Programming Spotlight: Author & Activist Jamal Joseph

Dr. Joseph reads to students at Belmont from his memoir

Humanitarian, activist, veteran Black Panther, professor, director, playwright, filmmaker, author, poet,  screenwriter Jamal Joseph visited with students at Belmont yesterday.  It was impossible not to feel moved by his brilliant storytelling, hard-won insight, and deep compassion.  Two groups of placement students who have been studying the Black Panther Party for the last six weeks with their Social Studies, ELA, Art teachers and reading specialist, speech language pathologist and school librarian as part of an interdisciplinary collaborative unit participated in the program. 

 

We are extremely grateful to Dr. Joseph for making the time to visit and to Dietrice Bolden for all of her assistance, and to Robert Galinsky for connecting us and Literacy for Incarcerated Teens for generously supporting the visit.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Revolution In Our Time by Kekla Magoon

In this comprehensive non-fiction work for adolescent readers that has the heft of a text book,  author Magoon takes a comprehensive  look at The Black Panther party.   While it will intimidate most student readers at Passages, the graphic design, writing, and back matter are top notch;  this volume is a good choice for instructional use in the classroom.  

Back matter includes information on key people, a timeline, a glossary, recommendations for further reading, source notes, a bibliography, image credits and an index. Included is a comprehensive teaching guide by Dr. Sonja Cherry-Paul available  here.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Special thanks to everyone at the National Book Foundation and especially Andy Donnelly for gifting us with a boxful of copies of this informative book.

Magoon, Kekla.  Revolution In Our Time: The Black Panther Party’s Promise to the People.  Somerville: Candlewick Press, 2021.

Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin, Edited by Philip Cushway and Michael Warr

A volume of poetry, portraiture, and history, Of Poetry & Protest is “unapologetically political,” specifically addressing police violence, Black Lives Matter, the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panthers, and how poetry and protest converse with one another. Forty-three living poets are featured, each with a full page portrait, one of their poems, and perhaps most interestingly, a first person narrative describing each writer’s journey to becoming a poet. Throughout the pages are scattered cultural ephemera including fine art, album artwork, posters, flyers, and photographs. This volume lends itself to a unit on current affairs as well as history, author studies, and obviously poetry.  Recommended for strong readers.--Anne Lotito-Schuh

Cushway, Philip and Michael Warr, Eds. Of Poetry & Protest: From Emmett Till to Trayvon Martin. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2016. Print.