My Premier Documentary (Updates)

Hi World!

So, for teach and talk...there is always much to teach on and MUCH to talk about =). First, I'd like to say that I will miss my teaching days because I will be resigning after this year. I have been accepted into the University of Wisconsin-Madison as a PhD student in the Curriculum & Instruction department for this coming Fall! How excited am I! And how good is our God!! I have also been offered a fellowship which will pay for my tuition. AWESOME! I am so excited. In the meantime, I am getting ready for that while continuing to work at Prosser. I haven't decided what my exact focus will be on, but it will center around urban education, high school African American students, African American lanugage (Ebonics), the intersection of identity & culture, and the history of African American education. It's a 4-6 year program, so goodbye Chicago and hello Madison, Wisconsin.

I also have met some AWESOME people who I will be in touch throughout the years and some of who are in my documentary, Black Lights. These people I owe so much appreciation to: Drs Keffrelyn Brown, Marvin Lynn, Dave Stovall, Carl Grant, Yolanda Majors, Gloria Ladson-Billings, Venus Evans-Winters, Pauline Lipman, Yurimi Grigsby, Isabel Nunez, and Erika Buhring. And there are MANY more to count.

I also want to thank ALL of my students who I have grown to known over the years. They were more of a teacher than I was b/c I was the one who has learned a LOT.

But back to the documentary. Again, it is about the successfulness of black students here in the Chicago area. I want to do this documentary so that society can recognize the fact that not all of our students should be shown in negative dimensions. Unfortunately, with the media today, black students are continually shown in a negative light (criminals, thugs, violent deviants, welfare mothers, high school dropouts). So the purpose of this film is to show some of the positive things that some of our black students are doing and reasons why this society should recognize this element of truth.

The documentary will be on popping!! It will include guests: J-Ivy and RhymeFest. So mark on your calendars the film premier:

Where: The Little Black Pearl....1070 E. 47th Street, Chicago, IL
When: Saturday, July 30, 2011 at 4-7pm
Cost: $10 (Food will be served and you will receive a copy of the DVD)

Please email me at manning.karla@gmail.com if you have any questions ...

Much love everybody!!

Karla Manning