This Month’s Book Celebrates the Art of Conversation in Brave New Ways

Learning and education are integral parts of the Alluvial Collective’s mission. What better way to educate ourselves than via a good read? With that in mind, we launched a monthly book giveaway recommending books that inspire us to discuss and reflect.

This month’s book is “Good Talk” by Mira Jacob.

From the Publisher:

Like many six-year-olds, Mira Jacob’s half-Jewish, half-Indian son, Z, has questions about everything.

At first, they are innocuous enough, but as tensions from the 2016 election spread from the media into his own family, they become much, much more complicated. Trying to answer him honestly, Mira has to think back to where she’s gotten her own answers: her most formative conversations about race, color, sexuality, and, of course, love.

Written with humor and vulnerability, this deeply relatable graphic memoir is a love letter to the art of conversation—and to the hope that hovers in our most difficult questions.

This Month’s Book Sheds New Light on the History of Slavery in the American South

Learning and education are integral parts of the Alluvial Collective’s mission. What better way to educate ourselves than via a good read? With that in mind, we launched a monthly book giveaway recommending books that inspire us to discuss and reflect.

This month’s book is “Behind the Big House: Reconciling Slavery, Race, and Heritage in the U.S. South” by Jodi Skipper.

Click here to enter by April 29.

From the Publisher:

When residents and tourists visit sites of slavery, whose stories are told? All too often the lives of slaveowners are centered, obscuring the lives of enslaved people. Behind the Big House gives readers a candid, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to interpret the difficult history of slavery in the U.S. South. The book explores Jodi Skipper’s eight-year collaboration with the Behind the Big House program, a community-based model used at local historic sites to address slavery in the collective narrative of U.S. history and culture.

A Letter From our Executive Director, Von Gordon

Governor William Winter would always greet me with, “Hello, my friend,” and he would shake my hand and pull me in for a hug when he was able. As a nineteen-year-old, I didn’t understand that that was significant for a man of his generation, but it was. It was warm, like a favorite uncle or someone who saw great value in you. I had not experienced that kind of affirmation much from older white men. He made me feel like a friend, a solid friend.

Over the early years, Gov. would write me letters or short notes or call me from time to time. We would have lunch on occasion, often at his request, and a few times, we watched games together. I was deeply impressed by him, admired him, and was proud of our friendship before I understood who he was in the history of my home state or the nation.

I used to listen to him talk about the days of segregation, his childhood, and his public life. At times I think I heard with skepticism of the great grandmother who helped raise me. She was born around 1904; in the beginning, that felt necessary and safe for me. I was raised where the Southern Railway crossed the Yazoo Delta/Yellow Dog Railroad in Moorhead, MS, and he seemed even more proud of that than me. He was earnest, seldom spoke about history with too much nostalgia, and at times expressed regret; I appreciated all of that. He became one of my most precious friends, perhaps because few of my other friends had friends like him.

Many of my friends, mentors, and many of my heroes held him in the highest regard. He was an ally, a leader, a statesman, and even an example or model for them. I don’t think he fully understood his personal impact on people, but as we got older, I was proud to share his impact on me with him. His name means a lot to me. For about ten years, I have been blessed to do meaningful work in an organization bearing his name, honorable and gifted people with an incredible diversity of lived experiences.

At the Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation, we’ve always prided ourselves on taking the values we shared with him everywhere we went. From the moment we arrived, whether in-person or on-screen, we worked to extend the dignity and respect to others that he extended to each of us. Outside of sports, especially games with crappy officiating, I never heard him say a degrading thing about anyone, and if I choose to do so, the best I’d get from him was a “perhaps, I can see that,” and we’d move on.

As the new Executive Director of that organization and in agreement with the Winter family, his children, and their children, we have adopted a new name for that organization. It began as the University of Mississippi Institute for Racial Reconciliation and Civic Renewal. I was the lone student and the youngest founding board member when it was created. Judge Rueben Anderson, Judge Constance Slaughter-Harvey, Mayor Robert Walker, Judge Charles Pickering, Dr. Andy Mullins, Dr. Gloria Kellum, Chancellor Khayat, Dr. Charles Payne, John Geary, Rev. Wadlington, Dr. Charles Wilson, Professor Jan Murray, Traci Mitchell, and Judge Mike Mills, Mr. J.L. Holloway, and my professor, Dr. Charles Eagles were all in that space and in different ways their stories and experiences are with me today. Governor and Dr. Susan Glisson became members of my tribe, and we cared for each other.

The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation is now the Alluvial Collective. Our team is proud of that name because it captures what we have always worked to be, a space where simple seeds of hope and expectation can fall into fertile ground, take root, and be the kind of change that leads to better. Our work is not changing.

The alluvial soil is the most fertile, made so by generations of deposits of richness. We are a collective because our organization has always been meant for people to come and find common purpose, dignity, respect, and possibility.

This has been fun for me to write. I am humbled to count myself in the number of young people Governor Winter invested in and empowered. I think that investment is one of the most critical tests of leaders. This test reminds me of two things. One, Sweet Honey and The Rock’s Ella’s Song, which captures the words and spirit of Ella Baker’s philosophy on leadership, makes me think of leaders like him.

They sing, “The older I get, the better I know that the secret of my going on is when the reins are in the hands of the young, who dare to run against the storm.” Governor intuitively understood that, and his deflection of ambition often showed that. Two, the now-famous homily of Rev. Rob Lowry after the Governor’s passing in 2020. Rev. Lowry says, “…rest well, my friend. We will take it from here.”

Indeed, we will take it from here.

Vondarius “Von” Gordon
Executive Director

Alluvial Collective logo

This Month’s Book Discusses the American South and the Soul of a Nation

Learning and education are integral parts of the Alluvial Collective’s mission. What better way to educate ourselves than via a good read? With that in mind, we launched a monthly book giveaway recommending books that inspire us to discuss and reflect.

This month’s book is “South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation” by award-winning author and scholar Imani Perry.

Click here to enter by March 25.

From the Publisher:

This is the story of a Black woman and native Alabaman returning to the region she has always called home and considering it with fresh eyes. Her journey is full of detours, deep dives, and surprising encounters with places and people. She renders Southerners from all walks of life with sensitivity and honesty, sharing her thoughts about a troubling history and the ritual humiliations and joys that characterize so much of Southern life.

This Month’s Book Discusses America’s Reckoning with Slavery

Education is an integral part of the Winter Institute’s mission. What better way to educate ourselves than via a good read?

With that in mind, we launched a monthly book give away recommending books we’re reading and reflecting on.

This month’s book is “How the Word is Passed” by award-winning author Clint Smith.

Click here to enter by December 24.

From the Publisher:

In a deeply researched and transporting exploration of the legacy of slavery and its imprint on centuries of American history, How the Word Is Passed illustrates how some of our country’s most essential stories are hidden in plain view-whether in places we might drive by on our way to work, holidays such as Juneteenth, or entire neighborhoods—like downtown Manhattan—on which the brutal history of the trade in enslaved men, women and children has been deeply imprinted.

Informed by scholarship and brought alive by the story of people living today, Clint Smith’s debut work of nonfiction is a landmark work of reflection and insight that offers a new understanding of the hopeful role that memory and history can play in making sense of our country and how it has come to be.

Webinar Replay: Dr. John F. Marszalek III Discusses the Lives of Same Sex Couples in Mississippi

 

Watch the replay of the November 18, 2021 webinar featuring Dr. John F. Marszalek III.

 

About the Session

Dr. John Marszalek III discusses what he learned from his interviews of same-sex couples living in small towns and rural areas of Mississippi, which are included in his book, Coming Out of the Magnolia Closet: Same Sex Couples in Mississippi (University Press of Mississippi, 2020). He will describe the complicated relationship between these couples and their communities, influenced by southern culture, religion, and family norms. Because the couples are diverse in age, race, gender, and religion/spirituality, their stories demonstrate how they negotiate aspects of their identities depending on the setting, people, and circumstances.

About the Presenter

Dr. John F. Marszalek III is a National Certified Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor in Mississippi. He is author of Coming Out of the Magnolia Closet: Same-Sex Couples in Mississippi, published by University Press of Mississippi, and winner of the 2020 Digital Book Worlds Award for Best Nonfiction and Best Published by a University Press.

 

 

Webinar Replay: Rashida H. Govan, Invisible Woman – Black women and girls and their fight against social inequities

Watch the replay of the November 4 , 2021 webinar featuring Rashida H. Govan.

About the Session

We join Rashida H. Govan in a discussion focused on the unique experiences of Black women and girls in America and how participants can help gain awareness and provide support. This discussion considers the unique experiences of Black women and the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and social class in their lived experiences.

About the Presenter

Rashida Govan is an educator, scholar-activist and writer who has worked for over 20 years in education, policy advocacy and youth development. Govan considers her research the academic complement to the organizing efforts of Black and Brown people in pursuit of more just and well communities of color. She uses her research to amplify the power of marginalized people and to center their voices, experiences and ideas to transform systems, institutions, and communities.

Rashida has spent much of her career cultivating safe and just spaces that promote healing, learning and movement building for youth, families and community. This includes founding Project Butterfly New Orleans, an African centered girls rites of passage program that has served over 300 girls since 2009 and  leading the New Orleans Youth Alliance where she has trained over 800 educators and youth development professionals nationally on trauma-informed practice, healing justice and racial equity. Govan also leads numerous community education programs including parent training, community teach-ins and lectures.

Prior to her work in the nonprofit sector, Govan spent ten years working in higher education in enrollment management and student affairs in leadership roles at Morgan State University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and the Community College of Baltimore County. She has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, The Community College of Baltimore County and at the University of New Orleans teaching courses in women’s studies, hip hop culture, leadership and education leadership and administration.

Rashida has also  spoken nationally and internationally on a wide range of issues including healing justice, racial equity, and trauma-informed practice in education and youth development. She has spoken widely on issues concerning Black girls and women and is frequently sought to speak on issues impacting young people. Govan is a proud graduate of Morgan State University, the University of Maryland and the University of New Orleans.

A Look Into the Lives of Same-Sex Couples in Mississippi

Marszalek headshot

Photo source: Marszalek’s website

 

History, sociology, psychology, and memoir are all disciplines that can bring greater understanding and perspective to how people live their lives, form communities, and create relationships. Mississippi-native Dr. John F. Marszalek III brings all of these disciplines together in his book Coming Out of the Magnolia Closet: Same Sex Couples in Mississippi. 

Weaving together narratives from one-on-one interviews, historical events, and statistical data from national polls, surveys, and academic studies, Marszalek creates a memoir that delivers for both general and scholarly audiences. And this was Marszalek’s intention, as he describes in a Q&A:

I intentionally wrote the book so that it would be relatable to both general and scholarly readers. I think it will provide readers with a glimpse into the lives of same-sex couples living in the rural and small-town south….The stories, both heartbreaking and hopeful, come through in the dialogues between the couples and me about meeting and falling in love, marriage, and their experiences with their families, communities, and churches.

Marszalek says that he wrote Coming Out of the Magnolia Closet to also “challenge the stereotype” that gay and lesbian couples would not choose to live in Mississippi. He includes insights from his own life “as a gay, married man living in Mississippi”, which personalizes the memoir even more.

In addition to his memoir, Marszalek hosts a podcast that illuminates the experiences of queer individuals while also discussing queer politics and studies. Marszalek is also a National Certified Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor in Mississippi and has been a counselor educator for over 20 years, with numerous articles on counseling published in research journals.

Learn more about Marszalek and his memoir and take part in the discussion about the experiences of same-sex couples in this latest discussion in the Community Learning Series. Click here to register now.

About Dr. John F. Marszalek III

Dr. John F. Marszalek III is a National Certified Counselor and Licensed Professional Counselor in Mississippi. He is author of Coming Out of the Magnolia Closet: Same-Sex Couples in Mississippi, published by University Press of Mississippi, and winner of the 2020 Digital Book Worlds Award for Best Nonfiction and Best Published by a University Press.

This Month’s Book Focuses on Same-Sex Couples in Mississippi

Picture of Book

Education is an integral part of the Winter Institute’s mission. What better way to educate ourselves than via a good read?

With that in mind, we launched a monthly book give away recommending books we’re reading and reflecting on.

This month’s book is “Coming Out of the Magnolia Closet: Same-Sex Couples in Mississippi” by award-winning author John F. Marszalek III.

Click here to enter by November 28.

From the Publisher:

In Coming Out of the Magnolia Closet: Same-Sex Couples in Mississippi, John F. Marszalek III shares conversations with same-sex couples living in small-town and rural Mississippi. In the first book of its kind to focus on Mississippi, couples tell their stories of how they met and fell in love, their decisions on whether or not to marry, and their experiences as sexual minorities with their neighbors, families, and churches. Their stories illuminate a complicated relationship between many same-sex couples and their communities, influenced by southern culture, religion, and family norms.

 

Intersectionality and the Invisible Woman: A Discussion With Rashida H. Govan

Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man shook the nation with its poignant narrative on the experiences of Black Americans during the early 50s. His book catalyzed the civil rights movement, and brought the injustices experienced by Black Americans to the forefront of the nation’s consciousness.

However, the experiences of Black women and girls continue to be under-appreciated, and are rarely discussed through the many angles of lived experience. Like Ellison’s protagonist, Black women and girls are invisible, unnoticed, in conversations revolving around national inequities, challenges, and discrimination.

In this latest Community Learning Series, we will join educator, scholar-activist, and writer Rashida H. Govan, in a discussion focused on the unique experiences of Black women and girls in America and how participants can help gain awareness and provide support. This discussion considers the unique experiences of Black women and the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality and social class in their lived experiences. 

About Rashida H. Govan

Rashida Govan is an educator, scholar-activist and writer who has worked for over 20 years in education, policy advocacy and youth development. Govan considers her research the academic complement to the organizing efforts of Black and Brown people in pursuit of more just and well communities of color. She uses her research to amplify the power of marginalized people and to center their voices, experiences and ideas to transform systems, institutions, and communities.

Rashida has spent much of her career cultivating safe and just spaces that promote healing, learning and movement building for youth, families and community. This includes founding Project Butterfly New Orleans, an African centered girls rites of passage program that has served over 300 girls since 2009 and  leading the New Orleans Youth Alliance where she has trained over 800 educators and youth development professionals nationally on trauma-informed practice, healing justice and racial equity. Govan also leads numerous community education programs including parent training, community teach-ins and lectures.

Prior to her work in the nonprofit sector, Govan spent ten years working in higher education in enrollment management and student affairs in leadership roles at Morgan State University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Maryland and the Community College of Baltimore County. She has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Maryland, The Community College of Baltimore County and at the University of New Orleans teaching courses in women’s studies, hip hop culture, leadership and education leadership and administration. 

Rashida has also  spoken nationally and internationally on a wide range of issues including healing justice, racial equity, and trauma-informed practice in education and youth development. She has spoken widely on issues concerning Black girls and women and is frequently sought to speak on issues impacting young people. Govan is a proud graduate of Morgan State University, the University of Maryland and the University of New Orleans.

Support our collective movement to end inequity for all people.