By Matthew Panozzo, Lara Condon, Keishana Barnes, Anna Falkner, and Carolyn Michael-Banks “Queen”
In 2005, the novelist David Foster Wallace gave a commencement speech at Kenyon College, Ohio. During that speech, he observed that “the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.”
We live and work a few states south of Ohio, in Memphis, Tennessee, yet this statement resonates deeply with us. Our city’s narrative is filled with competing, conflicting stories of space and place, but these layered histories often fade into the blur of our everyday routines.
Matthew Panozzo is an Assistant Professor of Literacy in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership at the University of Memphis. His teaching and research area includes exploring identity, empathy, and humanity through literacy, arts-based education research, and children’s and young adult literature.
Lara Condon is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership at the University of Memphis. Her teaching and research focus on enacting responsive mathematics instruction that leverages students’ funds of knowledge to help them to develop positive mathematics identities.
Keishana Barnes is an Assistant Professor of Special Education in the Department of Instruction and Curriculum Leadership at the University of Memphis. Her research interests include giftedness, African American mothers’ advocacy, creativity in teaching, critical disability studies, and how early childhood, racial identity, and family dynamics contribute to a critical consciousness in young children.
Anna Falkner is an Assistant Professor of Early Childhood Education at the University of Memphis. Her research examines how young children learn about critical social issues such as race and racism and intersects with critical civics education and history education.
Carolyn Michael-Banks “Queen” is the founder and owner of A Tour of Possibilities (ATOP), an African American historical sightseeing tour of Memphis, TN. She is a native New Yorker who has researched, written scripts, and trained guides in Washington, DC, Savannah, GA, Philadelphia, PA, and Memphis, TN.
