Dear Reader,

  
There are only eight months left until election time—November 2024.  What should be our major concerns?  Economic and political justice, voting rights, voting fraud, climate change, student loan forgiveness, Russia-Ukraine and the Israeli-Hamas conflicts,  and many local issues that are too numerous to list here. Reproductive freedom is also of major concern.
 

Recently, the issue of corporate transparency has come to the fore, which may mean the undoing of many small businesses. In other words, women, especially black women, may bear the brunt of new IRS regulations first proposed in the previous administration. The regulations may mean shutting the doors of these businesses if certain regulations are not met. Read more at the website positivechangepc.com under the link, Resources.
 

Since I published the last issue, several giants in the field of education have passed on. My brother-in-law, Dr. William H. Joyner, principal and community leader for many years, Richmond Public Schools; and Dr. Orlando L. Taylor, Dean Emeritus, Graduate School,  Howard University and  Senior University Official, Fielding Graduate University.
 

Both Joyner and Taylor had a major impact on the lives of men and women across this nation. In a wide spectrum of fields academically and personally, their impact will be felt for many years by future generations,   I think back in awe of their influence which can only be called exceptional and immeasurable. As the eulogist stated regarding Joyner, in addition to his pursuit of a career in education, he was a star kicker on his football team in college and professionally.  Stated the eulogist, at the end of Joyner’s life, God had proclaimed, with arms raised, “It’s good”  Yes, his life could be surmised as “ good,” as he had encouraged thousands of young people to get a college degree, and he had exemplified excellence in public education leadership to his colleagues and friends across the city and the nation.
  

Taylor’s global influence has spanned 50 years. He garnered millions in many federal grants in STEM fields and became a leader in preparing future professors to help diversify the nation’s teaching profession. He became a pivotal figure in promoting students of color to obtain a doctoral education, particularly at HBCUs. He was often called the “Dean of Deans,” changing forever the fields of communication and culture, his fields of expertise.
 

In addition to a section memorializing these two giants in education, this issue highlights two recently published books, By The Rubric of Rhythm, They’ll Read by Dr. Cherie Ward; and Drenched Thoughts, by Dr. Anita Nahal, Other books, including Will You Still Love Me, by Zenobia D. Bailey, may be found at the link, Recently Published Books.

 

Thanks for joining us online.
 

Sincerely,

Gwendolyn S. Bethea

Editor

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IN MEMORIAM

William H. Joyner
 

Dr. William H. Joyner was born on April 6, 1941, to Virginia and Carl Joyner in Richmond, VA. He was known as “Bus” to his friends. Dr. Joyner graduated from Armstrong High School where he excelled in band, choir, and football. He earned his B.A. degree in Elementary Education from Johnson C. Smith University. There, he played football, ran track, played in the band, and sang in the University choir. Dr. Joyner was inducted into the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity in 1961. He served in the Richmond Public School system for 36 years as a teacher, coach, and school administrator.

 

Dr. Joyner played semi-professional football for the Richmond Rebels. He also sang in the Celebration Male Chorus where he was one of the lead singers. He joined 31st Street Baptist Church in his youth, where his mother and father were members. Later, he became a devoted Trustee, serving for many years and being honored with the title “Trustee Emeritus.”

 

In 1973, Dr. Joyner received a Master of Education degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. Additionally, in 1991, he received a Doctorate of Education in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University.

 

As head football coach at John F Kennedy High School, Dr. Joyner led the newly formed team to three championships in five years. This earned him the high school coach of the year award presented by the Richmond Touchdown Club. He also received the Johnson C. Smith University Distinguished Alumni Award. In addition, he received the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity’s Community and Distinguished Service Award and he received numerous other awards for his accomplishments. Dr. Joyner was a member of the Theban Beneficial Club, Club 533, a former Board Member of the YMCA, the Child Savers, the Richmond Teachers Credit Union, and many other professional organizations.

 

He met the love of his life, Dr. Jacquelyn Scotton Joyner, from High Point, NC, in 1962. They were married for 60 years.

 

The William H. Joyner Scholarship has been established to commemorate the life and legacy of Dr. Joyner.

By The Rubric of Rhythm, They’ll Read is an important book for teachers who think outside of the box when it comes to teaching and learning because it encourages them to find alternative approaches to communicating their curriculum, specifically reading.  Most teachers understand the need to provide diverse tools to engage learners and to meet them where they are while challenging them to have higher expectations.  Although the study conducted in the text was focused on African American students and other minorities with mild learning disabilities in urban public schools, the principles, practices, and techniques implemented can be used for all learners in any environment.  Lumumba’s Playground (an educational children’s television show) and Laughing and Learning with Language (a boxed learning set for teachers and learners) are the programs that were used for interactive learning experiences.  These interventions revealed a positive impact on the students in the study showing they were not below basic in reading as indicated on standardized tests, they just needed an alternative approach to engage them in the learning process.

 

Lumumba’s Playground pilot series is currently in the process of editing and being prepared for television and the book can be found at Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

 
By Cherie A. Ward

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A Review
By the Rubric of Rhythm, They’ll Read

 

This fascinating book

offers  alternative keys for children

reading below basic to succeed.

Opening doors and new horizons

for students placed at risk,

tapping into their multiple intelligences

that systemic approaches and standardized tests have missed.

It discusses the history of public schooling

and the reading literacy paradigm,

stating the problem while presenting solutions

that stimulate and liberate students’ minds–

Into real-world social

and interactional contexts,

using poetry to renegotiate narrative texts

to promote individual agency through

oral, audio, visual, written language,

fusing technology and arts at its best!

The book is for parents, teachers,

educational stakeholders and laypeople alike.

It’s for anyone who wants to step outside of the box

and in our children ignite–

The spark that will make students

want to learn as they dance and sing,

taking into account their prior knowledge

and the cultural capital they bring.

An educator’s creation through imagination

and willingness to take the lead,

creating multimodal communicative texts using poetry

so that by the rubric of rhythm, they’ll read.

 

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By Anita Nahal, Ph.D.

 

The beauty of the novel is the deceptively light tone and how it is laced with humor. This is about a woman operating at multiple levels – trying to fit into an alien milieu – languages are different and the English spoken by her is different from the American English. The cultural references are many and that could merit a separate review in my opinion. Knowing a language superficially doesn’t really make you American or English in the country you migrate to.

Nothing is obviously stated but this and many other cultural differences form a part of the sub-text.

Nothing is overly sentimental or mushy as is a tendency with books on the diaspora where the homeland is a rosy place and nostalgia clouds the judgment.

 

The book is a must read for the pain that Priya goes through. The crossroads of various cultures and the multiple identities that she juggles with all add to the layering of a very rich book by a poetess and novelist par excellence.

 

 

Vandana Kumar

5.0 out of 5 stars The Story of Priya Lingers

Reviewed in India on November 4, 2023

 

It has been quite some years since I started writing poetry and as my poetry circle of friends expanded, more often than not, I would be reading a friend’s poetry books and reviewing them or writing a foreword for a poetry book. Since my vision impairments put limits on my reading time, I was off late craving to read a good novel. I take breaks from my poetry by watching good films, but the soul was craving a compelling novel to read.

 

Anita Nahal’s book ‘Drenched thoughts’ was that answer. It is a literal translation for me of the reader’s experience – drenching one not just in thoughts but a lot of self-seeking and one-way journeys.

 

Diasporic novels often tend to get clichéd in the usual conflict points. There are moments when they get caught in cultural conflicts and the tradition vs. modernity and adaptation themes loom large.

 

‘Drenched thoughts’ scores for me while dealing with characters. Here the contradictions and issues run deeper.

 

Priya the central character goes through all the twists and turns in a classic narrative plot, making this one of those stories that has to be finished, whatever the individual speed. For me, with a novel like this, I can’t do multiple readings. This had to be only Drenched thoughts’, albeit at my own pace – to go through Priya’s journey. Even if the story is nothing like my personal life – the beauty is in somehow feeling that I am living it. There lies the success of the author.

 

Going into a shower or for a bath can usually be relaxing at the end of a day. There are bathroom singers who find a voice that they are too scared to bring to an audience. Then there is Priya – bathroom for her brings back ghosts – memories torment her. Being a single mother in her adopted country is different culturally from India. These little things all add to the nuanced understanding of the character.

 

There are various points at which we can relate with the protagonist and relate them with our own responses to our own struggles.

 

Take the lines from Page 95 for example –

 

“You know Priya, you come for your appointment every time dressed so well. I am so impressed. No one can tell there’s such disappointment in your life. But I truly want you to feel better. Be well”.

“I try, I try, but why show the world my misery? For coffee table mold

I will become a topic.

Their views about me would be myopic.”

 

How many times do we feel low due to personal losses, unfair treatment at the workplace or simply relationship issues, and yet that is something we show only to those we are intimate with.

As we say “apna tamasha nahin banana hai”( We don’t want to make a spectacle of ourselves).

So there goes on the bright lipstick (perhaps brighter than one would normally use) simply to drive home the point that my issues are not for public consumption.

 

 

Linked reviews below

1) https://epaper.thestatesman.com/c/74475760#google_vignette 

2) https://femasiamagazine.com/birthing-a-dawn-book-review/ 

3) https://bangalorereview.com/2023/10/drenched-thoughts-by-anita-nahal/