Tracy Morgan: An equal opportunity jokester ?

In Tracy Morgan’s recent non-apology for his violent homophobic rif from the stage he explained:

“I want to apologize to my fans and the gay & lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others,” said Morgan, 42.

“While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.”

Wanna hear the joke?

Tracy said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N*!!** to death.

What a jokester, huh ?!

I kind feel like throwing up when I try to track and write about this story.  Please go read Cath Lugg at Thinking Queerly’s post on the brutal violent and murderous context for Morgan’s humor. 

I can’t do another post explaining the same damn thing today, I feel just a bit too much like Sisyphus this morning.

And I completely agree, this comedian should be fired.

Out of the past

My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
so much has been destroyed

I have to cast my lot with those
who age after age, perversely,

with no extraordinary power,
reconstitute the world.

A passion to make, and make again
where such un-making reigns.

Adrienne Rich, Excerpt from Natural Resources
in Dreams of a Common Language

Graduation Blues

I gotta admit, no matter how many years I teach, no matter what the topic or the age of the students I work with…

I am more than a little broken-hearted when we are all done.

Today was my last class.  In a little more than a week I will watch many of my learning colleagues from this year graduate from college.

Some have already begun the move away, off to Portland, off to New Mexico, off to other programs, other jobs, other lives.

I learned so much from and with them all.

And tonight I got me the teacher getting left behind blues.

It doesn’t feel much different from when my 8th graders did a bridging ceremony and headed off to high school.  Back in those days I wanted to keep them all for another year of middle school and I knew the next class could never compare to their awkward awesomeness and foolish brilliance.

Now the students are adults and the life paths they are taking will send them off on so many journeys I will never know and I am mourning that goodbye.  Mourning the knowledge that this thing we created together, this community of learning and excitement and engagement, this little living space is over.  Our time together is done.

I guess that’s just what it is to be called to teach.  You gotta love it with a fury and then you gotta let it all go to the winds in the end.

And what I now know after some 20 years of teaching is that the it  of teaching is more than a passion for the content, the space for learning, and the eager or at least present students engaging…

The it you gotta love on some pretty real level in teaching is the them.  Every time. 

So here’s to another school year ending and another bittersweet goodbye.

Nobody tells you about that when you are in teacher training…

Do they?!