2 I March 27, 2015
The Guilfordian
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ATWOOD
Atwood converses
with Rosenblatt
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
“Have
you ever talked to a mad person before?” Rosenblatt joked
m response.
The pair touched on more serious issues as well, such as the role
of evil in the world and Atwood’s connection to nature as an author
and environmentalist.
“Do I think that we will be able to kill everything on the planet?”
said Atwood. “I don’t think so. The question is, will we change nature
so much that (humans) can’t live in it anymore.”
Atwood also spoke about her writing process.
“Pencil-sharpening followed by procrastination and panic,” Atwood
said of her process during the afternoon Q&A session. “Followed by
watching TV. I seem to have to work myself up to that moment of
T’ve got just the right amount of time to do this’. Delay more, and
then you really have to do it.”
Buckner, who is in charge of organizing and overseeing Bryan
Series events, said that Atwood was a great addition to the Bryan
Series lineup.
“She’s known around the world,” said Bucker. “She’s written these
incredible books. The interesting thing about Margaret’s work is that
people keep coming back to it. It seems like even if the book is 20-30
years old it is still timely to today.”
“I wanted to attend because we’d just read ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
for class, and I was interested in hearing more about the rest of
Margaret’s writings and in hearing her speak,” said junior Sophia
Silverstein-Rivera.“I thought it was interesting to hear her and the
other author talk to each other. She was so funny.”
“Margaret Atwood is a hero of mine,” said Emma Hadley, a senior
at Virginia Commonwealth University, in an interview after the event.
“It was a nice experience to actually see her in the flesh. I think (the
talk) was brilliant. She’s a lovely, smart woman who is sharp as a tack
still.”
There was a book-signing following the event, as well as a special
surprise — the lineup of next year’s Bryan Series was announced. The
new lineup is usually presented at the end of the final event of the
year, but this year event organizers decided to try something different.
“It gives us a little more time to promote sales while people are still
attending events,” said Buckner of the decision to release the lineup
early. “It will give (season ticket holders) a chance to learn more
about the speakers before they make their decision.
Next year’s Bryan Series lineup includes journalist and foreign
affairs analyst Robin Wright, surgeon and author Atul Gawande,
historic nonfiction author Jon Meacham, actor George Takei and
author Malcolm Gladwell.
New subscriptions to the Bryan Series will be available starting
May 18.
Boone brings together the
past, present of race issues
BY MATTHEW JONES
Staff Writer
Students put down their coffees
and picked up their pens as William
Boone began his talk titled “Race for
Prophets: A Critical Conversation.”
“One of my issues with academics,
particularly at my institution, is
that we tend to mystify all these
conversations,” said Boone, an
associate professor of English and
Afficana studies at Winston-Salem
State University. “I’m not trying to
talk over your head; I’m going to
speak directly to you.”
Boone covered a wide range
of issues relevant to race in his
discussion with students and faculty
in the Leak Room on March 12.
He encouraged students to speak
their minds on diverse topics from
President Barack Obama to hip-hop
mix tapes.
“I’m so thrilled that we have
(Boone) here from WSSU, which
is a historically black college and
university,” said Associate Professor
of English Heather Hayton.
“Guilford needs to do more work
to create conversations with other
campuses.”
At WSSU, Boone teaches classes
on gender, African-Americam culture
and popular culture. He is also the
founder of Afro Blew Media Inc.,
which promotes local hip-hop
artists.
To open the discussion, Boone
shared some of his experiences with
race from growing up in Orange,
NJ.
“I was with my mom and a bunch
of my first cousins at a supermarket,”
Boone told the audience. “A group
of white young men who were across
the railroad tracks yelled across
the tracks, ‘Hey n—s,’ pardon my
French. I asked my mom, ‘Mom,
can we curse?’ and she said, ‘Yeah,
sure.’
“These are my introductions to
race.
Throughout his talk, Boone
brought up contemporary issues
to hold a mirror to America’s
racial divide. He asked students
for their thoughts about the 2014
Grammy Awards, when the black
artist Kendrick Lamar was passed
over in favor of the white rapper
Macklemore. Macklemore’s later
acknowledgment on social media
that Lamar should have won
the award prompted even more
controversy.
“For me, it’s a question of how do
we wrestle with this because clearly
Macklemore has issues with it,” said
Boone. “So, how do we destabilize
the powers that be that make these
decisions?”
Boone also included a plethora
of historical references. He shared
quotes from prominent figures
such as Harriet Tubman, showed
timelines of the history of race
in education and discussed the
wording of historical advertisements
for slaves.
“The problem is when we have
these talks, we talk about the present
when the past has so much more to
do with it than the present,” said
senior C.J. Green. “Sculptures are
not made overnight; it takes the
artist a lot of time to rub it, touch
it and put different aspects on it.”
Towards the end of the talk,
Boone asked for questions from
the students. This spurred a lively
discussion about the role of young
people in activism and themes in
contemporary hip-hop.
“It was unique because for me, I
had never really honestly thought
about hip-hop,” said junior Jared
Gasaway. “The hip-hop culture
and underground counter culture
that is going on with Ferguson and
whatnot is a reflection of that divide
(between races and classes).”
Boone focused on students
throughout the conversation.
He moved throughout the room
and several times stopped to ask
students for their thoughts. During
the discussion about hip-hop, when
students were not taking notes on
him, he took notes on the students’
comments.
When asked about the role of the
audience in bringing about change,
he emphasized it would be the
young people, not his generation,
who would make the biggest
difference.
“I tell my students when they make
all these complaints, ‘Let’s leave
class and go talk to the chancellor; I
guarantee this s— will change,”’ said
Boone. “But they don’t want to.
When they get serious about that,
in the same way the Greensboro
Four were serious and the same
way that the Student Nonviolent
Coordinating Committee in
Charlotte (was serious), all this s— is
going to change.”
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