And what do you think?
As a journalist, I have been sent many times on the dreaded "Man on the Street" assignment (sorry, it's still called that) where you go to a busy streetcorner, mall, post office, etc. and ask various people what they think about an issue. Although sometimes you meet well-informed, articulate people, most often the answers you receive are a clear indication of why higher education still has its work cut out for it in America.
So it is with this cynical attitude that I often approach forums such as public chatrooms, call-in radio shows, etc. Opinions generated so often do not have any research, let alone much thought, behind them. Thus, I was quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of postings in the Community Buzz section of BlackPlanet.com. Unlike many social networking sites that include superficial conversation (if not worse), I read some good discussion that took place about weighty issues.
Banks claims that "[such] can happen when students and other writers genuinely do have the right to their own language: they claim the right to speak, take the space to do it, and become invested in doing it thoroughly and effectively, and develop rhetorical savvy" (83). That is exactly what I witnessed on this web site. The Community Buzz section invites readers to post a link to an interesting news story, and then comment on it. Other readers will also read the article and comment on it. (You'd think this was a class assignment!)
The articles ranged from a story on the new black governor of Massachusetts to the top 10 myths about blacks to why black women date men who are "thugs". The responses were filled with words and phrases of African American language, as Banks noted. The interesting and informative postings covered topics such as stereotypes, social identities, political activism, images in advertising, roles of white people and more.
When we hear the call for instructors to encourage their students to be aware of the rhetorical actions taking place via technology, we can be assured that this web site is addressing that need. I would have liked to suggest that composition classes undertake a similar assignment of reading, posting and responding - but it looks like these people are already doing this for fun!
So it is with this cynical attitude that I often approach forums such as public chatrooms, call-in radio shows, etc. Opinions generated so often do not have any research, let alone much thought, behind them. Thus, I was quite pleasantly surprised by the quality of postings in the Community Buzz section of BlackPlanet.com. Unlike many social networking sites that include superficial conversation (if not worse), I read some good discussion that took place about weighty issues.
Banks claims that "[such] can happen when students and other writers genuinely do have the right to their own language: they claim the right to speak, take the space to do it, and become invested in doing it thoroughly and effectively, and develop rhetorical savvy" (83). That is exactly what I witnessed on this web site. The Community Buzz section invites readers to post a link to an interesting news story, and then comment on it. Other readers will also read the article and comment on it. (You'd think this was a class assignment!)
The articles ranged from a story on the new black governor of Massachusetts to the top 10 myths about blacks to why black women date men who are "thugs". The responses were filled with words and phrases of African American language, as Banks noted. The interesting and informative postings covered topics such as stereotypes, social identities, political activism, images in advertising, roles of white people and more.
When we hear the call for instructors to encourage their students to be aware of the rhetorical actions taking place via technology, we can be assured that this web site is addressing that need. I would have liked to suggest that composition classes undertake a similar assignment of reading, posting and responding - but it looks like these people are already doing this for fun!
posted by Beth @ 7:37 PM
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