When I introduced Ceci’s Community Classroom a few days ago, I described it as a learning space for lifelong learners. Click here to read that introductory post. Now, I want to tell you more about how I arrived here in this platform and why I am inviting you into this learning community.

Ceci’s Community Classroom is not entirely new. Its early version appeared on my YouTube channel in June 2015 during the early years of my doctoral journey at Florida State University. I recently moved those videos from public view as I reconsidered the direction of the Community Classroom. This new, more developed version brings together my experiences and my community commitments in a more intentional way: my early work in digital teaching and storytelling with my English/creative writing and English education studies; my 21 years of community college and university experience teaching freshman composition and research writing students and future middle school and high school teachers with my 30 year-journey working professionally in public service; and my doctoral research and ongoing scholarship with my lived experiences—which all echo back to my early awareness of race and racial identity as a young Black girl and as a Black high school student attending a predominantly white high school writing publicly about race while serving as president of Harambee Club, a school-sponsored organization for Black students promoting togetherness.

I will share an upcoming video, “From Harambee Club to Ceci’s Community Classroom: the Roots, Philosophy, and Vision”, before we begin exploring individual topics. In the video, I will trace the journey that brought me here and explain how the different parts of my life have come full circle through the Community Classroom. I will share the experiences that shaped the Community Classroom’s roots, philosophy, and vision; introduce the idea of the digital griot and how I understand this work as part of a tradition of preserving, interpreting, teaching, and sharing knowledge across generations and communities; and establish the guiding commitments that will carry across our Community Classroom conversations.

After that video, our first two Community Classroom topics will be about racial literacies and a national Black policy agenda.

Lesson #1: What Are Racial Literacies?

We will examine how racial identity development and critical consciousness combine to shape the ways we interpret race, culture, institutions, public debates, as well as one another. Rather than simply choosing sides, we will use five case studies to examine how we create, circulate, and contest racial meanings; and how racialized assumptions can become so familiar that the assumptions are automatically treated as natural, neutral, or simply “common sense.”

Tuskegee University, Bonnets, Durags, and Respectability

Tuskegee University’s prohibition against wearing bonnets and durags in classrooms and the cafeteria recently generated a heated debate in the Black community and a firestorm of media attention. We must distinguish their function from the question of decorum and ask what, if anything, the presence of bonnets and durags in public, on a college campus, where students may live on campus, actually disrupts.

The debate has two sides. A reasonable lesson in dress, decorum, and preparation for the workforce? Or respectability politics, anti-Blackness, and an elitist or class-coded assumption? Can a historically Black institution prepare students to navigate existing professional expectations while also teaching students to recognize and question the cultural and class assumptions embedded in those expectations? What do we make of the argument that Black people who have not attended or worked at an HBCU should “butt out” of the conversation? Does not attending or working at an HBCU disqualify Black people from critiquing institutional policies that are part of broader debates about Black culture, class, and professionalism?

Jay-Z, Freeform Locs, and Who Gets to Redefine Professionalism

Then there is Jay-Z. He became a billionaire while wearing freeform locs like a hip-hop Jean-Michel Basquiat. When he finally combed the locs out, he went viral on social media, and many fans (and critics) celebrated when he later returned to his familiar (and “clean-cut”) Caesar haircut. According to Jay-Z he had grown the locs partly to affirm his daughter Blue Ivy’s natural hair, after she struggled with confidence as a child.

Back to the Tuskegee debate. Steve Jobs, a white man and co-founder of Apple, Inc., built a corporate identity around jeans and black turtleneck. His unconventional appearance became associated with innovation rather than a lack of professionalism. Who gets to (re)define standards of professional appearance, and who is expected to conform to the established standards?

Stephen A. Smith, Accountability, and the Politics of “Black Enough”

The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) recently gave Stephen A. Smith a Thumbs Down Award for Smith’s pattern of disparaging and harmful commentary about powerful Black women.

Pharrell Williams and Being Race Neutral

Pharrell Williams drew criticism after saying that “when you pick a [political] side, you are inadvertently supporting division.” I examined his race neutral comments in my Substack article, “ ‘I Don’t See Color’ Is Racism”.

Black Women’s Bodies, Beauty, and the Power of (Mis)Representation

Finally, we will turn a Black feminist lens toward the relentless public interpretation of Black women’s bodies and beauty standards. This lesson will encompass society’s preoccupation with Serena’s makeup choices and body image. She was criticized for years for looking too muscular or “manly,” only to face new gossip that she has now become too thin. Lizzo is considered a walking contradiction. First, she was judged for being a “big girl,” then she was accused of betraying her body positivity stance. Then, there’s Lil’ Kim’s cosmetic procedures and perceived body dysmorphia.

We will widen the lens from appearance to representation in our discussion of Tyler Perry and Issa Rae. In “The Curious Case of Tyler Perry”, I began considering the debate surrounding Straw and Perry’s repeated portrayals of Black women’s struggle. We will place that representation beside Issa Rae’s journey from The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl on YouTube to Insecure. Straw centers a Black woman under extraordinary, relentless pressure. Insecure allows Black women to inhabit ordinary, complicated lives.

Lesson #2: A National Black Policy Agenda: Connecting Black Community Priorities to Voting and Civic Action

Our second topic will move from public debates to public policy. We will examine the national priorities identified in recommendations published by 28 Black organizations and institutions using our critical literacies. The purpose of this Community Classroom lesson is to strengthen our ability to connect the priorities Black communities and institutions have documented to informed voting, public accountability, and civic action.

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How Ceci’s Community Classroom Will Work

Each Community Classroom topic will begin with a free public video lesson. Paid subscribers will also have access to the Racial Literacies Lab, where we can work more closely with primary sources, extended cases, and guided questions as we identify and reconsider our assumptions and develop our interpretations. This will not be a classroom where I simply talk and everyone else listens. I want us to read, question, reflect, discuss, and learn with and from one another.

Subscribe now for FREE to receive the essays, commentary, reflections, and public scholarship published through Ceci Bell, Ph.D., including the free video lesson for each Community Classroom topic. For instance, as a free subscriber, you will be notified when we publish From Harambee Club to Ceci’s Community Classroom: The Roots, Philosophy, and Vision and the first two Community Classroom lessons about racial literacies and a national Black policy agenda.

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But guess what? There are additional benefits to becoming a paid subscriber (no pressure). For $8/month or $80/year, a paid subscriber gains access to the Racial Literacies Lab and the deeper source-based work connected to each lesson. Paid subscriptions support the continued development of this Substack publication, Ceci’s Community Classroom, and my broader public scholarship and educational work.

Please invite someone else into the Community Classroom. Share this post with a family member, friend, colleague, educator, student, church member, or community leader who might want to join the conversation.

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Each one, reach one. Each one, teach one.

Feel free to go ahead and start the conversation on any of the topics we have previewed in this post in the comments.

Sincerely,

Dr. Ceci Bell

Leave a comment

A question comes up in conversation (how do you feel about Thanksgiving? Or how do you feel about charter schools for Black students? or how racially literate are you?) Something in the news sends me looking for more information (think durags and bonnets at Tuskegee University, or Jay-Z’s hair, or whether Stephen A. Smith is a sell-out, or Pharrell Williams and how “I don’t see color” is RACISM). A book, movie, television show, research study, TikTok, or YouTube video makes me stop and think (see “The Curious Case of Tyler Perry”).

Then I want to share what I learned (my dissertation), what I already knew (what are racial literacies?), what I published in academia (here’s my first peer-reviewed journal article), or what I’m still thinking about. That’s what Ceci’s Community Classroom is for. This is a learning space for students and lifelong learners, featuring lectures, lessons, and conversations on writing, literacy, literature, education, history, culture, race, and related topics.

Some of what you’ll find here will look familiar if you’ve ever taken one of my classes. I am a freshman composition instructor, English teacher educator (I teach preservice teachers who plan to become middle and high school English teachers), and research writing instructor (at a medical school!). But my interests don’t stop at the boundaries of a course syllabus.

My first love is creative writing. I am a fiction writer. I wrote my first novel in the early 1990s during my junior year in college, which I later adapted to a screenplay. But I don’t believe in being a starving artist. I had bills to pay, so I shelved my best-selling author aspirations for later….

Well, now it’s later. I write poetry (here’s Black Butterfly). And I have a fiction corner on my Substack (here’s an introduction to a novella series, “Dateface,” I have been working on off and on over the years).

I am also a race and literacy scholar (here’s my Google Scholar profile). I think, research, and write about racial identity and racial identity development, racial literacies, critical consciousness, Black education, language (i.e., [In]Articulate Word Play: on raciolinguistics, code switching, and dialect), culture and ethnic studies, and the ways people learn both inside and outside traditional classrooms (i.e., “Black Thriving…It Takes a Village”).

I’m interested in history (especially Black history). I’m interested in popular culture. I’m interested in technology and artificial intelligence (how we can use it, what it costs environmentally, and how racial bias in AI affects Black people). And I’m especially interested in what happens when we start making connections among things that are usually discussed separately, and the ways all these things shape how we understand ourselves and the world around us.

So Ceci’s Community Classroom can go a lot of places.

One day, we might talk about how to develop a well-written paragraph. Another day, I might share my adventures using ChatGPT. We might unpack a research study or discuss a book, examine something happening in the news, or ask what a movie might be teaching us about race, language, culture, history, or society (see “The Curious Case of Tyler Perry”, oh…I already suggested that, lol).

Here’s the thing. I don’t want this to be a digital classroom where I do all the talking (I’m no sage on the stage). There will be polls, discussions, and opportunities to bring your own experiences and ideas into the conversation. You don’t have to be one of my students. You don’t have to be working toward a degree. And you certainly don’t have to know all the “right” academic words before you get here.

You just have to be willing to think, question, learn, and sometimes change your mind when you learn something new. No tuition. No prerequisites. And no required homework (I may assign optional homework, lol, I’m a teacher).

Welcome to Ceci’s Community Classroom.

I’m Dr. Ceci Bell.

Let’s learn something together!

What is Provenance?

Let’s dig deeper into this story about provenance, which is the origin or source, “the history of ownership of a valued object or work of art or literature”.⁴

Potential Winners and Losers of AI Watermarking

AI watermarking is not new. Google started using an invisible watermark for AI-generated images in 2023 and AI-generated text in 2024.⁵ Watermarking has benefits. Watermarking is useful for tagging misinformation and impersonation. Watermarking is useful for discouraging the mass use of AI-generated content focused on volume rather than quality. “The ability to spot AI-written text is gaining importance as a potential solution to the problem of fake news and academic cheating, and as a way to avoid degrading future models by training them on AI-made content.”⁶

The following table describes potential winners and losers of watermarking.

*ChatGPT, response to “who are the winners and losers of AI watermarking,” OpenAI, August 12, 2026, https://chat.openai.com.

An Example: Educational Implications of AI Watermarking

I could wax poetic on all the examples in the table about potential winners and losers of AI-watermarking (perhaps I will in a series of articles); but for this article, I will focus on the educational implications noted in the table. Potential educational winners include educators and educational institutions; while, potential losers include non-native English speakers, people using AI for accessibility, people without money for human assistance, and students using AI legitimately.

I could see how AI watermarking would benefit me as a college English instructor and English teacher educator because watermarking helps educators and researchers flag plagiarism. It is highly frustrating how much students use AI wholesale for their assignments and try to pass off the AI-generated text as their own. From a curriculum and instruction perspective educators are charged by the higher ed institutions to teach students how to use AI responsibly, for instance, for brainstorming ideas. Additionally, there are implications for scholarly research as well. For instance, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) hosted a conference in Seoul, Korea in July 206 where they “rejected 497 papers – roughly 2% of submissions – whose authors violated AI-use policies in their peer reviews of other articles submitted to the meeting. . . Conference organizers detected the illicit AI use by hiding watermarks in research papers distributed for review” ⁷

The ability to detect AI-generated text sounds like a straightforward solution to an obvious problem; however, it creates another problem that may prove considerably harder to solve: What, exactly, does evidence that a person used AI in a piece of writing tell us about the person who produced the piece of writing? The evidence may tell us that AI was involved in the writing process, however, the evidence does not necessarily tell us why it was used, how it was used, or how much of the intellectual work belongs to the writer. Continuing with the educational examples, AI watermarks could disadvantage students who use AI for legitimate reasons as follows:

· A non-native English speaker might use AI to improve grammar while retaining their own ideas and arguments

· A student with a disability might rely on AI as an accessibility tool to translate their thoughts into written form

· A student who cannot afford a private tutor, professional editor, or other human assistance might use AI to obtain support that wealthier students can purchase privately

· A student might simply use AI in ways expressly permitted by an instructor, such as brainstorming, receiving feedback, or revising prose.

In each case, detecting AI involvement establishes that AI participated in the process; however, it does not establish that AI performed the intellectual work. Therefore, the danger is not necessarily detection itself, but treating detection as sufficient evidence of authorship, dishonesty, or academic misconduct.

Authorship, Attribution, & Institutional Power

Anthropic’s roll-out of AI watermarking has renewed the controversy of using AI watermarks because of the regulatory implications. A watermark may help us answer whether or not an AI system participated in producing a text; however, it cannot necessarily answer more pertinent questions, such as: Who developed the ideas? Who conducted the research? Who exercised judgment? How much did AI contribute? Who is responsible for the finished work? Who should be considered the author of the finished work?

For years AI companies and employers have encouraged us to incorporate generative AI into ordinary work. To treat AI as an assistant for brainstorming, editing, translating, researching, summarizing, organizing, revising, and improving productivity. If AI is genuinely an assistant, why should evidence that someone used the assistant be interpreted as evidence that the assistant did the work? AI involvement does not automatically mean AI authorship. At what point does disclosure become necessary?

Once AI involvement becomes detectable, who gets to look? What are they permitted to conclude once they find evidence of AI involvement?

AI detection does not interpret itself.

What do you think? Share your comments and perspectives in the comments.

Leave a comment

References

¹ Maxwell Zeff, “Anthropic Says It Will Watermark Text Generated by Its AI Models,” TechCrunch, August 11, 2026, https://techcrunch.com/2026/08/11/anthropic-says-it-will-watermark-text-generated-by-its-ai-models/.

² Mary Whitfill Roeloffs, “Claude Will Put Invisible Watermarks on AI Text and Images—and the Internet Isn’t Happy,” Forbes, August 11, 2026, https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/08/11/claude-will-put-invisible-watermarks-on-ai-text-and-images-and-the-internet-isnt-happy/.

³ Cecily Mauran, “Claude Is Adding Invisible Watermarks to AI-Generated Content,” Mashable, August 11, 2026, https://mashable.com/tech/claude-watermark-ai-generated-content.

⁴ Merriam-Webster.com, under “provenance,” accessed August 12, 2026, merriam-webster.com.

⁵ Elizabeth Gibney, “Google Unveils Invisible ‘Watermark’ for AI-Generated Text,” Nature 634, no. 8036 (2024): 1027–28, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-03462-7.

⁶ Gibney, “Google Unveils Invisible ‘Watermark,’” 1028.

⁷ Elizabeth Gibney, “Major Conference Catches Illicit AI Use—and Rejects Hundreds of Papers,” Nature 652, no. 8109 (2026): 281–82, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00893-2

Please take the poll and share your thoughts in the comments. I have a lot to say about Jay-Z’s afro and the whole buzz around it since his performance this weekend at the Roots Picnic. Check back this week for my perspective.

This includes students at different stages (from high school through doctoral study) as well as adult learners working in community, nonprofit, or educational settings.

Participation is offered at no cost to participants as part of the Lightstand Project’s community-based work. Cohort size is limited, with participants grouped by academic level.

Participants engage in community-based work while developing their approach through reflection, guided learning, and practice. You work on your own project within a 12-week cohort, supported by a facilitator and alongside other participants working in their own contexts.

August 2026 Cohort

• Application deadline: June 30, 2026

• Decision notifications: July 6, 2026

• Cohort begins: August 3, 2026

If you are currently working on something connected to a community, and want structured time and support to move it forward, you can apply for this cohort.

Learn more and apply:
https://thelightstandproject.com/community-engagement-program/community-engaged-scholars/

Please subscribe to the Lightstand Project’s Substack to stay up-to-date on news:

That’s why we created a short, beginner-friendly video introducing our course:

How to Overcome Nonprofit Grant Proposal Challenges
(1:56 minutes)

This brief video explains:

• Who the course is designed for

• What beginners actually need to understand about grants

• Why community engagement is foundational to grant readiness

• How this training differs from traditional grant-writing instruction

Rather than treating grant writing as a standalone skill, the Community Engagement Program approaches it as part of a larger ecosystem—one that includes trust, accountability, relevance, and meaningful relationships with communities.

Funders don’t just fund ideas.
They fund credibility.

And credibility is built long before a proposal is written.

If you’re new to grants, supporting a small or grassroots organization, or simply looking for a clearer starting point, this video offers a calm, practical introduction—without jargon, pressure, or promises of “quick wins.”

You can watch the video here:

As always, our approach is grounded in one guiding principle:

Beginner-friendly. Community-centered. Grant-ready.
Progress, not perfection.

Learn more about The Lightstand Project’s Community Engagement Program on our website.

Sincerely,

Ceci Bell, Ph.D., President & Executive Director

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. People have varying perspectives on the holiday. I searched Google for “How do you feel about Thanksgiving” and got the above results from the AI Overview. Take the poll and please share your perspectives in the comments.

Leave a comment

Dear Pharrell Williams,

Yes, politics are divisive. I don’t like politics either, but to say that “when you pick a side, you are inadvertently supporting division” [1] is not a luxury that many people of color have in this country. Neutrality is a farce. Neutrality is picking sides. Neutrality in a white supremacist society is choosing the side of the oppressor because colorblindness is erasure….erasure of any identities that are different from the dominant, mainstream identity. The falseness of neutrality is that neutrality is “a code word for the existing system [of whiteness]” [2]. Many of us can’t afford to feign neutrality in a system that can’t make up its mind on whether they can see us (hypervisibility that is fostered through stereotypes, tropes, and the white gaze) or not (invisibility).

The invisibility syndrome is a model that has been present within African Americans for decades. The invisibility syndrome is defined as when your feelings and beliefs that your personal talents, abilities, and character are not acknowledged or valued by the larger society due to racial prejudice. [3]

Dear white people,

When you don’t see my color, my Blackness….you don’t see me. I am invisible to you. And if I am invisible to you, you don’t have to address the injustices I may experience in life because of the skin I am in. The egg carton image is a good representation of the reason colorblindness or race neutrality is not cool. The angry white eggs in the carton represent society’s ills created by white hegemony (supremacy). The brown egg is us, us Black folks, us people of color, who are just supposed to sit there and take it…happily!...and ignore our feelings of hypervisibility and invisibility for the sake of race neutrality.

Colorblindness is Racism!

My fellow GenXrs (me and Pharrell are the same age) continue to bug out in the 2020s, omg. It behooves me that people who espouse a colorblind ideology can’t understand how “I don’t see color” is RACISM in 2025! I used to be one of those people as a young person in the 1980s, who thought that colorblindness was a good thing, King-like (MLK), because that’s the narrative that was pushed in the media and school. Dr. King’s quotes were often (and still) are used and pulled out of context.

I remember writing a scholarship essay my senior year in high school about having a dream and using the popular quote: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” In a 2013 CBS News article, MLK’s “content of character” quote inspires debate - CBS News, the author poses the question: “Would King have wanted us to completely ignore race in a ‘color-blind’ society? To consider race as one of many factors about a person? And how do we discern character?” This was written while we had our first Black president (President Obama) and relishing in a faux post-racial society.

The meaning of King’s monumental quote is more complex today than in 1963 because “the unconscious signals have changed,” says the historian Taylor Branch, author of the acclaimed trilogy “America in the King Years.”

Fifty years ago, bigotry was widely accepted. Today, Branch says, even though prejudice is widely denounced, many people unconsciously pre-judge others.

“Unfortunately race in American history has been one area in which Americans kid themselves and pretend to be fair-minded when they really are not,” says Branch.

It’s crazy whiplash to read the CBS article while experiencing life in America in 2025.

But in 2025, people should know better because there has been so much awareness brought to the topic through wokeness.

Internalized Racism

Racism comes in many forms. People of color, including Black people, can experience internalized racism. Colorblindness is a characteristic of internalized racism. In Black racial identity develoment theory, [4] a Black person with a race neutral stance (or race neutral racial identity attitude) is experiencing the lowest, most immature stage of Black racial identity development. These people often experience some or all of these accompanying characteristics (miseducation, Eurocentric cultural perspective, spotlight or race image anxiety, self-hatred, and assimilationist perspective), along with other racial identity attitudes (low Blackness salience or low Blackness importance, social stigma, anti-Black).

Race neutrality is a damaging thing for fostering positive Black racial identity development.

Class Privilege

We often talk about white privilege, but there’s also CLASS privilege.

This is “rich” coming from Pharrell: “If diversity, equity and inclusion ever comes back in style, cool. But in the mean time, I’m gonna focus on being the best because I can bank on that.” Newsflash, Pharrell. It’s because you are rich that you can bank on that. Check out the Roots article, which includes comments from other Black folk online about how they feel about Pharrell’s apolitical stance. This one sums it up for me:

For @Pharrell to monetize his Blackness and benefit from Black money and then tell the Black folks he’s left behind not to pursue political outcomes that will keep them safe (from the harms they helped him buy his way out of) is callous af.

What do you think about Pharrell’s comments. Share in the comments.

Leave a comment

References

[1] Pharrell Williams Faces Backlash On Comments About DEI, Black People - The Root https://www.theroot.com/why-the-internet-isnt-rocking-with-pharrell-williams-an-2000073937

[2] Bissonnette, J. D. (2016). The trouble with niceness: How a preference for pleasantry sabotages culturally responsive teacher preparation. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 12(2), 9–32.

[3] Lawson, Stacey, “The Mental Health Effects of the Invisibility Syndrome in Undergraduate Students” (2019). Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry Symposia. 209.
https://digital.library.ncat.edu/ugresearchsymposia/209

[4] Cross, W. E. (2021). Black identity viewed from a barber’s chair: Nigrescence and Eudaimonia. Temple University Press

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In addition to tangible needs like food and other assistance, we need to support intangible needs like educating society!

Food insecurity is already an issue because many of us are not being paid a living wage, “the minimum income necessary for a worker to meet their basic needs” (Wikipedia). Basic needs include food, housing, other essential needs, and money for unexpected situations.

We need to disrupt the stereotypes and misconceptions that society has about people who are food insecure. Mainstream media and society perpetuate the stereotypical myth of the “welfare queen,” made popular by Ronald Reagan during his 1976 presidential campaign. For instance, Black Enterprise published a story about how the “Internet [Is] Enraged Over Racist AI Videos Depicting Black Women Yelling About EBT Cards”. This is a form of digital Blackface. These videos are harmful, not only because the videos perpetuate racism and stereotypes, but also because the videos are spreading false information. There are more white people receiving SNAP, than Black people.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a webpage dedicated to “A Closer Look at Who Benefits from SNAP: State-by-State Fact Sheets”. SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, an anti-hunger program that benefits the most vulnerable members of our communities: children, low-income senior citizens, people with disabilities living on fixed incomes, and working families who live below the poverty line.

Ways to help with tangible needs

• “Community gardens, pantries, and meal programs have been here, serving folks long before the hashtags and headlines. They work. They just need people power; not another new thing with the same mission and NO roots.” - CK Hart

• Mutual aid

  • “Community is a verb and we need to help those who will be left hungry because of the SNAP pause. On my FB and in my Patreon, I’m asking my audience to stand in the gap and give to those who are going to be affected come Nov 1.”Luvvie Ajayi Jones

  • Find Help-”to help folks find free or reduced cost food in their area” Franchesca Ramsey

  • Dr. Stacey Patton on Facebook

**If you know of other resources, please add to the comments section. Let’s keep this list updated!**

Leave a comment

• Check with your local food pantries. Search this site for local information: Feeding America

• “DoorDash is offering SNAP recipients free delivery and waived service fees just as federal assistance is scheduled to run dry.”

• Find Help-”to help folks find free or reduced cost food in their area” Franchesca Ramsey

• Mutual aid

  • Dr. Stacey Patton on Facebook

  • “Is anybody here affected by the SNAP pause? Let us help!” Luvvie Ajayi Jones

• Churches

  • Church of God in Christ’s “Bridging the Gap: COGIC charities federal worker relief fund”

  • “Pastor Jamal Bryant swaps tithes for food donations amid SNAP cuts and job losses” - by Haniyah Philogene, The Grio

• Search Facebook for “SNAP resources” and you can find resources in your local area.

• “Where can SNAP recipients get food resources in November? How to find food banks” -USA Today

**If you know of other resources, please add to the comments section. Let’s keep this list updated!**

Leave a comment

Hello to all of my subscribers and followers!

In case you weren't aware, I have 5 Substack publications, so that I can silo my different interests and not bore you, if you aren't interested (I have A LOT to say and share).

Just a note, if you are a paid subscriber to one of my newsletters, I can add you as a “comp” subscriber to any of the other ones for no additional charge. So basically, you pay for ONE subscription, but have access to all five paid subscriptions.

• Ceci Bell, Ph.D. (this one)

• Drumbeats Magazine

• Dr. Bell Speaks 

• Diary of a Junk Food Junkie

• The Lightstand Project

If you are a paid subscriber, email thelightstandproject@gmail.com, and let us know the other pubs you would like access to for the full content.

In case you missed it since September 23, I have posted the following:

Oct 16

PowerPoint Seminar- Week #1 Book Club

Oct 15

Week #1 Book Club - “The Black Box: Writing the Race” by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Oct 8

Introducing….Diary of a Junk Food Junkie

• Oct 8 - I Love My Smart Watch

• Oct 8 - I Stress Eat

• Oct 13 - My Latest “Day One” (paid)

• Oct 13 - Lunch- Day One “Sugar Pushers”

• Oct 21 - My War Prep

• Oct 21 - Work Walk Breaks

Oct 3

Kudos to the Root's Return to Black Owned: We Need Black Media More Than Ever

Oct 1

Basic Literature Review Outline: Steps on How to Write an Academic Literature Review

Sept 28

Movie Review: Ruth & Boaz on Netflix: Beautiful but No Depth

Sept 24

Book Review: Kamala Harris’ 107 Days

Sincerely,

Ceci

Subscribe to DrumBeats Magazine newsletter for access!

This week we have started reading “The Black Box: Writing the Race” by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. We will post discussion prompts before each reading period for all subscribers. Post your reflections in the comments at the end of each reading period. Let’s engage in reading and writing together!

Here are the discussion prompts for Week #1:

1. Why do you think Dr. Gates included the specific scripture and quote that he did in the Epigraph?

2. What do you think the scripture and quote mean after reading the preface and chapter one?

3. What does the Black Box mean? How do you feel about the Black Box? Do you agree or disagree with Dr. Gates’ advice about the Black Box and his granddaughter?

EXCLUSIVE: Weekly seminar style PowerPoint recordings will also be published exclusively for PAID SUBSCRIBERS ($8/month) here. These recordings will delve deeper into each chapter. We invite unpaid subscribers to upgrade to gain access to the audio recordings, which are archived, as well as a private subscriber chat to submit questions. Dr. Ceci Bell will respond to questions to facilitate further discussion of the book chapters.

The first PowerPoint recording is FREE to all subscribers. I plan to post the first recording tonight, but no later than tomorrow.

Here are some highlights from the first recording:

• Definition of race

• “Black box” metaphors

• What is Blackness?

Reading Schedule

Oct 14 – Oct 20 – Epigraph, Preface: The Black Box

Oct 21 – Oct 7 – Chapter One: Race, Reason, and Writing

Oct 28 – Nov 3 – Chapter Two: What’s in a Name?

Nov 4 – Nov 10 - Chapter Three: Who’s Your Daddy?

Nov 11 – Nov 17 - Chapter Four: Who’s Your Mama?

Nov 18 – Nov 24 - Chapter Five: The “True Art of a Race’ Past”

Nov 25 – Dec 1 - Chapter Six: Modernism and Its Discontents

Dec 2 – Dec 8- Chapter Seven: Sellouts vs. Race Men

Dec 9 – Dec 15- Conclusion: Policing the Color Line

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I have started and restarted this diary for many years. Hoping that if I made myself accountable I would be successful with my weightless journey. I even had a website back in January 2006 (junkfoodjunkie.net). Yeah, that long ago and I am still struggling with the weight and the mental anguish of having the weight, plus now as I age I can’t out beat the continued toll obesity is having on my body.

For many years I was able to slow down the inevitable medical conditions like high blood pressure, high glucose, and high cholesterol BECAUSE although I am a fluffy gal, I am discriminatory on what I eat. I stopped eating red meats and pork about 30 years ago, which I think slowed down my progression to where I am today. But even if you keep your numbers down, obesity gets you in other ways…wear and tear on joints, stress fractures, and diseased organs.

Why do I call myself a junk food junkie? Back in 2006 that was my issue. Not so much now…it’s other issues that exacerbate my obesity.

Obesity is such an ugly word. Clinical. But ugly.

Anyway, society’s collective mindset has evolved as we have become more educated on obesity. An epidemic in the U.S. I think back to elementary school and middle school when fat kids got bullied because they were the anomaly (not the norm).

In 2006 I called myself a junk food junkie to bring awareness that obesity is mostly the result of food addiction. Addiction is addiction, regardless of if we are talking about alcohol, drugs, sex, or FOOD! Oftentimes we look down on drug addicts or alcoholics, when we have our own problems and shouldn’t be judging others.

Anyway, I am trying again with my journal. As accountability, but also to share my perspective and knowledge over the years related to food related health, wellness, and issues (for free subscribers). Also, I would love to be in community with other people who would like to join me in my weight loss journey, like a support group (in the subscriber chat).

To subscribe to Diary of a Junk Food Junkie, click here.

Take care,

Ceci

9/22 - Artificial Intelligence in Job Hunting and Hiring Process: The New Gatekeeper (PAID)

I am not a fan of the use of artificial intelligence in job hunting. I have applied for positions that I know I am qualified for (i.e., perfect fit without forcing my credentials to match the job description), but I don’t even get an interview. So, I am left wondering if . . .

9/19 – Introducing “DateFace”: a novella series (FREE)

I was so over the Dateface. The fake smiles at family and class reunions. The Fakebook status updates that made me feel like something was wrong with me just because I wasn't drinking the Relationship Kool-Aid. There was an expiration date on love and I stopped buying the fairytale version my senior year in college when . . .

9/14 - What Are Racial Literacies? Why Are They Important? (FREE)

Racial literacies are fostered through a combination of racial identity development and critical consciousness. . . .It is important to be attune to one’s racial identity, even for people with social justice orientations—because all racialized people can perpetuate hegemonic (or dominant) racist ideologies by not examining our own racial identity development. . .

9/13 - How Racially Literate Are You? A Poll (FREE)

DrumBeats Magazine

9/22 –The Importance of Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Learning Experiences In and Out of School for Black Youth: An interview with “Brandon” (FREE)

Culturally relevant and sustaining learning experiences in and out of school are very important for our Black youths’ academic and psychological development. Culturally relevant experiences foster student achievement, cultural competence, and sociopolitical consciousness (Ladson-Billings, 1995). It is so easy to fall prey to perpetuating damaging, deficit perspectives of minoritized learners with raciolinguistic and socioeconomic differences and varied (dis)abilities. Several years ago, I interviewed Brandon (pseudonym), a young African American man who had recently graduated from alternative high school, about his literacy and schooling experiences. . .

9/18 –Introducing “Ugly Love in a Cola Bottle” - A serialized novella (FREE)

It was 1938. "You ain't no lady, Eula Mae," said my first and only love Levi, when I told him I was marrying Jimmie Lee the day after tomorrow at the courthouse. . .

9/17 –Black Language Is Not a Broken Language - Part 2 of a Series: Please Stop Policing Black Language (FREE)

Black language, also known as African American Vernacular English (AAVE) or African American Language (AAL), is not a broken language. Black language is a part of African Americans’ heritage—a bridge connecting past to present (Kynard, 2013; Paris, 2016). . .

9/16-What is Your Definition of Blackness? (FREE)

Share your definition in the comments. Blackness means a variety of things to different people. I am curious how similar or different our definitions are.

Share Ceci Bell, Ph.D.

I am not a fan of the use of artificial intelligence in job hunting. I have applied for positions that I know I am qualified for (i.e., perfect fit without forcing my credentials to match the job description), but I don’t even get an interview. So, I am left wondering if it is because there were a gazillion job applications submitted online, and if I was just lost in the shuffle (i.e., overlooked). Or were there just that many more people with more experience and education than I? Or am I overqualified? Definitely not underqualified—I have over 27 years of experience in my profession. These feelings of self-doubt always permeate my thoughts when I apply for jobs and then….crickets…or worse, the email announcing they have hired a “more qualified” candidate.

But guess what? On top of the old school reasons for a laborious and tumultuous job hunt . . . enter artificial intelligence (AI). I have seen suggestions in Facebook Groups or job site articles to revise my resume, curriculum vita, and cover letters so that AI can read them. As in, AI is the first screener before job materials even make it to human eyes. According to Michael Henninger, AI “rapidly changed the ways that companies screen applicants for positions, and now job seekers themselves use generative AI to navigate this evolving career landscape.” Revising my job materials to suit AI goes against all my writer’s sensibilities. Do you know how serious I take revising and recrafting each of my cover letters for each job announcement? It’s a work of art. Masterpiece! But my strategies are not working anymore in 2025. My job materials used to guarantee a call for an interview. So, I ask: is AI the new gatekeeper?

Employers use AI to “streamline various processes such as resume screening, bulk messaging and candidate ranking” (Henninger). The result, according to Henninger, is that “most resumes—75%--don’t make it to a human” and job seekers often feel like their resume is going into a black hole.

Job seekers use AI to “gain an edge in the competitive job markets to apply in bulk” (Henninger); however, a downside to bulk applying is that job seekers are not networking and developing professional relationships, which are still the primary strategies for career advancement and professional development. Additionally, job seekers are indirectly encouraging the use of AI by employers because job seekers are inundating the process. There is “AI technology that allows users to apply to thousands of jobs per day, flooding job openings with resumes” (Pargas). Another downside with AI use for job applications is that the candidates may not be qualified to do the work (Thomas).

For Discussion: Let me know in the comments how you feel about the use of AI in the job hiring process? What have your experiences been like?

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References

Henninger, M. (2024). AI Tools Reshape Job Application Process - News - Carnegie Mellon University (June 21, 2024).

Pargas, S. (2024). Is AI making job applications easier, or creating another problem? (November 17, 2024).

Thomas, H. (2025). AI job application rise risks employing incapable staff, boss warns

I was so over the Dateface. The fake smiles at family and class reunions. The Fakebook status updates that made me feel like something was wrong with me just because I wasn't drinking the Relationship Kool-Aid. There was an expiration date on love and I stopped buying the fairytale version my senior year in college when Matt, who I had been dating for three years, looked me straight in the face and said he never loved me, didn't even like me, he was just in it for the sex and my Dad's bank account (at least that was his goal, but apparently he couldn't fake it anymore).

As I signed the credit card receipt for our meal, I watched my friend, Caitlyn, exchanging googly eyes with some new guy who had walked over to our table and asked for her number. How was it possible for her to have a life filled with wonderful, not so wonderful romantic relationships? I had stopped after three bad endings to happily ever after, a realist who couldn't stomach relationship fraud.

Caitlyn was addicted to the adrenaline rush that comes with the start of a new relationship, euphoric and optimistic. Each man was the man of her dreams. A flawless soul mate. In rose-colored bliss she'd cross her fingers before the DateFace reared its ugly head, usually after the guy realized that Caitlyn was "saving herself for marriage."

Love was risk and poker combined into one. We can't change people, however, there are signs to warn us that the person we're mad crazy in love with has crazy quirks that we just can't stand. I refuse to be a newlywed who wakes up to a stranger wondering how did I get there.

* * *

Caitlyn

"Shoot." I kneeled down and deposited a rumpled pile; I could keep everything else neat except for my purse. Ticket stubs, calculator, checkbook, flash cards for the kids. Empty chewing gum wrappers, ATM receipts, a million pennies, a pocket Bible. But no keys. Shoving my junk back inside my purse, I picked up the pennies that had rolled across the across the gray and brown Berber carpet, and shuffled towards the door behind me. "I will just have to bug Bryce," I said, as I pointed to the townhouse next door to me.

"He a locksmith?" asked Damon.

"No, he has my spare."

Damon frowned, wary eyes narrowing their probe.

Palms sweaty, my eyes darted back and forth from Damon's gaze to next door. I cleared my throat and said, "We're just friends." I rapped my fist lightly against the white door, directly below the gold toned letter Q.

"Just friends?" Damon asked, wary eyes narrowing their probe.

"Yeah, you know . . . homies." I knocked again. Once. Twice. Opened on the third.

* * *

….to be continued…

Racial identity is “an individual’s sense of being defined, in part, by membership in a particular racial group. The strength of this sense depends on the extent to which an individual has processed and internalized the psychological, sociopolitical, cultural, and other contextual factors related to membership in this group. Given the socially constructed nature of racial categories, racial identifications can change over time and in different contexts” (APA Dictionary of Psychology, n.d.).

Critical consciousness, or conscientização, “refers to learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradiction, and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality” (Freire, 1970/2014, loc. 502) and “the ability to critically reflect on power dynamics, recognize systems of inequality, and act to challenge oppressive structures” (Google).

The Connection Between Racial Literacies and Racism

It is important to be attune to one’s racial identity, even for people with social justice orientations—because all racialized people can perpetuate hegemonic (or dominant) racist ideologies by not examining our own racial identity development. Racialized is “the act of giving a racial character to someone or something: the process of categorizing, marginalizing, or regarding according to race” (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Racism is “the belief in the inherent superiority of one race over all others and thereby the right to dominance, manifest and implied” (Lorde, 1984, p. 124) and an institutional, structural, and systemic “marriage of racist policies and racist ideas that produces and normalizes racial inequities” (Kendi, 2019, p. 17). Racial literacies can be hegemonic (i.e., upholding dominant racist ideologies) and counterhegemonic (i.e., disrupting dominant racist ideologies) (Chavez-Moreno, 2022).

The Connection Between Racial Literacies and Antiracism

Increased racial literacies are a vital part of racial reconciliation, which is “the process that aims to address and remedy the structural and personal damages caused by racism” (Hailu & Simmons, 2022, p. 10). For instance, difficult talk is a necessary strategy towards racial reconciliation; however, talking about race(ism) is uncomfortable and complicated for many people. The opposite of racism is antiracism. Antiracists endorse racial equality, locate “the roots of problems in power and policies,” and confront racial inequities (Kendi, 2019, p. 9). In short, “antiracism is a powerful collection of antiracist policies that lead to racial equity and are substantiated by antiracist ideas” (Kendi, 2019, p. 19).

Racial literacies are critical awareness plus critical action (Bell, 2021; Price-Dennis & Sealey-Ruiz, 2021). Oftentimes people who are critically aware take “little or no action to challenge the root causes of oppression to better the conditions of their community” (Neville et al., 2016, p. 19). Action is an important step in racial literacies as highlighted in the literature (Bell, 2021; Freire, 1970; Cross, 1991, 2021; Neville et al., 2016; Price-Dennis & Sealey-Ruiz, 2021). With Freire’s (1970) critical consciousness an individual then “take[s] action to change their circumstances and liberate themselves from social injustice” (Neville et al., 2016, p. 18). To act is to disrupt, which also aligns with the racial literacies tenet about agency and disruption (Bell, 2021; Cross, 1991, 2021). “Individuals with critical reflection without critical action often lack what Watts, Deimer, and Voight (2011) described as agency” (Neville et al., 2016, p. 19).

I believe that positive racial identity development can be empowering and liberating, which leads to agency and taking action through resistance.

Let’s discuss in the comments. Do you have a positive or negative opinion of your racial identity? Why or why not? How did your racial identity develop (for instance, from experiences when you were a child or experiences during high school, etc.)?

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References

American Psychological Association. (n.d). Racial identity. In APA Dictionary of Psychology. Retrieved June 7, 2025, from https://www.dictionary.apa.org/racial-identity

Bell, S. R. (2021). Mapping racial literacies: College students write about race and segregation. University Press of Colorado.

Chávez-Moreno, L. C. (2022). Critiquing racial literacy: Presenting a continuum of racial literacies. Educational Researcher, 51(7), 481-488. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X221093

Cross, W. E. (1971). The negro-to-black conversion experience. Black World, 20(9), 13–27.

Cross, W. E. (1991). Shades of Black: Diversity in African-American identity. Temple University Press.

Cross, W. E. (2021). Black identity viewed from a barber’s chair: Nigrescence and Eudaimonia. Temple University Press.

DiAngelo, R. (2016). What does it mean to be white? Developing white racial literacy. Peter Lang. (Original work published 2012)

Freire, P. (2014). Pedagogy of the oppressed (M. Ramos, Trans.). Bloomsbury. (Original work published 1970)

Hailu, M. F., & Chea Simmons, M. (2022). A collaborative auto-ethnographic examination of Black immigrant women’s journeys to and in doctoral education. Race, Ethnicity and Education, ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2022.2069739

Kendi, I. X. (2019). How to be an antiracist. One world.

Lorde, A. (1984, 2007). Sister outsider: Essays and speeches. Crossing Press.

Merriam-Webster. (n.d). Racialized. In Merriam-Webster dictionary. Retrieved April 13, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/racialized

Neville, H. A., & Cross, W. E., Jr. (2017). Racial awakening: Epiphanies and encounters in Black racial identity. Cultural Diversity & Ethnic Minority Psychology, 23(1), 102–108. EDSWSS. https://doi.org/10.1037/cdp0000105

Price-Dennis, D., & Sealey-Ruiz, Y. (2021). Advancing racial literacies in teacher education: Activism for equity in digital spaces. Teachers College Press.

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My dissertation is available online, open-access. Please click here for the full pdf if you would like to read more.

Abstract:

The problem I addressed in my dissertation study was seeking to understand the role of racial identity development in navigating Black education doctoral students’ racialized socialization experiences within the marginalizing and systemically inequitable nature of Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs). I situate this work by describing a few experiences by which I have been racially marginalized in my teacher educator learning at a PWI. I argue that it is important to study the teacher educator learning of Black doctoral students amidst the marginalizing challenges at PWIs. The goal for teacher educator learning and development of Black doctoral students should be fostering Black doctoral students’ positive doctoral socialization within the marginalizing challenges of systemically inequitable educational environments. My study is significant because my study extends the graduate student socialization model conceptualizations to include a specific focus on racial identity and intersectional positioning, and it provided recommendations to assist with graduate program reform for Black doctoral students in general and Black and social justice teacher educators specifically.

The primary purpose of my critical autoethnography was to explore my racialized doctoral socialization as a Black woman within the systemically inequitable nature of a PWI. I focused on how my racial identity development afforded or constrained the navigation of my doctoral journey experiences. The secondary purpose was to examine my racial identity development and intersectional identities during my racialized doctoral socialization. Ultimately, the goal with my dissertation was to contribute to the teacher education field’s knowledge about the role of racial identity development in supporting Black teacher education doctoral students with their racialized socialization during teacher educator learning at PWIs. My research question was as follows: How did I as a Black female graduate student develop racial identity during doctoral socialization experiences becoming a social justice teacher educator in critical literacies?

I approached this inquiry into my racialized doctoral socialization experiences as a Black, female doctoral student at a PWI with an Afrocentric feminist epistemological stance, which informed my research and the design of my data creation and analysis methods. Graduate student socialization models (Twale et al., 2016; Weidman et al., 2001) and Nigrescence Theory or Black racial identity development stage theory (Cross, 1971, 1991, 2021) provided me with a theoretical lens for problematizing (or figuring out why I behaved or reacted to) and examining the way I behaved or reacted to my racialized doctoral socialization experiences.

I employed critical autoethnography as the method used in my research as it allowed me to explore and grapple with diversity and identity questions in minoritized positions. Critical autoethnography afforded me an opportunity to contribute my counterstory to the literature and allowed me as a researcher to critique systems, processes, places, and people within the culture of doctoral education. I actively constructed or generated data for my autoethnography through the use of two data sources: artifacts of my racialized doctoral socialization and critical auto-interviews using the artifacts as stimuli for memory recollection. Memory transcriptions were the product of auto-interviewing.

My autoethnographic findings suggest that I developed my Black racial identity during doctoral socialization at a PWI in three ways: double consciousness tensions, intersectional tensions, and racially relevant doctoral socialization. Intersectional tensions caused my feelings of racial identity suppression during doctoral socialization; however, I was able to avoid feeling racial identity suppressed development during my experiences with racial identity suppression because I simultaneously experienced racially relevant doctoral socialization.

I experienced double consciousness during doctoral socialization and that my increased critical consciousness both fostered and inhibited my Black racial identity. My autoethnographic findings suggest that while increased critical consciousness solidified my social justice orientations focused on the Black community and further developed my Black racial identity in a positive way, increased critical consciousness also opened my eyes to a deeper awareness of what was happening to me during racialized doctoral socialization that caused my Black racial identity development to falter.

My third finding was that I experienced racial identity tensions in my identity performances during doctoral socialization as a Black woman at a PWI. I found that in my identity performances during doctoral socialization becoming a Black social justice teacher educator that I experienced racial identity tensions as double consciousness tensions and intersectional tensions. Feelings of racial identity suppression were a consequence of my double consciousness tensions and intersectional tensions. The performance of my Black racial identity was suppressed by me and some of my professors, students, and peers as a doctoral student, as a consequence of intersectional tensions as a Black woman in cross race relationships during doctoral socialization at a PWI.

My work contributes to the field of teacher education in the following ways by providing:

· insight for educational researchers and teacher educators to consider when they are researching and supporting Black teacher education students’ doctoral socialization and racial identity development at PWIs, more specifically mature Black racial identity development and racial positional stances, and Black non-traditional doctoral students,

· a focus on Black racialized positioning in teacher education doctoral socialization spaces, which includes outsider and insider positioning, as well as liminal and intersectional positioning,

· a nuanced use of stage theories, in particular, an extended use of Cross’ (1971, 1991, 2021) Nigrescence Theory, a Black racial identity development model, and

· an extended use of graduate student socialization models by including race, racial identity, and positioning.

Please click here for the full, open-access pdf if you would like to read more.

My journal article is available open access in Fayetteville State University’s the Journal of Research Initiatives.

Abstract:

This paper seeks to understand Black racial identity development as defined by Cross's (1991) Nigrescence and how Nigrescence aids with solutions to the double bind challenges experienced by novice Black critical literacy teacher educators committed to community engagement during their becoming processes in academia. This paper will explain the double binds of alienating role conflict for novice Black teacher educators between their private identities versus their public roles in community engagement. This paper explores the implications of incorporating the study of Nigrescence in the racial literacy experiences of novice Black critical literacy teacher educators.

https://digitalcommons.uncfsu.edu/jri/vol8/iss5/3