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Books by Mary E. Weems
Public Education and the
Imagination-Intellect: I Speak from the Wound in My
Mouth /
Tampon Class
An Unmistakable Shade of Red &
The Obama Chronicles
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Mary E. Weems,
Ph.D. is an accomplished poet, playwright, author,
editor, performer, motivational speaker, and
imagination-intellect theorist. Weems has been widely
published in journals, anthologies, and several books
including
Public Education and the
Imagination-Intellect: I Speak from the Wound in My
Mouth (Lang, 2003), developed from her dissertation
which argues for imagination-intellectual development as
the primary goal of public education. She won the Wick
Chapbook Award for her collection in 1996, and in
1997 her play Another Way to Dance won the
Chilcote award for The Most Innovative Play by an Ohio
Playwright. Her most recent chapbook
Tampon Class
(Pavement Saw Press, 2005) is in its second printing.
Mary Weems currently teaches in the English and
Education departments at John Carroll University,
and works as a language-artist-scholar in k-12
classrooms, university settings and other venues through
her business Bringing Words to Life.
Contact Professor Weems,
mweems45@sbcglobal.net, for readings and
more information.
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Mary E. Weems.
Public Education and Imagination-Intellect: I Speak from
the Wound in My Mouth. New York: Peter Lang,
2003. 125 pp. $24.95. African American Review,
Fall 2005 by Meiko Negishi, Anastasia Elder
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LeBron James: 3rd 'Vogue' cover boy
LeBron James is striking a pose.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' superstar
will appear on the April cover of Vogue, joining actors
Richard Gere and George Clooney as the only men to do so
in the influential fashion magazine's 116-year history.
Wearing a tank top, shorts and
sneakers from his own Nike clothing line, James appears
on the cover dribbling a basketball and screaming as if
in game mode while throwing one arm around supermodel
Gisele Bundchen with Tom Brady nowhere to be found.
USA Today |
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En Vogue
*LeBron
James on Cover
of Vogue
Magazine, March 2008
Being
Black and male
always
been a commodity
this
brother not for sale
being
sold every day
on
dotted line
line
is long
white
folks who hire
see
money-green, Black, and go-rilla
remember movie
that
affirmed Darwin’s theory
his
evolution of the races
not
taught—known by almost everyone.
LeBron
knows basketball, charity,
love
and what he was taught in American schools.
U.S.
His-tory a white lie.
James
builds a dynasty
moves
across shoes
long
line of Black men
who
couldn’t play basketball
with
whites, but lived an America
sans
Civil Rights, heard
I wish Cotton was a
monkey”
on
The Little Rascals
knew what it meant.
By
Mary E. Weems
3-21-08 |
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Spring Break
New Jersey
Jacob Lawrence, 1946
The couple stepped out of Princeton
took a New Ark. On the white sand
color separated like oil and water
Princeton perched under umbrellas
drank from umbrella-topped frosted
glasses. The sweat on the glass
like the wet all around them
night arms and legs lifting and toting
with both sides, keeping their eyes
down to keep the look in them
from getting them
fired.
A poem from unpublished manuscript
titled "Night Gallery."
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Eulogy for Bernie Mack
I’m gon’ miss Bernie Back
like 45 mothafuckas
my
first and last Big Mac and fries,
The Mack in Superfly one, two, three,
and four
He
made me laugh so loud
I
thought my teeth, tongue and gums
would drop like a man caught sneaking
through his bedroom window drops to the ground,
like somebody just told me all his jokes at one
time,
like it was the last laugh I was evah gon’ have
Bernie Mack was so funny he didn’t have to cuss,
watchin’ his sitcom like being at home when I was
growin’ up,
except with a refrigerator fulla food and popcorn
his comedy took you from laughin’ ha! ha! to aha!
as
he hit Black life, poverty and politics on the head
When Bernie Mack conjugated mothafucka,
I
almost choked on laughter wellin’ up in my throat
like volcano mud, rememberin’ how many umpteenth
times
I’ve used that word to talk about everything under
the sun,
moon and stars
Thank you God for sendin’ us this brother,
this world his comedy club, the next blessed
to have him at the mike.
Mary E. Weems
August, 2008
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Say it Loud: Poems about James Brown
This is a shout
out for help. Almost a year ago, when brother James
Brown made his transition, I posted the following Call
for Poems about the impact his lifetime of music has had
on anyone within the reach of the call. To date the
“response” has been powerful but as of today—February
20, 2008, the number of poems submitted for
consideration number less than 50. Poets we need at
least another 150 poems, to put together a strong
anthology. I know a lot of people hit this drum. I’m
asking each person who reads this call to “stop” and
take a minute to forward it to at least “3” people they
know who are either poets or who know poets. If you
belong to other listservs, consider helping us out by
“posting” this call on it if possible. If ya’ll don’t
have a James Brown poem—consider writing one and sending
it to us. I realize all things come in their own time,
but on the practical side—books like these have their
“time” too—May 6, 2008, will mark a year the world’s
been without James Brown. In his honor, get down—send us
your James Brown poems today. Peace, Mary Weems
Say it Loud: Poems about James Brown.
Edited by: Mary E. Weems, and Thomas Sayers Ellis.
We grew up on
James Brown’s hit me! When he danced every young Black
man wanted to move, groove and look like him. Mr. Brown
wasn’t called the hardest workingman in show business
because he wasn’t. Experiencing a James Brown show was
like getting your favourite soul food twice, plus desert.
His songs, like black power fists you could be proud of
and move to at the same time. When Mr. Brown sang make
it funky we sweated even in the wintertime. Losing him
was like losing somebody in our family. This is a shout
out for poems about the impact James Brown had on our
lives. Poems that will help people remember,
honour, and
celebrate his legacy. Don’t be left in a cold sweat,
send us your old and new James Brown poems today.
Submission Guidelines: 3-5 Unpublished and/or
published poems with acknowledgement included. No longer
than 73 lines Deadline:
April 30, 2008
(Receipt not
postmark) Send hard copies along with a Word Document
and short bio on a CD to: Dr. Mary E. Weems / English
Department / John Carroll University / 20700 North Park
Blvd. / University Hts., Ohio 44118 / Send via e-mail
attachment (Word Documents Only) to:
mweems45@sbcglobal.net, and
mikeoatman@hotmail.com * * * *
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Book Review
Public Education and the Imagination-Intellect
I Speak from the Wound in My Mouth
By Mary E. Weems
This unique "auto/ethnographic, sacred performance text"
. . . invites readers to critique the public education
system. It posits that education should promote the
artistic alongside the scholarly, and that one's
intellect (thinking) and imagination (creativity) are
always connected. Through various literary forms, Weems
simultaneously explains and models her vision for public
education. Her writings utilize many forms of expression
(expository, plays, poetry) to convey a variety of
feelings, ideas, and situations regarding her own
journey through public education, and what she envisions
it could and should be.
The book explains an ideal vision and
follows it up with powerful portrayals of Weems's own
experiences that helped to shape her thinking. In this
way, the text serves as a compelling example of
self-expression, and demonstrates the kinds of products
one could expect if public education promoted
imagination-intellect. Weems sees the school as an
important agent that can produce activists to challenge
social problems, in particular, those surrounding issues
of race and ethnicity.
Her writing follows in the footsteps
of a Harlem Renaissance writer such as Zora Neale
Hurston and a Chicago Renaissance writer such as Richard
Wright. Weems's writing is also inspired by the
accomplishments of artistic African American women, such
as Toni Morrison and Anna Deveare Smith; and is
influenced by multicultural, educational theorists such
as Paulo Friere and Maxine Greene. Each chapter contains
unique poems, plays, and essays that invite the reader
to envision a more ideal educational system and to
confront racism.
Chapter One: "Utopia: Critical
Imagination-Intellect as a Pedagogical Focus," describes
ideal education. Weems proposes that teaching
environments be loving and respectful of students from
diverse backgrounds to foster each student's
imagination-intellect. She proposes a curriculum that
includes five areas critical for her educational utopia:
art appreciation, oral expression, written expression,
performance, and social consciousness. In this system,
students' awareness of social injustice and diversity
inspire them to be creative and thinking critically
through various arts. In her school, "Classrooms are
without walls.., and talking and movement while learning
is encouraged--never punished ... the school has a
nurturing environment of love, mutual respect,
reciprocal learning, and sharing ... each eight-week
period is marked by student performances.... There are
three categories: Rhetorical Debate, Scientific
Discovery, and Creative Performances grounded in
literature, history, math, and any of the physical
sciences."
Chapter Two:
"Transitions," the author brings the reader to the past
through her poetry:
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The plantation divides like separate arms
some hold the whip, trace his footsteps
report the smell of
freedom in the grass. |
Images
of slavery, suppression, and racism serve as grounding
for the remainder of the text, and comment on the
ever-present racism in US society.
Chapter Three: "Why I Speak
from the Wound in My Mouth," is autobiographical. This
section describes her youth, family, community, and the
experiences that contributed to the cultivation of her
artistic gifts. The reader begins to understand her path
to becoming an educator, poet, and activist. Weems grew
up in an artistic family, but not an ideal family or
community. She recalls, "We had plenty of problems:
alcoholism, unemployment, my relationship with my mother
was lousy during my adolescent years, and my father was
not around to be a father to me, but my grandparents
loved us. . . . "
She further connects narratives of
her experiences from kindergarten to high school to jobs
to graduate school. She describes her personal
evolution: how she came to enjoy poetry, her discovery
and awareness of social injustice, and her developing
self-confidence in her artistic and intellectual
abilities. In school and at work, she faced
institutionalized racism and sexism, but she also met
people who encouraged her return to college and her
degree in poetry. As it is often the case, the difficult
situations challenged and strengthened her. Moreover,
they led to the development of her bold, artistic inner
voice.
Chapter Four: "Dirt: An Autoethnographic Play" consists of four scenes with a single
character named Nuby, who is an African American woman
in her 40s. In each scene, dirt is used as symbols for
land (where one is from), path (where one is going),
belongings (one's self), and potential (what one has
inside). As an African American and as a woman, Nuby
looked for "dirt" to find who she was and what she
wanted in each stage of her life; when she found it, she
nurtured it.
Source: Find
Articles
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posted 14 March 2008
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