OUR PROMISES TO THE WORLD
A Teacher Bids a Fond Farewell (for now) to His Fine Students and an Adventurous Course
[Background: Yesterday was the last regular class meeting of a new course I taught on Music and Poetry from the Harlem Renaissance to #BlackLivesMatter. The topic is an intense one, all the more so because emotions are riding high in the wake of the travesty of the Rittenhouse acquittal and the conviction of Mr. Ahmaud Arbery’s murderers. We all learned much — the students from our music and readings, I from the students. I wanted our last class to include something extra that was germane to the course but also “special” — something that would stick.
Hence this final activity. The idea came from a truly beautiful initiative started some years back by pianist and activist Lara Downes, host of NPR’s Amplify series, and that initiative itself was born of a one Rita Dove’s wonderful poems, Testimonial. In the last ten minutes of class time, I played this clip from Lara’s project, then asked the students write out their own “promise to the world.” Whether they would share this promise with others or keep it to themselves was up to them — but they took the activity seriously and were writing intensely in those final minutes of our class. I wrote with them — my own promise, one that I’ll keep in my heart, and keep.
These are fine students, every one of them. It’s a wonderfully mixed group: half of them are musicians, half come from other majors; half of them are students of color, the others White; half of them are women, half men.
Whatever they’ve promised the world, I know they’ll follow through. I promise you that.]
Why not take a few minutes now and write out your own promise to the world?
