I know I’m milking the tension about the publication of my book, but it’s out of my hands at the moment. But, the announcement is coming soon. I can feel it.
This is another deeply personal episode of Chapel Probation. As you’ll hear, I met Ella Baker when she was a freshman. I think she showed up to an English department welcome event with her friends, Lily and Kristin. She was, at the time, presenting as a young man who wore a shirt and tie, and I would later get to know her as her independent study prof in creative writing. I loved working with that young kid on her writing, but really we spent a great deal of time just talking about life. Through all that time, I had no idea she was suffering as a closeted trans woman.
But it wasn’t all bad. Ella and her friends welcomed me into their writing and art community. I was inspired by their talents and their devotion to learning. They reminded me of the Bloomsbury group headed by Virginia Woolf and her husband, as well as the Beat generation of the 60’s. They shared their writing, and full confession, they shared their weed with me.
When I was at the meeting where I was to be fired, the Dean was reading a list of “sins” I had committed against the school. I smiled, knowing that he didn’t even know the best ones. He even asked if I thought what he was accusing me of was funny. I looked him in the eye and said, “yes.” He turned bright red and continued reading. More of that story is in my book.
Ella was smarter than most of us faculty at APU. The one thing I will brag about is that I recognized this and went with it. All I could offer her were support and a listening ear. And I know my understanding of language and art was greatly expanded by listening to her. To this day, I still learn from her.
You will be moved and inspired by this episode. Links to all platforms here.
Music by Shin Kawasaki and Wingo Shackleford, Azeem Khan, and Scott Okamoto
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