A Q&A with Valerie Harrison and Kathryn Peach D’Angelo

This week in North Philly Notes, the coauthors of Do Right by Me talk about how they developed their book-length conversation about how to best raise Black children in white communities.

Is Do Right by Me just for white parents of black children?
Both: No, the book is useful not only for white adoptive parents of black children but also for anyone engaged in parenting and nurturing black children, including black or interracial families of origin. Do Right by Me also provides insights and tools to a broad audience of social scientists, child and family counselors, community organizations, and other educators who engage issues of transracial adoption or child development or who explore current experiences in the areas of social justice and institutionalized racism. All readers will learn how race impacts the way the world interacts with a black child, and the way they as adults can provide all black children with the knowledge and awareness to resiliently face these challenges.

Do Right by Me is designed to “orient par­ents and other community members to the ways race and racism will affect a black child’s life, and despite that, how to raise and nurture healthy and happy children.” It’s less a “how to” and more of “what to know or learn.” Can you explain your approach?
Katie: My husband Mike and I are white, and we adopted a beautiful biracial boy at birth in 2011. It was clear to us that white parents of black children want to parent well but have real questions and concerns about racism, culture, and identity. Unlike parents who buy into a “color-blind” or “post-racial” ideology, Mike and I had to confront head-on the reality that we would need to equip our biracial son for an experience far more complex than anything we had experienced. Do Right by Me is designed as a back and forth exchange between Val and me. Val has a doctorate in African American studies and lived experiences as a black woman. We engage the world through the lens of our experience, informed by our professional lives as educators. Each chapter includes a story from our personal experience supported by research and offer practical tips to put ideas into action.

How important are cross-racial relationships to a better understanding of what’s happening in America now?
Both: Dialogue about racism can be difficult and benefits from a knowledge of history, as well as a vocabulary of ideas and practice. Essential to the task is an understanding of racism and how systems continue to perpetuate privileges and disadvantages that black people have to navigate in ways that white people may never have had to. The safety and security of a 20-year friendship allowed us to have that difficult conversation. 

You have known each other for 20 years. How did you become such good friends?
Val: Katie and I have worked together at Temple University for almost 20 years. What began as a professional relationship grew into a close friendship. We talk almost every day. We each were one of the handful of supporters sitting in the room as the other defended a doctoral dissertation. Katie was the person in the room taking notes as surgeons spoke too fast and with terminology too unfamiliar for me to fully grasp how they would remove the cancer from my body, but she got it all down. We share secrets. I am her lawyer, and she is my uncredentialed therapist.

How did you approach topics of black hair, the black church, and Gabe’s experiences playing on a soccer team where “no one looked like me”—that cause someone discomfort?
Both: We guide readers on this journey using both of our voices, each in turn. When one of us presents a new idea, the other will recall a scenario that shows how it works in real life; when one of us remembers a question she faced, the other will jump in with the research and insight to put it into perspective and help readers think through it.

There are discussions of the challenges race and racism present for a black child, particularly challenges related to self-esteem. Can you discuss your focus on this factor in a child’s life?
Both: The health and well-being of a black child depend on the extent to which they feel positively about being black. A poor sense of one’s self as a black person results in low self-esteem and hinders the academic and personal achievement of black children. Conversely, positive racial identity results in high self-esteem and academic performance, as well as a greater ability to navigate racism. If parents don’t work on constructing a positive Black self-identity for their children, our culture will construct a negative self-identity around their blackness for them.

You write throughout the book about the importance of developing a positive racial identity and cite that transracially adopted children often struggle to develop a positive racial/ethnic identi­ty. Can you describe a few of the ways to do that and some of the pitfalls to avoid as you encourage readers to navigate the racism that is entrenched in American society?
Both: There are a number of forces at work that threaten positive identity in black children. One example is the creation and proliferation of negative images of black people. News reports exaggerate negative portrayals of black people, overrepresenting them in stories about poverty and crime and underrepresenting them in positive stories about their leadership, community involvement and family life. Shielding black children from negative and imbalanced messages while saturating them with positive and balanced counterimages have been found to be effective in building positive black identity and self-esteem while reducing the negative impact of racism on identity development.

Katie, I like that you explain that your worldview and cultural paradigm shifted after Gabriel. Can you talk about that process?
Katie: I was operating within a different cultural paradigm. One that was more Eurocentric and imposed upon its participants a notion that you are only good enough and have enough if you measure up to a predetermined set of standards, largely informed and dictated by the white people who designed them. And one that judged others as inferior in order to feel superior. Gabriel helped me see more clearly that the worldview and value system that I feel most at home in, is neither the only one available, nor the best. The mindset that I inherited certainly wasn’t doing me any good, and my desire to shift gears brought me the greatest gift of my life.

Do Right by Me includes info on “The Talk.” In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement this summer, what observations (and optimism) do you have about social change and awareness?
Katie: If anything, this moment (the murder of George Floyd) may finally dispel the myth that we are living in a post-racial America. It is only now as a mother that I understand how very different it all was for me because of the color of my skin. My husband and I understand that our decisions and behaviors, that were read as assertive or a normal testing of boundaries, may be read as disorderly, defiant, or even threatening if we were not white. Our world does not give our son the privilege of acting like us, and it places the burden unfairly on him to manage how others feel about him.

University Press Week Blog Tour: Active Voices

It’s University Press Week and the Blog Tour is back! This year’s theme is #RaiseUP. Today’s theme is Active Voices

University of Chicago Press @UchicagoPress
An excerpt from Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History by historian and disability activist Jaipreet Virdi.

University of Notre Dame Press @UNDPress
A blog post about the value of university press publishing from Friends of Notre Dame Press.

University of Alberta Press @UAlbertaPress
Highlighting the active voice and work of Valerie Mason-John in her new book of poetry, I Am Still Your Negro.

University Press of Florida @floridapress
Activist Archaeology: A Reading List.

University of South Carolina Press @uscpress
Daniel M. Harrison, author of Live at Jackson Station, considers how his work exploring the south’s music gives us clues for understanding the culture of the south generally–and why it matters.

Bristol University Press @BrisUniPress
A blog post from Alison Shaw, Chief Executive of Bristol University Press, on actively engaging with social issues.

Amsterdam University Press @AmsterdamUPress
Guest post ‘Enter the Ghost: Haunted Media Ecologies’ by Paula Albuquerque, a visual artist and scholar living and working in Amsterdam. Her work is informed by intersectional decolonial practices, focusing on visual technologies both analog and digital, surveillance and the construction of operative imagery.

University of Toronto Press @utpress
Rae André, a climate change educator and the author of Lead for the Planet: Five Practices for Confronting Climate Change. In this post she will discuss the importance of leadership in activism.
University of Toronto Press Journals Guest post by Henry Tran, editor of the Journal of Education Human Resources.

Bucknell University Press @BucknellUPress
A Q&A with the contributors to the edited collection African American Arts: Activism, Aesthetics, and Futurity.

Vanderbilt University Press @vanderbiltup
A post about the new Policy to Practice book series, which provides critical perspectives on how global health policy becomes practice.

University of Minnesota Press @uminnpress
Featuring our podcast’s Mental Health Series with former state representative Mindy Greiling.

Harvard University Press @harvard_press
A look at how the contributors to our special free volume, Racism in America, would like to see the book used and read during these challenging times

Columbia University Press @columbiaUP
Dana Fisher, author of American Resistance on political activism.

University Press Week Blog Tour: Scientific Voices

It’s University Press Week and the Blog Tour is back! This year’s theme is #RaiseUP. Today’s theme is Scientific Voices

Johns Hopkins University Press @jhupress
A post on centering women’s voices in science.

University of Alabama Press @univalpress
An interview with our NEXUS series editors.

Purdue University Press @purduepress
A post about the work being done to learn the science behind the human-animal bond.

Oregon State University Press @OSUPress
A post from author Bruce Byers about lessons for the biosphere from the Oregon Coast.

Princeton University Press @PrincetonUPress
Physical Sciences editor Ingrid Gnerlich will write about the unique challenges of Science publishing and the reality that Science thrives on a diversity of views and voices.

Bristol University Press @BrisUniPress
A blog post from Claire Wilkinson, editor of the new Contemporary Issues in Science Communication series, on the contemporary relevance of science communication in the era of COVID

Indiana University Press @iupress
An excerpt from Weird Earth: Debunking Strange Ideas About Our Planet by Donald R. Prothero.

University of Toronto Press @utpress
Mireille F. Ghoussoub, co-author of The Story of CO2: Big Ideas for a Small Molecule, will talk about the importance of university press publishing.
University of Toronto Press Journals Guest post by Lacey Cranston, managing editor of the Journal of Military Veteran and Family Health.

Vanderbilt University Press @vanderbiltup
A post about Between the Rocks and the Stars, a book that presents scientific research and observation about the natural world for a general audience, plus a new trailer for the book.

Columbia University Press @ColumbiaUP
Ashley Juavinett, author of So You Want to Be a Neuroscientist? offers practical advices to those looking to enter a career in Neuroscience.

University Press Week: Local Voices

Celebrating University Press Week, and the theme, #RaiseUP, we spotlight local voices and our Pennsylvania History series. The books in this series are designed to make high-quality scholarship accessible for students, advancing the mission of the Pennsylvania Historical Association by engaging with key social, political, and cultural issues in the history of the state and region. Series editors Beverly C. Tomek and Allen Dieterich-Ward explain more in this blog entry.

Temple University Press is a leading publisher of regional titles, helping authors of a variety of works on Philadelphia and Pennsylvania share their work with other scholars and general readers throughout the region and the world. As such, they were a natural partner for the Pennsylvania Historical Association (PHA).

The PHA has long published a number of titles, including a “History Studies” pamphlet series that began in 1948. The series was originally envisioned as an adjunct to the association’s journal, but it took on a life of its own as the earlier pamphlet-style publications gradually expanded to modest booklets. These works told the story of various ethnic groups, industries, and workers throughout the Keystone State. Books in the series also discussed Pennsylvania sports, various reform movements throughout the state’s history, and the role of women in Pennsylvania history. As they grew in variety, the booklets gained the attention of educators in classrooms and museums and were increasingly used as textbooks for courses throughout the state.

As the association neared the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the study series, the PHA rebranded it the Pennsylvania History series and decided to partner with a university press to take the booklets to the next level. They wanted the series to benefit from the expertise, resources, and support of a respected academic publisher and to produce high-quality yet inexpensive books in place of the booklets. After investigating multiple publishers, the PHA chose Temple University Press and began an exciting partnership that has seen a significant improvement in the quality of the publications.

In its initial form, the Pennsylvania History series included pamphlets that were stapled at the spine. Written by experts in the field and heavily illustrated, these pamphlets offered introductory overviews of a number of important topics in Pennsylvania history.

The second iteration of the History series included booklets that maintained the PHA’s mission. They remained short in length and continued to include a number of illustrations.

Now, published in partnership with Temple University Press, the Pennsylvania History series features professionally produced and marketed books introducing readers to key topics in the state’s history.

As part of the PHA’s mission to advocate for and advance knowledge of the history and culture of Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic region, the series remains committed to providing timely, relevant, and high-quality scholarship in a compact and accessible form. Volumes in the series are written by scholars engaged in the teaching of Pennsylvania history for use in the classroom and broader public history settings. Temple has worked with the PHA to ensure that the books remain affordable while expanding the series’ reach. Since the partnership began, the Pennsylvania History series has released an updated edition on the history of Philadelphia, a new volume on the Scots-Irish in early Pennsylvania, and the first book-length survey on the history of public health and medicine in the state.

Plans for 2021/2022 include a new history of Pennsylvania slavery and abolition by Beverly Tomek and an updated edition of Terry Madonna’s Pivotal Pennsylvania on presidential politics in the Keystone State.

University Press Week Blog Tour: Creative Voices

It’s University Press Week and the Blog Tour is back! This year’s theme is #RaiseUP. Today’s theme is Creative Voices

Northwestern University Press @NorthwesternUP
A post that highlights Art Is Everything by Yxta Maya Murray

University of Notre Dame Press @UNDPress
A post about the value of university press publishing from our Notre Dame Press Colleagues.

University of Michigan Press @uofmpress
Highlighting voices in the music and performance studies spaces in new and exciting ways.

Athabasca University Press @au_press
A discussion about the importance of publishing creative work alongside scholarly monographs.

University of Toronto Press @utpress
Charlotte Corden is an illustrator and fine artist who often works in the realms of anthropology. Charlotte is the illustrator of Light in Dark Times, a new graphic novel from UTP written by Alisse Waterston. Charlotte will write about the creative process involved in creating this stunning and important new book.
University of Toronto Press Journals: Guest blogger Thalia Gonzalez Kane is an Online Features Editor for Canadian Theatre Review.

Bristol University Press @BrisUniPress
Author Rob Kitchin on research creation and creative practice in critical data studies.

Bucknell University Press @BucknellUPress
One of our most prolific authors, Kevin Cope, will share his thoughts on creative approaches to studying and writing about 18th-century literature.

UBC Press @ubcpress
A Q&A with Gerilee McBride, Catalogues and Advertising Manager, about the design behind our open-access book, It’s All Good.

University Press Week Blog Tour: New Voices

It’s University Press Week and the Blog Tour is back! This year’s theme is #RaiseUP. Today’s theme is New Voices

University of Illinois Press @illinoispress
An interview with newly promoted acquisitions editor, Alison Syring

Georgetown University Press @Georgetown_UP
An interview with our newest GUP acquisitions editor, Hilary Claggett

Duke University Press @DukePress
Acquisitions and journal editors discuss why we value working with first-time authors

University of Wisconsin Press @UWiscPress
Our press committee members share their perspectives and experiences.

Wilfred Laurier University Press @wlupress
Maia Desjardins, Digital Project Coordinator, is new to publishing and also involved in some of our newer ventures like audiobooks and podcasting. She will share her experience and perspective on working at the press and on these initiatives.

University of Toronto Press @utpress
Jodi Litvin, Inside Sales Representative, is new to publishing. She will share her experience working at UTP for the last 2 months.
University of Toronto Press Journals Amanda Buessecker, new marketing coordinator for the University of Toronto Press Journals, discusses her thoughts on academic publishing.

University of Missouri Press @umissouripress
Amy Laurel Fluker is a first-time author whose blog about Kansas City’s Veteran Company A provides further insight into her recently published book, Commonwealth of Compromise: Civil War Commemoration in Missouri, on Civil War memory and the collaborative commemoration efforts undertaken in Missouri.

Bucknell University Press @BucknellUPress
Guest blogger Shanee Stepakoff, author of the forthcoming poetry collection Testimony: Found Poems from the Special Court for Sierra Leone, will share her experience working with a UP for the first time.

University of Manitoba Press @umanitobapress
An excerpt from Brittany Luby’s academic debut, Dammed: The Politics of Loss and Survival in Anishinaabe Territory.

Amherst College Press @AmCollPress
An introduction to ACP’s internship program and new community page featuring blog posts and resources created by Amherst undergrads

Recalling public health efforts in Pennsylvania

This week in North Philly Notes, Jim Higgins, author of The Health of the Commonwealth, looks back on past epidemics.

By the last half of the nineteenth century, science began to unlock the secrets of infectious disease, most importantly that bacteria and viruses were the cause. No cures for human infectious disease emerged until the 1890s, when antitoxins for diphtheria and tetanus debuted. Even without cures for most infectious disease, public health efforts made remarkable inroads at the turn of the twentieth century in Pennsylvania and across the nation. 

As The Health of the Commonwealth neared its final edits, the new coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic was on the move. Even the barriers posed by the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, which I suspect millions of Americans depend upon, if unconsciously, to keep a dangerous world at bay, delayed the virus by only a matter of hours once it got aboard a transoceanic passenger jet.

 

The responses of the citizenry in the midst of an epidemic varies. Many quiet people in quiet corners cooked food for neighbors, checked on friends, took care of family, and generally soothed unsteady nerves. Most of those stories went unrecorded in our history. Most go unrecorded today, too. At the same time, there has always been resistance to modern public health measures in Pennsylvania. During a smallpox vaccination effort in 1906, parents allowed their elementary school aged children to parade the streets of Waynesboro, Franklin County with an effigy of the commissioner of health, which they kicked, spat upon, and ultimately burned.  The city council of Allentown declared in late-1918 that the flu, which was just beginning to infect people in the city, was actually nothing more than a “regular” cold. Homes, they suggested, should be kept warm to avoid catching these widespread, severe colds, even as the same councilmen were preparing that day to deal with a severe coal shortage throughout the region. Many people just tried to go about life as if nothing were amiss. Just push through it, they seemed to think, through the years and through the typhoid, smallpox, polio, and HIV tragedies. If one continues to go through the motions of life, eventually the threat will pass and (provided one survives) the stout-hearted (or delusional) person who ignores the presence of an epidemic will…what?  I’ve never been able to figure that part out. I guess the best I’ve come up with is that people who ignore epidemics satisfy a psychological need for control. Or because they are terrified. Sometimes, like now, politicians can harness an epidemic as a vehicle for meeting political ends. It happened in 1918 when Pennsylvania’s response to the flu became a major political issue in the 1918 senatorial race.    

But I’ve got news for you. The way people react to widespread disease outbreaks is nothing compared to the changes that have sometimes followed in the wake of epidemics. A single typhoid outbreak in the obscure town of Plymouth, Pennsylvania in 1885 led to the creation of the state board of health. Twenty years later, another typhoid epidemic in Butler, Pennsylvania led to the creation of the state department of health. Five years after that, Pennsylvania possessed the most aggressive and powerful state health department in the nation. 

On a broader note, the standard narrative for both prohibition and women’s suffrage is that after years of agitation, both efforts finally bore fruit nationally in the period 1919-1920. The war helped accelerate both social efforts. During the First World War, many voices demonized alcohol production because it directed labor, grain, and coal away from the war effort—and because the beer industry was dominated by people with German names. We have forgotten that in late-1918, in Pennsylvania and beyond, the alcohol industry was hit with hammer blows by public health officials who closed saloons and banned alcohol sales as an anticrowd measure in the face of the epidemic of flu. In Pittsburgh, the fight over alcohol sales involved military officials and threats of a near-martial law. The alcohol industry lost a great deal of sympathy during the epidemic. In the case of women’s suffrage, a long, bitter fight for the right to vote was pushed to a quicker successful conclusion by the war. Perhaps the flu epidemic offered national sentiment a final shove. Hundreds of thousands of women volunteered in emergency hospitals during the epidemic. Many were middle class and unacquainted with blood and pus and the sounds and sights of dying. Across Pennsylvania, newspapers, politicians, and civic leaders lauded the work of the state’s women and memorialized those who died with a prominence never before seen in American history.   

I really don’t know—nobody knows—whether the video of George Floyd would have sparked the response it did in the absence of COVID-19. But if the response to systemic racism continues, we might look back on a moment, in the midst of pestilence, when certain things changed in our society. I can’t predict exactly how America will change after COVID-19 fades, but if the history of epidemics teaches us anything, then changes are afoot.