Important Conversations Inspired By Comics

My head and my heart are so full, aching to the bursting point, that I must write. This pressure has built progressively thanks to a number of national events and local conversations including:

1. My heartbreak and fear for my black friends (neighbors, fellow citizens) and especially those raising black boys which inspired the conversation I had with my son about white privilege.
2. My frustration and anger with a country so steeped in rape culture that sexual assault and rape (not to mention the beating of women and children) goes unanswered and unacknowledged in the best case scenario and where often the victim suffers more from the system and public outrage than the perpetrator is topped only by my fear for the young women in my family, my church, my neighborhood, my country.
3. Talks with pre-service and practicing teachers about how we can encourage our students to read and engage deeply and meaningfully with texts as well as whether or not we should require (nay demand) they read classic/traditional/canon literature or simply focus on getting them to read.
4. Reflections on the life lessons learned from comics shared by the students in my comic book First Year Seminar.

I know. At first appearance it may not seem that the first two topics have anything to do with the second two, but bear with me for a minute. There is little that I can do about the first two topics. I can make my views known to others in the hopes of inspiring real dialogue and raising awareness; I can talk with my teenage son about white male privilege and respect; and I can talk about these issues with my students.

Read the full “Important Conversations Inspired By Comics” post on my Metawriting blog at: http://metawriting.deannamascle.com/