One of the Many Things That Makes My Heart Glad!

Image of Langston that I projected on the Smartboard!

People, just know, that I love Langston Hughes. I teach a short story by Langston titled "Thank You M'am" to my 9th grade students every year. Not only is it pleasant to read, but there are so many good lessons in this very short, short story (Two pages).

Before, we read this story, I tell the students about Langston Hughes, and know that, just talking about him makes me happy, and this joy normally rubs off on my students.

I projected his picture from the Smartboard, I recited his poems to them, and the class did a choral reading of one of his poems. (They really got a kick out of that.)

This year, I told them about this restaurant in DC that is named for Langston Hughes called Busboy and Poet. I told them that Langston was a busboy/poet right here in this great city of Washington D.C.

A few of the students had been to the restaurant before but did not know the Langston connection.

So, Today, one of my students came to my desk smiling real hard.

She said:

"Ms. Stallworth, I went to the restaurant Busboy and Poet this weekend."

My heart did a flip. I asked her many questions, and she was very excited to share the experience. She even shared the experience with the entire class.

She said:

"Ms. Stallworth, I have proof that I went there."

I said: "Show me."

She pulled out a picture of her with her brother at the restaurant and a picture of her holding The Selected Poems of Langston Hughes in the bookstore that's in the restaurant.

WOW!

I am so happy that I was able to pour my love for Langston onto this child.

I really hope that she passes the love on.

(Can't show the picture that she gave me; I must respect her privacy.)

"Hard Times Require Furious Dancing" by Alice Walker

Alice Walker

When I was in college, my roommate Deitrea and I would get stressed out from time to time. Eventhough she use to party, and I would drink and party, we were still very good girls who felt that it was an ultimate sin to say a curse word. So, to relieve stress, we would say the word motherf#@@#  and laugh until we cried.

Deitrea: College Roommate

When I lived in Detroit, I had a great friend named Brenda Childress and we both loved to laugh, and we would laugh at just about anything.

In the late 90's, Detroit had a BAD snow storm. When I lived there, school never closed because of snow, but this snow storm caused school to be closed. So, you know that this storm was BAD.

Brenda and I decided that we had had enough of being in the house, so we got into her SMALL Toyota Corolla during the worse snowstorm that Detroit had seen in years and went for a ride. Needless to say, we got stuck on a snow pile and it took quite a few men to FREE us. We laughed, laughed, and laughed all the way home. Mission accomplished: we had released the stress that was built up from being in the house for days and days during a BIG snow storm.

Alice Walker, one of my favorite authors, (Check out "Meridian," it tells the story of Meridian who just couldn't give up the struggle.) recently released a new collection of poems titled Hard Times Require Furious Dancing. 

Busboy and Poet, a restaurant in DC, had a "Hard Times Require Furious Dancing" dance party featuring Alice Walker. The owner removed most of the table and chairs and the entire restaurant became a dance floor. Everyone in the restaurant was dancing to an African band and later to a DJ. I don't know about anybody else, but after that party, I felt like "everythings gonna be all right."

This is what Alice has to say about hard times and dancing:

I am the youngest of eight siblings. Five of us have died. I share losses, health concerns, and other challenges common to the human condition, especially in these times of war, poverty, environmental devastation, and greed that are quite beyond the most creative imagination. Sometimes it all feels a bit too much to bear. Once a person of periodic deep depressions, a sign of mental suffering in my family that affected each sibling differently, I have matured into someone I never dreamed I would become: an unbridled optimist who sees the glass as always full of something. It may be half full of water, precious in itself, but in the other half there’s a rainbow that could exist only in the vacant space.
I have learned to dance………..

Wishing to honor the role of dance in the healing of families, communities, and nations, I hired a local hall and a local band and invited friends and family from near and far to come together, on Thanksgiving, to dance our sorrows away, or at least to integrate them more smoothly into our daily existence. The next generation of my family, mourning the recent death of a mother, my sister-in-law, created a spirited line dance that assured me that, though we have all encountered our share of grief and troubles, we can still hold the line of beauty, form, and beat — no small accomplishment in a world as challenging as this one.

Hard times require furious dancing. Each of us is the proof.

People dancing in a circle at the Furious Dance Party!

Alice Walker and the Owner of Busboy and Poet!

Me and Rhonda!



People, please share what you do during hard times to relieve stress so that we may be able to give suggestions to those who may be going through hard times now and those of us who may go through hard times in the future.

However, keep it clean, children read this blog from time to time :)

That Southern Feeling



I was raised in a very small, rural town in Sweet Home Alabama. Our town didn't have the things that most places have like traffic lights, fast food restaurants or a decent grocery store. We had to travel at least twenty miles in order to experience the luxuries that were afforded other towns. Today, there is a traffic light and a few restaurants but no chain restaurant. Hooray!!!!!

We may not have had many luxuries, but we did have a sense of community. Our town had that true Southern Feeling. All of the children who lived in my neighborhood rode the school bus, yes, yellow school bus with no air conditioner in Alabama, to school. Riding the bus really provided bonding opportunities for us. Mr. Buster, our neighbor, would take us on hay rides on the back of his huge truck for Halloween. There were plenty of girl scout meetings and cookouts, choir rehearsals, band rehearsals etc.

What sticks out the most in my mind is the free lunch program that was held at the church during the summer. Everyday, during the week, the kids and their parents would go to the church for the free lunch that was provided by the government. Yes, we did get benefits from the government. I hope that this does not turn to many people off. But, we would get there early and maybe have bible study, play, fight and eat our free lunch. When I think of those bologna sandwiches with that thick cheese, I get a warm feeling.

Children being Children

So, I have lived in two cities: Detroit and the DC area. I have really been pondering what it is that I love about both of these cities. The answer hit me as I was running with a lady from my running group, and we were discussing people that we mutually knew from the different groups that we belonged to; these cities have that Southern Feeling.

Detroit is a big city that is full of people from the South. I taught high school in Detroit, so, I was welcomed into the community. I was invited to church, back yard barbecues, and neighborhood bars. While driving in my car, people would blow or wave, because they recognized me. Now, you know that this is awesome in a big city. When I would go into my favorite bar, it felt just like Cheers with that Southern Feeling of everybody knowing everybody. There is nothing like going some place and people knowing your name.



Now, the DC area is my home forever, I hope! It definitely has that Southern Feeling. The main thing that contributes to that Southern Feeling are the number of groups that are here that helps to make this big area, which includes DC, Maryland, and Virginia, a really small place. There are running groups, cycling groups, scrape booking groups, book club groups, hiking groups, cooking groups, church groups and the list goes on and on.



Place where I love to run!

I am a member of two running groups, a book club group, a cycling group, and an outdoor group that is part of the school where I teach. I also have friends who are members of other groups and so, from time to time, I partake in their groups' activities which expands that Southern Feeling even more.

I run into people from my different groups all over the city. Although I may not know many of their names, when I see them out, it's like running into old friends. I met two girls who are from a small town near the small town where I grew up, and we chat like we have been knowing each other forever. With the running group, I typically run with the same people every week, but every now and then someone new will pop up.  I ran with a lady last Saturday who knew quite a few of the students whom I currently teach. I thought, WOW, this really is a small town. While watching the news, I saw this political commentary who looked real familiar, and then I realized that he was a man from one of my running groups; he is a friend in a round about way. When I have these type of experiences, I get the same feeling that I use to get when I ate those bologna and cheese sandwiches at the church.

There was a research done, trust me on this, I'm not sure where I read it, but the research stated that if a person has at least one group that he/she belongs to, and she is expected to show up at least once a month, this increases that person's happiness level.

So, if you live in a big city or a small town, I am encouraging you to join a group or start a group in order to increase your happiness level and get that Southern Feeling.

There is someone out there who knows what I'm talking 'bout. HOLLER............

 



Poet Nikki Giovanni Speaks at Busboys & Poets | NBC Washington



Nikki Giovanni outside of a bar in DC!



I was flipping through a 9th grade literature textbook desperately seeking a story that my students would enjoy, and at the same time, be able to review a few concepts for their upcoming final exam. As I was flipping through the textbook, I ran across this wonderful poem by Nikki Giovanni:

“The World Is Not a Pleasant Place to Be"

By

Nikki Giovanni

                                         the world is not a pleasant place 

                                         to be without

                             someone to hold and be held back

                             a river would stop

                             its flow if only
                                         a stream were there

                             to receive it

                             an ocean would never laugh

                             if clouds weren’t there

                             to kiss her tears

  
                                        the world is not

                            a pleasant place to be without

                            someone

Nikki is in DC quite often, and I see her just about every time that she is in town. I must admit that I am a semi -Nikki stalker. I have seen her so many times, that when I show up to see her, she gives me shout-outs. You just don't know how happy it makes me to receive a shout-out from someone whose writings are in textbooks.

Click on the link below to see Nikki at a great restaurant in DC called Busboy and Poet. The restaurant is named for Langston Hughes who was a busboy/poet. I am in one of the pictures with a CD that she gave to me.

Poet Nikki Giovanni Speaks at Busboys & Poets NBC Washington