other aspects of her research and pedagogy address the confluences of Black Young Adult (YA) fiction and environmental studies, as well as Black sound.
TaSharra Hilson
TaSharra Hilson
"After reading Morrison, I have concluded that everyone has a different view on race. Race consists of more than different shades and nationalities; rather, it also comprises power and beauty. Some don't view other races as beauty; others view them as powerless. We all have to begin to regain our power by seeing everyone as beautiful and treating them the same. It is important to read books by Toni Morrison, because it allows one to open one’s eyes to issues of racism. It also allows one to discuss racism and see things from another person's perspective. If one has always had power and been a part of a powerful group, he/she may not understand the plight of other races. The Bluest Eye and other books that focus on race issues, help to open everyone's eyes to it all."