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March 27, 2007
Letter to the Committee
I just got an e-mail from our shared reading committee concerning the freshman book for 2008. With next year's CCCC's on my brain, and the site where it will be taking place, I couldn't help but wonder to myself when the last time was that I even heard anyone discussing Katrina. Usually, I don't pay these types of e-mails any attention mostly because I don't think my vote will make a difference. But this time I felt I had to try, so this is what I wrote:
Hi Judith.
My name is Denise Valdes-Doty. and I am a second year Ph.D student in the Writing Program. I would like to nominate the book Why New Orleans Matters, by Tom Piazza. My suggestion is based on a few things: Firstly, I feel that in the midst of our current political activities in Iraq and beyond, we have lost sight of the fact that we have a very real tragedy happening right here at home. While no longer valuable press for tabloids and the like, the residents of New Orleans are still attempting to reconstruct their lives in ways that subtly defy our authentic understanding of them. There are many changes happening at that site that include more than simple recovery. For example, the influx of Latinos (both legal and illegal) has grown exponentially since before Katrina hit. Additionally, health care has become a concern as well. These themes can be carried throughout the semester not only in our writing studios, but also across the curriculum in disciplines like geography, sociology and certainly psychology. The changes in population, health care, and emotional stress are issues that we, in academia, need to keep on the front burner. While I have not yet read this book, it is certainly on my list for summer reading. Hopefully, it will provide us with a point of entry with which to take these and any other issues concerning our fellow citizens up with rigor, ambition, and empathy.
Thanks for considering this book.
Posted by dvaldesd at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2007
ABCCCC'S
CCCC's was an experience this year. I have to say that I didn't enjoy it as much as I did last year, due partly to arriving with work that had to be completed, and partly because sometimes you just shouldn't bring sand to the beach...if you know what I mean. I did, however, see some great panels, meet some new people, and talk to some amazing scholars. AND, I have to give props to my girl and Scholar for the Dream, Tamika Carey, who was one of ten emerging scholars chosen to receive this honor. Otherwise, my hometown was amazing, and what I felt was akin to what I imagine most tourists feel when they walk along 42nd street in awe of the illumination. The lights were beautiful, and the weather reminded me that there actually are four seasons instead of just the two we get in Upstate NY.
Next year, the conference is in New Orleans, and I came home to find the call for papers waiting in my mailbox. I have already begun thinking about what kind of rhetorical contribution I can make to the conversation concerning all of the post-Katrina changes that the state has had to deal with. Of particular interest in the current influx of Latino/a immigration due to the need for reconstruction labor, and the response they are receiving from the residents. The articles that I have read thus far talk about the resentment building because some workers feel that the new workers are making more money than the residents. To be honest, there is a problem with this latest development that exceeds the fiscal. These people are still trying to rebuild their lives, and after all of the devastation and loss already suffered, the last thing needed is a wage war with another marginalized group. What I want to know is who is pulling the strings. What corporation is responsible for this "divide and conquer" plan? And more importantly, how does it help the people of New Orleans more than the big corporations? Maybe that's where my next CCCC's paper and the rhetorical conversation begins.
It really hasn't been that long since...
Posted by dvaldesd at 07:48 PM | Comments (1)