This week our class continued its investigation on how the Black Lives Matter Movement understands the end of the world. Two questions I had posed to myself in an attempt to fully understand Black Lives Matter’s relation to the end of the world were 1) where does the motivation for apocalypse stem from? and 2) what is the goal? While the answer to the first question came somewhat easily to me, I was left grappling with the second one. I simply recognized that Black life could not thrive within the structures in place, and was excited to see the imagined…

This week our class began its investigation on how the Black Lives Matter Movement understands the end of the world. Even before engaging with the texts my beliefs and values were shaped by the recognition that in order to achieve true equality for all races, genders, classes, etc., some type of revolution was necessary. However, it never occurred to me to consider revolution through an apocalyptic/eschatological framework. When thinking of the apocalypse, my mind gravitates to images of chaos and destruction. In the Christian context, the apocalypse is defined as “imminent cosmic cataclysm in which God destroys the ruling powers…

This week our class continued its investigation on the role of religion in the fight for Civil rights. While our focus up until now had been on notable Black theologians such as Martin Luther King Jr. and James H. Cone, finally Black women have been introduced to the conversation. While I was not quite familiar with womanist theology before engaging with this week’s texts, I have much knowledge about the concept of womanism as well as how the lived experiences of Black women may have shaped the theories that would later emerge. I find the distinction between using the term…

This week our class began its analysis on religion and its impact on the existential realities of Black folk. While I am somewhat familiar with the role of spirituality in both the Civil Rights and contemporary Black Lives Matter movement, I did not know much about the theories that emerged. I was especially interested in learning about how theology shapes practice as well as how Martin Luther King Jr, in the context of the civil rights movement, applied theology to social justice.

A Baptist minister, Martin Luther King Jr. led the movement with a radical Christian message that equated the…

This week our class concluded its investigation on the history and realities of Blackness. Prior to engaging the assigned texts, I had some knowledge on how the lived experiences of Black folk are impacted by the legacies of slavery even in the contemporary era. One thing that especially stood out to me was the title of Christina Sharpe’s piece, In the Wake. To be “in the wake” of something is defined as “a happening after an event or as a result of it.” However, there is also a sense of loss implied when using these words. In the wake of…

This week our class continued its investigation on race and the construction of Blackness, specifically, how it is seen as abject and criminal. Because my area of research focuses on the prison industrial complex, mass incarceration, and policing practices in schools, this is not the first time I have engaged with Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow or Monique W. Morris’ Pushout. I first learned about these systems of oppression when I attended the ACLU’s Summer Advocacy Institute in 2017 with a concentration in “Racial Justice, Policing, and Mass Incarceration.” This experience is what sparked my passion for social justice…

This week our class began its investigation on race and the construction of Blackness, specifically, how it is seen as abject and criminal. When thinking of how Black bodies are marked, the first thing that came to mind before reading the assigned materials was a quote from Hortense Spillers’ Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe in which she writes,

“the names by which I am called in the public place render an example of signifying property plus. In order for me to speak a truer word concerning myself, I must strip down through layers of attenuated meaning, made an excess in time…

Hi everyone! My name is Becca Sam and I’m super excited to be learning and growing alongside you all this semester! In the meantime, this post will serve as a way for you to get to know me better (beyond the tiny face you see in zoom sessions at least.)

A few fun facts I always start out with when introducing myself are:

1. I’m a Leo; take that as you will
2. I love cooking (I’d say I’m fairly decent but I might be biased)
3. I practice yoga
4. I just finished watching “Avatar: The Last Airbender” — — I’m currently looking…