Latest news with #LangstonHughes
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
As a Florida teacher, I must navigate education restrictions with integrity
As I prepare to teach a new literature course at Palm Beach State College (PBSC) this term, I find myself hesitating over something that, until recently, would have been routine: selecting the works I assign to my students. The anthology adopted by our department includes powerful selections from African American, Latino, Asian American and LGBTQ writers — voices that capture the richness, contradiction and struggle of the American experience. These are voices I have taught for decades. But now I ask myself: Am I allowed to? Florida's 2023 legislation — most notably, Senate Bill 266 — prohibits instruction that espouses theories suggesting systemic racism, sexism, or privilege are inherent in the institutions of the United States and that they were created to maintain social or economic inequities. The language is broad, and the intent seems clear: to restrict the way educators discuss identity, history and power. But what is less clear is what this means in practice for teachers like me, particularly in college classrooms. I am a lifelong educator. I spent 36 years in the New York City Board of Education as a teacher, department chair and supervisor. For the last 12 years, I have taught English literature at PBSC. My passion has always been to encourage students to read deeply, think critically and reflect honestly — especially about the kind of country we live in and the lives we each bring to the table. That requires a broad and inclusive literary canon. It requires teaching James Baldwin and Langston Hughes not only for their artistry, but for the searing truths they offer about race and belonging in America. It means examining the cultural double-consciousness in Sandra Cisneros, the generational trauma in Ocean Vuong, the gender defiance in Audre Lorde. Literature becomes real when it speaks both to and through the student reading it. That is the essence of education. Opinion: Bipartisan support suggests better sex ed in FL schools. It's the opposite. But now, when I consider assigning those same texts, I worry: will presenting such works — even neutrally, even for discussion — be seen as violating this law? If I ask students to consider the historical roots of injustice in a work by August Wilson or Toni Cade Bambara, could that be construed as 'promoting a theory' rather than simply exposing students to a reality reflected in literature? Worse, the chilling effect has begun to erode the classroom itself. Faculty colleagues increasingly wonder whether they should self-censor — not out of agreement with the law, but out of a desire to avoid trouble. This is the real damage: when fear begins to replace curiosity, and when silence replaces speech. I do not seek to indoctrinate my students. I never have. I seek to challenge them, to open doors through literature that lead into the complicated, layered, and sometimes uncomfortable questions that make up life in a pluralistic democracy. That is not political. That is educational. Opinion: As a professor, I see how universities are failing. We need a new approach. Let us be clear: removing or discouraging the inclusion of marginalized voices in the classroom does not eliminate discomfort. It only eliminates understanding. If our students cannot engage with difficult truths in college classrooms, where are they to encounter them? If we cannot safely present a range of American experiences through our literary heritage, what remains of our intellectual freedom? I do not write this out of defiance, but out of love — for teaching, for literature and for the role education plays in shaping thoughtful citizens. The danger of this legislation is not only in its enforcement, but in its ambiguity. It turns teachers into second-guessers. It turns students into cautious bystanders. And it risks turning Florida's classrooms into places where only the most neutral, safest voices are heard. But the world is not neutral. Literature is not safe. And education, at its best, is a form of illumination, not erasure. Carmine Giordano is an adjunct lecturer in English at Palm Beach State College. He lives in Lake Worth Beach, and wrote this for The Palm Beach Post. This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: FL law could silence Black, LGBTQ voices in the classroom | Opinion
TimesLIVE
17-05-2025
- General
- TimesLIVE
Diplomacy is key to success in Trump talks
In his celebrated poem penned in 1936, the Harlem Renaissance poet Langston Hughes writes: 'Let America be the dream the dreamers dreamed. Let it be that great strong land of love. Where never kings connive nor tyrants scheme. That any man can be crushed by one above (It was never America to me). O, let my land be a land where Liberty is crowned with no false patriotic wreath. But opportunity is real, and life is free. Equality is in the air we breathe.'..
CBS News
06-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Harlem's Schomburg Center prepares to open its exhibition celebrating 100 years
Harlem's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is celebrating 100 years of service to the community by displaying some of its more than 11 million pieces of African American history. In just a few days, exhibition 100 - A Century of Collections, Community and Creativity will open to the public on Malcolm X Boulevard. One hundred years of collecting some of the world's most exquisite artifacts at the Schomburg Center have all led up to it. CBS News New York "This is who we are. This is who we have been for 100 years, and this exhibition really celebrates that," Schomburg Center Director Joy Bivins said. "So, there's a great deal of art, fine art, that's on display, not only in this gallery but in galleries throughout the building." "They are icons of our collections" For the first time ever, viewers can be up close and personal with murals by artist Aaron Douglas created specifically for the Schomburg Center. CBS News New York "They are icons of our collections, but they're also really important to the study of Black art history," Bivins said. There are rooms filled with a fraction of the 11 million pieces of history housed at the library. Workers are still setting things up ahead of the opening. The cosmogram at the Schomburg Center. CBS News New York The Schomburg Center is also introducing a commemorative 100 year library card featuring the cosmogram, a piece of art installed in the floor. Beneath the cosmogram is the grave of poet Langston Hughes. "Within that cosmogram is the poem 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers.' And so this is really a way to take a piece of Schomburg with you," Bivins said. Exhibit opens Thursday The exhibit opens to the public May 8. "We emerge from a moment when it's not thought that there is Black history, and all of these things stand in as evidence that that is a falsehood," Bivins said. The research institute was started by Arturo Schomburg and Catherine Latimer. Latimer was the first Black woman hired by the New York Public Library. The Schomburg Center is hosting a full schedule of events all year long in honor of its centennial. To learn more, click here.
USA Today
21-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Updating Florida football's blue-chip OL Tavaris Dice's injury status after spring season
Updating Florida football's blue-chip OL Tavaris Dice's injury status after spring season Four-star offensive lineman Tavaris Dice, who flipped from the Auburn Tigers to the Florida Gators in the 2025 recruiting cycle, sustained a knee injury during the spring practice season that necessitated surgical intervention, according to a report from Gators Online. The 6-foot-4-inch, 308-pound trench warrior out of Fairburn (Georgia) Langston Hughes, sustained the injury during the first week of spring practice while playing right tackle, according to the report. The coaching staff expects him to miss the 2025 campaign, but hopes that he will be healthy enough to participate in practice sessions during the season. The possibility does exist that he could recover quickly enough to return late next fall, but it seems more likely that his redshirt status will be invoked, salvaging a year of his collegiate eligibility. Florida's depth on the O-line should be enough to keep the incoming freshman off the field, but if it is not, that would be bad news for the Gators all around. TJ Dice scouting report Dice is ranked No. 167 overall and No. 19 at his position nationally according to the 247Sports composite, while the On3 industry ranking has him at Nos. 258 and 20, respectively. "'First off the bus' type with broad-shouldered, long-armed build who wears existing mass exceptionally well," 247Sports scouting analyst Gabe Brooks' report begins. "Gets off the line of scrimmage with quickness and shows encouraging bend relative to dimensions. Capable of leveraging under D-linemen and moving them off the ball. Natural drive blocker with promising run-game hand placement. Can play a bit tight through the hips and core, but appears to show better knee and ankle flexibility than many of his peers, especially in a combine setting," he continues. "Displays some finishing nastiness at times. Still developing strength and punch power consistency, but capacity for both should be quite high given physical upside. Has shown agility to beat much lighter speed-oriented edge rushers on an island. Multi-sport foundation includes basketball, which fuels functional athleticism and movement ability," Brooks points out. "Natural tackle who likely provides roster value as someone who probably could move inside if needed. Projects to the high-major level as a potential multi-year starter with physical tools and on-field context that suggest NFL draft upside." Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Joplin museum honors Langston Hughes with new exhibit
JOPLIN, Mo. — A new exhibit at the Joplin History Museum is dedicated to Joplin native and African American poet, Langston Hughes. 'He went on to do amazing and great things,' said Chris Wiseman, Joplin History Museum curator. Langston Hughes, the focus this Black History Month at the Joplin History Museum. It opened a temporary exhibit called, Harlem Renaissance and the Renaissance Man. It highlights the life and work of the Joplin native. 'He was a poet, a novelist, a musician. He was one of the key players in the Harlem Renaissance movement,' said Wiseman. Hughes was also one of the foremost interpreters of race relations in the US, from the 1920s through the 1960s. 'I've talked to some of the teachers in the community, and some of them, when they think Black history here in the Four States, you know, George Washington Carver comes to mind. A lot of people don't know there were other African American greats right here from our area, and Langston Hughes being one of them. So it's nice he's finally getting the recognition he deserves,' said Tierra Haws, Langston Hughes Cultural Society president. The center of the exhibit is a panel display featuring collaborations and connections between Langston Hughes and Gordon Parks, who was also a highly influential figure in the African American community during that time. 'It shows from a time when there was so much hate, that this man took that pain from his life and turned it into such amazing, beautiful things. I think that's the most remarkable thing of all,' said Wiseman. The display highlights and explores the history, journey, and friendship of the two men. Hughes, a poet — and Parks, a photographer. Both men, still today, considered leading voices through their art. 'My daughter, she read one of the poems and it had the word 'negro' in it, and she was like, 'Mom, I can't say that word,' and so it opens the world to education so that there's more. They're not just words on a paper, you have to hear those words,' said Haws. The exhibit will be on display through April. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
