Friday, August 27, 2021

This Is Just a Letter for @ValerieKinloch. Used to Put Them in the Mail, but Blogging Allows Them to be More Public

Dear Dr. Kinloch (Valerie),

I think I've told you this before, but I will state it again. I wouldn't be the man I am today if it wasn't for you and your brilliance as a human being. For those that don't know, in my beginning stages of doctoral work, I needed a study to help me think through what I was learning from young men who were graciously sharing their writing lives with me. I needed a guide for how to put their insights, purposes, and drives into a dissertation so that those working in post-secondary settings could meet them. Many of us in U.S. classrooms at the time were used to having English as an additional language students in our classrooms, but there wasn't much support for how to best help their writing needs soon after they exited ESL classrooms. 10+ years of volunteer work with African-born refugee populations led me to your work. Harlem on Our Minds: Place, Race, and the Literacies of Urban Youth (2009, Teachers College Press). The copy I own has been read, highlighted, dog-eared, and color coded to the point that the pages barely stay together. It was my guiding star, a pathway forward, and a model of youth voices. Four years later, I defended my dissertation: "A Responsibility to Speak Out": Perspectives on Writing from Black African-born Male Youth with Limited or Disrupted Formal Education. Your book, and Dr. Alfred Tatum's advice, "Don't go a-historical," helped lead me to where I am today.

You know I'm a super-fan. And, over the last decade it has been beautiful to build a friendship across several conferences, including NCTE. The announcement of your presidency was nothing but a party in the Crandall household (Wusah!) and then, when it was revealed NCTE '21 was to be in Louisville --- well you know. I inundated your email and social media with ideas: Hot Browns, Vietnamese restaurants, Brough Brother Bourbons, musicians, spoken word poets, and teachers to get on board. My 10 years teaching at the Brown School and all my work with the Louisville Writing Project bring nothing but joy to my heart If I was to have a homecoming to Derby City, then I was going to share it with you. I mean, the school that gave me my teaching legs is right next to the Convention Center....in fact, it's where we took our students during disaster drills.

Ah, this was going to be one giant NCTE family party. In my head, I was going to rent a great room, invite my friends from Penguin Random House, get my YA and children's book friends together, bring my NWP network, and travel with a cohort of 20 educators from CWP-Fairfield to celebrate with NCTE and my Kentucky family (truth is, it's the bourbon for me). We were going to do the Muhammad Ali Museum, walk through Actor's Theater, and visit the Ohio River as one, enormous language-loving entourage. At the front would be no other than you - the drum major leading the parade. The incredible, brilliant, purposeful, and giving Valerie Kinloch!

Ah, Nature. Reality. Intelligence. Love. Caution. 

I keep telling everyone, we're a smart group of people and as disappointing as it is not to be in person, there's a tremendous relief. We are keeping one another safe. We are showing love with equity, justice, and anti-racist teaching. Kids and teachers first. Always. I'm sure, though, the decision-making was rough and weighed heavily on the shoulders of your team for over a year.

It's all good. BUT, the hug(s) will have to wait. Trust me, these hugs have been building now for a couple of years. So, this little note (blog post actually) to say, "Love you. Thank you. I appreciate your leadership." It's also a way of saying, "The same goes to all in, and behind, the scenes of the NCTE work that gets done." 

Shoes and elephants all the way. Elephants and shoes.

Sincerely,

Bryan (the Geek-boy Frog, as my KY students used to call me)

PS: Here's Daniel Caesar's Best Part, played by Maestro J & Monique Brook-Roberts (Louisville!), because I wanted them at the party, too...so, this is for you....me...and all of us together.





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