For Colored Girls Review

Hello and welcome back fellow tigers!

            I hope that you all enjoyed Professor Williams’ interview and her song snippet that she gave us last week! Although brief, I enjoyed meeting Prof. Williams and I am looking forward to attending “Green Kabaret”. Also, we would like to congratulate the athletic department on their many victories last week.

            As you may have heard in some of your classes, we are hosting a screening and panel discussion on Ntozake Shange’s “for colored girls, who considered suicide when the rainbow is enuf.”  We hope to have a lot of people to come out for both events.  If your professor is offering any extra credit please take notes, and be respectful of your peers.  The version of “for colored girls”, that will be shown Friday at 10:30 a.m., is far from the Tyler Perry adaptation that we all became acquainted with a few years back. Yes, Tyler Perry did give a modern view on some poems however, for someone like me who had never heard of the original choreopoem until two weeks ago it is very misleading.  After reading and listening to the entire play, I have come to love it; it makes me want to try to incorporate some of Shange’s writing styles into my own poetry, or creating a genre of my own.

            The panel discussion will include students and faculty that will share their own point of view of the poem.  Our peer, Ms. Kamri Jordan, will be featured on the panel. She will discuss if she had any difficulties reading the poem, and if it is relatable to her and her work.  She will also discuss what she can take from Shange’s writing style and incorporate into her own work.

We look forward to seeing everyone bright and early Friday morning at 10:30 in the LRC (student success) auditorium, and at 1:00pm for the panel and performances. If your professors aren’t offering extra credit, still come and support your peers.

Sincerely,

AB

LLP Award Winning Faculty!

Hello and welcome back Fellow Tigers!

            My name is Alexis Brooks, and I am back again as the social media intern for the LLP department. I hope that everyone enjoyed their summer and is having a good start to the Fall 2016 semester. We would like to congratulate the football with their two victories against Jackson State University, and University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff! Of course there have been a few events on campus already, but there are much more to come. Be sure to come out to the screening of Ntozake Shange’s for colored girls whohave considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf on Friday September 23 in the LRC (student success center) auditorium.

            This week we would like to highlight our Full-Time Temporary Teacher of the Year Prof. Marsha Williams. I had a chance to sit down and talk to her about her initial reaction to finding out that she won, where she attended school, and what she enjoys doing in her spare time. Professor Williams was not alone in winning in our department. Dr. Michelle J. Pinkard won the award for Tenure Track Teacher of the Year.

Prof. Marsha Williams Leads Poetry Workshop

A few things that I found out about Prof. Williams is that she received her undergraduate degree at Berkley College of Music and finished her graduate studies in English here at TSU. She has written and published songs for major recording artists; she also enjoys singing, playing the guitar and writing songs. The songs that are written by Prof. Williams are “green songs”, which talk about environmental advocacy, and she also incorporates her desire for environmental activism into the classroom. She has students that were affected by the Flint Water Crisis, Saudi Arabia water shortage and other issues in her class, and they are encouraged to write about what’s going on around them. 

When I asked Prof. Williams “What is one issue that’s going on environmentally that you would change and why?” Her response was: “Pipeline industry. It is preying on the communities across the United States. The pipeline industry transports fracked gas to the Gulf of Mexico for export. There is no benefit for Americans, and it put citizens in danger, the government needs to bring the companies in and get a handle on it. “

I enjoyed my time with Professor Williams and I look forward to her event that she has called the “Green Cabaret,” which centered on environmental advocacy through spoken word, songs, presentations and much more. Please check our Facebook page to see the talented Professor Williams sing one of her green songs and also to see some great artwork from her students.

Sincerely

AB