Monday and Back to Work (literally)

It's Monday, and I had to come back to campus today to prepare for this semester. Last night I made a list of things I needed to accomplish for course preparation, so I can work through that list, checking off items as I go. I can THEN work on the dissertation. Oh, how I wish I could reverse the order of those items, dissertation first, other stuff second. Anyway, my goal today is to chop through the list of things to do (email, copies, phone calls, syllabi prep) then write this afternoon. Specifically, today I want to write about the death of Darrent Williams (this may or may not make it to the dissertation, but the issues surrounding him are important and they could inform my chapter on perception). While I didn't know Williams, I did once work with students at the high school he attended when I directed a dual-enrollment program at another university. On Saturday, Williams was buried and the local newspaper had coverage of the funeral. How the paper chose to portray the man in this article (explicitly but also implicitly) was highly unfortunate, and that's not even the right word. There are such negative perceptions associated with African American men, athletes, that I need to write about it. I might post more on my other blog, but that's the goal: write about this specific case and let this inform my other work.