#koritha mitchell

[babylon-crashing]

Black Feminists Are Mobilizing for Trans Women Like Nina Pop

The fight for racial justice can only be enriched by feminist strategies developed with an eye toward trans inclusion and empowerment.

CHANGING TIDES 

by Koritha Mitchell

How do we fight for Black women, girls, and femmes when they’re alive? Trans communities are showing us the way, with Nina Pop’s life, and death, urging us to stand together in that work. [read more]

[leftofblack]

Left of Black S11 · E22 | Black Success and White Mobs with Koritha Mitchell    

Picture this: an angry mob of white citizens roaming the streets of their city to execute "justice" by seeking, not criminals who have harmed others, but Black families who achieved some level of financial success in their pursuit of the "American dream." From the Reconstruction era all the way to the Obamas in the White House, white anger at the sight of Black excellence has been an all-too-common scenario. Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined by award-winning author and Associate Professor of English at Ohio State University, Koritha Mitchell, as they discuss her latest book, From Slave Cabins to the White House: Homemade Citizenship in African American Culture, published by University of Illinois Press. 

[processedlives]

Decades of antilynching activism and testimony from victimized black families did not move the nation’s leaders at the last turn of the century, and today they are not the inspiration for the Senate’s historic gesture or for the majority of lynching scholarship. Instead, white-authored photographs have become the evidence that simply cannot be ignored. Granted, this is partly out of the spirit of letting the murderers condemn themselves. As art historian Dora Apel argues, “the loss to historical understanding incurred by refusing to see [these pictures] would only serve to whitewash the crimes of white supremacy” (6). But this reasoning does not change the fact that when we treat images of mutilated bodies as the ultimate evidence of lynching destruction, we reaffirm the authority of the mob. Ultimately , it is because they come from white perpetrators themselves that we have allowed the images to continue to trump testimony from victimized communities. By treating the pictures as records, we pretend that they offer an objective view, that they are less biased than the testimonies of those targeted by this terror. But the pictures are anything but objective. They represent a particular perspective, and they helped the mob to accomplish its work, during and long after the victim’s murder. The photographs did not simply document violence; they very much perform(ed) it.

Koritha Mitchell, Living with Lynching: African American Lynching Plays, Performance, and Citizenship, 1890-1930

[thesmithian-blog]

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to uphold Michigan's voter-approved ban on affirmative action in admissions to the state's public universities reinforces an ugly reality: that most Americans support affirmative action only when it is for whites and no one else. Nearly every time American rhetoric privileges states' rights, it leaves marginalized groups open to even bolder discrimination than they already encounter. Michigan is simply reminding us that the South has never been the only place where Americans believe that whites are the only ones who should enjoy equal protection.

Koritha Mitchell

[osuenglish-blog]

Spotlight: Queer Studies

As promised, here is our extraordinary Professor Koritha Mitchell talking to OSUenglish about her essay recently published in Callaloo, "Love in Action: Noting Similarities between Lynching Then & Anti-LGBT Violence Now." The essay can be found here.

Professor Mitchell's groundbreaking book is Living with Lynching: African American Lynching Plays, Performance, and Citizenship, 1890-1930. 

[afrolez-blog]

When faced with this choice, a powerful truth emerges: you need to have a vision for yourself! Surprise, surprise: that takes work, too. Often, we let shoulds replace doing the work of figuring out what our vision is. Remember, you will work hard regardless, but developing one’s vision seems to be the work that some of us would rather not do. It is far easier to let shoulds lead the way and then judge those who don’t bow to shoulds as selfish and self-centered. What does this refusal to should all over myself look like in practical terms? Above all, it manifests as a commitment to drawing boundaries and saying “no.” Is this easy? Of course not, especially not in academia, where everything is structured around favors and unpaid labor. The difficulty does not make it any less crucial, however. Saying “no” is like exercise: no one can do it for you. When do you say “no”? The answer must come from your vision for yourself and the contribution you want to make and from knowing your limits. If a task does not fit into your vision or it is beyond your capacity, then saying “no” is the sane and healthy response. Period..." ~ Koritha Mitchell, "Should-ing All Over Ourselves," (Day 5: The Feminist Wire's forum on Black (Academic) Women's Health) http://thefeministwire.com/2012/11/should-ing-all-over-ourselves/

[osuenglish-blog]

Spotlight: Koritha Mitchell -- Black Girls Run!

Professor Koritha Mitchell, aside from being a teacher and an award-winning author, is also an active and passionate runner. In April of 2011, she started the Columbus branch of "Black Girls Run!", a program that aims to help fight obesity and encourage a healthy lifestyle in African-American women by motivating members to run.

"Because I am choosing to focus on 'what my body can do,' I  refuse to allow running to become about anything but how grateful I am for life, health, and strength!  Being able to move is a blessing.  Running is one way that I show that I recognize that truth," says Mitchell in her post on the Life Time Fitness Blog.

Here are some more links about Mitchell's life as a runner:

- The Feminist Wire : an article about BGR, with a quote from Mitchell.

- Black Girls Run Profile : Koritha's profile on the BGR website.

[osuenglish-blog]

Spotlight: Koritha Mitchell

In the Spring of 2012, several hate crimes against African-Americans took place on and around OSU's campus. In this video - filmed during a sit-in about racism held at the Ohio Student Union - Mitchell pinpoints the cause of such crimes as acts against the success of blacks in society, a pattern she has encountered in her studies regarding lynching and violence in Black history.

Mitchell also briefly mentions the "Hoodies and Headscarves" rally that took place in February of 2012 as a protest against racial profiling. The rally was sparked by the Trayvon Martin shooting (more information here).

One of the aforementioned OSU hate crimes that Mitchell addresses was brought about by the Martin shooting. The words "Long Live Zimmerman" (the surname of Trayvon's killer) were spray-painted onto the walls of the Frank W. Hale Jr. Black Cultural Center on 12th Avenue (more here). Another incident took place just days later, when offensive symbols and words were spray-painted onto a mural of President Barack Obama mere blocks away (more here).

"I’m really proud to see the students kind-of advocate on their own behalf," Mitchell said in April of 2012. "I feel that part of what they are doing, too, is suggesting the importance of people standing with them."