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October 13, 2005
Desperately Seeking Elaine
Presence, power, and eloquence; these are the first three adjectives that come to mind when I think of the discussion that Elaine Richardson gave at the Goldstein Aud. yesterday afternoon concerning the incarceration of Lil Kim. She spoke of linguistic identity and multiple selves; she spoke of a more subtle type of slavery-the type that judges enforce rather than abjudicate. She explained exactly how the legal system betrayed-no-railroaded another woman of color based on the myth of Jezebel. As she spoke I couldn't help but be grateful for her presentation and the way in which she clarified the importance of linguistic identity and the use of cultural rhetoric when your back is against the wall as Lil Kim's was. She read testimony from the trial and explained why Kim responded in the vernacular, although the questions were in legalese. She broke it down in a way that was easily understood, yet difficult to refute. As we say in the hood-she brought it! I was graciously given the opportunity to dine with Professor Richardson and discovered that her scholarship is more than pedagogy and lectures; indeed, it is her mission to improve the lives of those of us that feel at home only when we are in our vernacular, and to broaden the horizons of those that pledge themsleves to the linguistic prejudice that exists within and without the university. Elaine, thank you-for keeping it real, breaking it down, and letting us all know that along with our womanhood and color comes a power that no plain speaking person can take from us; at least not anymore.
Posted by dvaldesd at October 13, 2005 11:10 PM