Black Women/ Black Literature

Joanne Kilgour Dowdy and Christina McVay collaborated to conduct an interview of "Christina McVay's thoughts and philosophy regarding teaching Black women in the Pan-African Studies department"(Dowdy 87). The interview has a lot of twists and turns and I enjoyed reading this interview. The mood was quite casual and relaxing. Both the interviewer and the interviewee were very comfortable with each other and talked about many topics regarding McVay's domain of work and how her experience in the Pan-African Studies department is quite unique. "Christina McVay is one of many White instructors who have sung the praises of Black oral and written language throughout her teaching and writing career"(Dowdy 87). This peaked my interest in McVay because it was such a good feeling to know that someone is actually interested in African Americans with such passion. I thought to myself is this common? Has the time period changed so much that now in modern day times White people are longing to know our enriched history? 

McVay received numerous awards for her amazing  work with her students. "Students frequently say that they come away from my class with a new and different perspective on things"(Dowdy 89).  This surprised me as well, I didn't know that a White woman teaching about Blacks could be a successful combination, clearly I was wrong. "One of the communities that has the greatest oral dexterity is the Black community"(Dowdy 89). McVay's perspective from the positive standpoint is a spectacular one at the least. The strong interest to the African American race through Pan- African studies can also be traced back to Elaine Richardson's  To Protect and Serve.  Both pieces really acknowledge the power of the history of African Americans and how the traditions and behaviors of those before us and after are nothing new. Our people as a whole have come so far, and yet the African American women of today are still looked down upon. Maybe if we had more people like McVay to make it to the media and get the message that the "Black Community" is something worth fighting for, I'm almost positive we can see a change, or will we?

Dowdy, Joanne Kilgour. Black Women/ Black Literature. Cresskill: Hampton Press, Inc., 2005.