Watch:
Cheryl A. Wall was a pioneering Black feminist literary critic. She passed away in April 2020, on the eve of a retirement conference that was to celebrate her voluminous contributions to the intellectual and institution building work of Black feminism. As a scholar of Zora Neale Hurston, the Harlem Renaissance, and Black women writers more generally, Cheryl and her generation of Black feminist peers are responsible for so much of our ability to scaffold and understand the world Black women writers built for us and helped imagine for us. Beyond that, I (Brittney), can personally attest that she was one of the most generous, kind, and funny people I have ever met. I have been in deep mourning since her passing. I share this with you, to offer you one last gift courtesy of Cheryl. Last week, at Rutgers, where I teach and where Cheryl taught (did so much more than that), we finally held that conference in tribute to her. So many of your feminist faves were there. I will not begin to name them. But if you have time, or you need a burst of good feminist energy, I urge to take some time to tune in to a session or two.
You can watch here. You can see the schedule of presenters here.
Read:
What Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter means for #BlackTwitter
How Extremism Operates Online — An Important Report
How Illinois Official Sent a Black Girl to Court for Carrying Pepper Spray Next to Her Hand Sanitizer (Her mother gave it to her for protection on the walk to school) — This enraging new reporting from Propublica about her Illinois schools are using police to give students tickets for school infractions — the latest iteration of the school to prison pipeline.
Listen:
Brittney and Damon Young Chop It Up about Religious Imposter Syndrome on his new podcast STUCK.