Category: Announcements

Total word count 2o00-2500 words.  Due April 7, before your spring break.     Note however due to emergency circumstances of this semester, I will grade accordingly and give you as much credit as possible for all work you do.  So don’t worry about the exact word count.  Also, please review my post from March 17th, “Historical context of Hannah-Jones and Wilentz.”

Write a review of Hannah-Jones, Intro to 1619 Project, “The Idea of America.”

https://pulitzercenter.org/builder/lesson/reading-guide-quotes-key-terms-and-questions-26504

Also available here:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html

and Wilentz’s

American Slavery and ‘the Relentless Unforeseen’ _ by Sean Wilentz _ NYR Daily _ The New York Review of Books

Review two additional sources.  As a student researcher and inquirer, you find your own articles.  You can share sources on the blog.  The blog is also for bringing up discussion points and questions.  Here are the articles, I’ve found as a result of my “research as inquiry,” two of which we’ve discussed already.  You can use these articles or research and ask questions and look for the sources that will inform you on what you want to know.

Magness.

https://www.aier.org/article/fact-checking-the-1619-project-and-its-critics/

Lindsay.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomlindsay/2019/08/30/after-all-didnt-america-invent-slavery/#20161df37ef6

Here’s an excerpt from Frederick Douglas writing about advising President Abraham Lincoln that shows us what the situation was during the Civil War for free African Americans.  Question to ask is: how does this relate to Hannah-Jones’ view.  This whole website is worth looking at for the role of African Americans in the Civil War.  You can also read the wikipedia entry on Frederick Douglass.

Douglass, Frederick. “Secession and War.”  (The date on the website must be a mistake, as the text discusses events during the war. Douglass’ “Autobiography” was published in several editions, each time the author adding discussion of recent events.)

http://www.learningabe.info/Douglass_article_3.html

And here is a super interesting entry to Wikipedia on the famous 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the Color Brigades in the Civil War.  The wikipedia entry can be discussed itself, but also can serve as a source for your own further research/inquiry.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/54th_Massachusetts_Infantry_Regiment

The movie, Glory depicts this regiment.  If you want to see it on Youtube or Netflix or Amazon, you can use it in your research as inquiry project.  Perhaps write a review of the movie, and discuss the historical accuracy, or simply a reflection on it and what you did or did not know about this topic.  And of course, relate it back to Hannah-Jones and Wilentz.  You’ll note that Frederick Douglas in the article above is discussing recruiting African Americans into these special brigades.

Here’s a video, it’s long, of 3 professors, discussing the Reconstruction Period after the Civil War.  Very interesting and probably necessary to understand racism in the U.S. today.

https://www.c-span.org/video/?404528-1/150th-anniversary-reconstruction

And here’s a link to the Wikipedia entry on the Civil Rights Act of 1968, arguably the 3rd founding of the U.S.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1968

Lastly, I want to link an outline of the U.S. Constitution.  We should especially look at the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments.  Researchers and inquirers should do a wiki search on each and also compare to the wartime “Emancipation Proclamation.” We will discuss this in the blog and on Zoom.

https://www.fortheteachers.org/File%20Cabinet/United%20States%20Constitution%20Outline.pdf

 

This article was published today on the Washington Post website.  An excellent introduction on how viruses work.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/03/23/coronavirus-isnt-alive-thats-why-its-so-hard-kill/

Feel free to comment using best practices for online writing.  What is a virus?

We will focus our writing on learning how to write more effectively online.

For participation and “attendance” please post at least 2 comments/new posts per week.

You can respond to any of the previous posts, or the readings we are referring to, or questions about the topics.

In the near future, I will give information about the next longer assignment, the research review of Hannah-Jones and Wilentz and one other article or source of your choosing.

If you are in touch with any of the other students, please check to see that they are onboard here.

Please go to:

https://bmcc-cuny.zoom.us/j/313162027

and navigate.  I have tried to make this open without password.  You may need to join Zoom bmcc with your bmcc email address.  If it does’t work, please read this blog posting site as we will do most of our writing on this blog.

We will try to do another Zoom meeting next Tuesday at 9am.

You will also continue to write the papers, which I will accept by email.

The final exam, in May will be taken on Blackboard.  I have not set that up yet, but it will be available by the,

 

Yes, I will have new readings each week and we will be doing short reflections on them.

You should check this blog throughout the week, as I respond to your questions and reflections.

Good morning.

As I understand things, we are having this class now online.  So starting Thursday, I would like to have one reflection per class day, Tues and Thursday.  You can get it in by the afternoon, that is fine.  I will point to readings and start discussion points but feel free to reflect on the readings yourself or other topics.

For now, we should take the opportunity to sharpen our writing powers for this “genre” or format, the blog post, online writing, etc.

Please scroll down and navigate this blog and read some of your classmates’ comments.  Ask yourself, what makes an effective blog post?  A very important aspect, is the visual, graphic display on the web.  Make sure to skip a space to create a visual step to help guide a reader. Remember, an effective communication is one that gets its message across.

Note also that shorter sentences tend to be more effective.  So practice writing shorter sentences.

 

Please post or comment or email me at jwu@bmcc.cuny.edu and I will respond.  Please be patient and write your comments efficiently for this type and genre of writing.  Also be respectful of other students.

Post your reflections on Hannah-Jones, Magness, Lindsay, now.  You can use “Leave comment here.”  By Tuesday morning, review the other students’ posts and make a comment or two.  Please be respectful and logical.

The next reading is the Wilentz, “American Slavery and the Relentless Unforeseen.”

This is a long piece and will take you some time to read it.  I would have a notebook at my side and as I read take a few notes to set up for my comment. Even if you don’t understand every word of the article, read through it and capture the main sequence of ideas, argument, narration etc.

I will have some comments on Wilentz by Friday 1pm.

Post your reflection on Wilentz by Tuesday or Thursday at the latest

What is his concept of “Relentless Unforeseen?”  How is that a critique of Hannah Jones or modification of her thesis?

Research the latest New York Times statement on 1619 Project.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/11/magazine/an-update-to-the-1619-project.html

How would you state Hannah-Jones’s thesis?  Write a one or 2 paragraph comment.  Save it on a separate file so you can use it in your next paper, which we will discuss soon.  To put it briefly, you will be writing a full review of Hannah-Jones and Wilentz and one or two other articles that you select.