Since we will not be meeting today, I thought I would post this short (5 minute) video clip for you to watch and respond to on your blogs.

The first option is to reflect on the following: Have you ever had a "magical black man" moment in your life? Consider a time when you were not doing well at something and someone persuaded you not to pursue that anymore. You can discuss the person or focus on the event. It could be a sporting event, a bad grade, when you were young or old. Was there ever a time you really wanted to be good at something but it just wasn't happening for you? Was it because you felt you could never succeed? Did you decide to continue with it, or did you quit?

The second option is to reflect on the following: Think about the end of the clip. Have you ever had to let go of something in your past in order to move on? What did you have to let go of? What did you gain by letting go of that thing?

Remember, these posts are public, so compose your post with that in mind. Keep your writing appropriate for your audience (instructor, peers, and perhaps others on Blogger who might find your blog). This writing exercise is designed to get us all to start thinking about "revision." One of the scariest part of revision is being willing to listen to feedback that might make us uncomfortable (like the "magical black man" in the clip) or question our abilities. But more often than not once we confront those feelings and are willing to move forward, success can be as simple as just starting over with a clean, blank slate. We just have to be willing to discard the notebook filled with stuff that isn't working for us anymore.

I hope you enjoy this assignment. Feel free to adapt the prompts to best suit your needs. I look forward to reading your posts.