Transcript
What inspires you from WFSU public media? Here's this week's Voices That Inspire. My name is Alicia Gaines, and I'm associate professor of English at Florida State University. I teach African American literature, black feminism, black Southern studies, African American studies in general. I don't know if you can be in my field and say you're not feeling the pressure when my fields are being directly attacked. It is more than concerning, sometimes frightening. The kind of pressures that were under, but at the end of the day, my responsibility is to my students in that classroom and to engage them around the rich history of African America, since before this country was a country. It's so important, and we think we're so different, right? And then we read each other's stories and realize, no, we have love and loss and pain and humor and joy, just like everyone else. I think you can really learn that when you are beginning to fall in love with a character. My grandmother passed last semester, but she is always an inspiration. I remember when she was beginning to understand what was going on in Florida, the first thing she said was, take to the streets, you know? And so I draw in her legacy in teaching, and I draw on inspiration from my students, because they're still showing up, they're still doing the reading, they're still writing and thinking and trying to understand their place in the world, and if we can do that together, then what can stop us? I believe that the classroom is a place of radical possibility, and I'm borrowing that phrase from Bell Hooks, and I wouldn't have this long career in teaching if I didn't believe that deep in my soul. And when I forget it, I just say it as mantra, and then march right back into that classroom. My name is Alicia Gaines, Associate Professor of English at Florida State University, and always follow the leads of students. You're listening to voices that inspire.