Recognizing the Importance of ‘Keeping It Real’ Language for Today’s Students
By Caleb Corkery
Attending convocation at a historically Black college or university, you’re likely to experience eloquent prayers, well-trained singers and rousing speeches imbued with cultural pride — all trademark performances of the HBCU tradition.
You may also see attendant lines of robed faculty and administrators, led by flags and a scepter. At the HBCU where I taught for 10 years, the community gathered this way five times a year.
About six years ago, the school invited author J. California Cooper to speak.
The dean introduced her as an important African-American contributor to contemporary letters, distinguishing her with the academic language he would use to extol any invited guest. However, Ms. Cooper never assumed that persona. Wearing jeans and a leather vest, she walked the edge of the stage talking with the students about their families, their relationships, their dreams. She hit on many of the themes we usually heard from behind the podium, but she spoke in a way they could identify with. She was “real,” and the students cheered and clapped and laughed throughout.
