“One of the Communities that has the greatest oral dexterity is the Black community”. Christina McVay makes this point during her interview with Joanne K. Dowdy. That was an interesting statement, yet completely true. The Black vernacular is composed of many different dialects such as: Pidgin which is a combination of African and English languages, Gullah which is a dialect used primarily on the islands off the coasts of Georgia and the Carolinas, and Patois which is a combination of the English, African and Creole Languages, these are just a drop in the bucket of all of the different dialects that Blacks speak. As you travel across the United States it becomes increasingly obvious that Blacks in every region have different dialects yet wherever a Black person goes they can pretty much understand the dialect in which another Black person is speaking. McVay’s statement really stuck out to me I thought it would be wise to share my thoughts on it.
I also thought that it was interesting that McVay is a White woman teaching Pan-African studies to students of all races. For someone looking from the outside in this seems odd, and McVay acknowledges that this can be strange to someone who is not familiar with her however she makes her Black students feel completely comfortable in the classroom environment. She takes care to make sure her Black students are comfortable in her class and with her teaching the course. It is not every day that one comes in contact with a teacher who actually takes the time to get to know his or her students, and for this woman to sit down face to face with her classes and get to know them and let them get to know her makes her an extraordinary individual. Any student would be lucky to have her as a professor. Judging from what she says during her interview McVay has always been comfortable with Black people. This benefactor is most likely what helped her to become comfortable with teaching what she teaches. If there were more teachers like her I am willing to bet money that there would be a higher percentage of Black students graduating from high schools and colleges across the nation. These are just some thoughts about Ms. McVay and the good that she does for our community. -Mary Williams
The quote you focused on in your blog is something that really stuck out to me while reading the McVay interview. The Black community does have a wide range of different dialects and the examples you gave were good. McVay takes noticed to these different dialects within the Black community and not only does she take notice of them but she praises them. She doesn’t just see the dialects as slang but as a language; a language with beauty and a history. In the interview McVay mentions the Black, female author Zora Neale Hurston, who used the everyday talk of Black people in her writings. She says of Hurston’s writings “this is fun, this is brilliant.” I think it’s fantastic that Black students or any student no matter their race or gender can have the opportunity to learn from a teacher such as McVay.
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