In “Slipping into Something More Comfortable” the concept of “slipping” is introduced as “an act of associative miss-speaking” (Cohen and Dalke 1), meaning it could be a Freudian slip, stereotyping, even micro aggression. It is usually negative but can become positive through regression into playful child-like behavior. However, for the sake of this paper, I will focus on the negative aspects of slipping that are offensive and even harmful in the short story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”. Slipping occurs in the actions and inaction of Omelans.

Playing in the Right Playground 

I have always believed that children's play should be experienced in a clean, child-friendly environment. And I strongly assert that every child should experience play for the benefits for adulthood in these harm-free environments. Unfortunately in the essay "Industrial Ruins", they have another opinion on where children should spend their time playing. The central theme is the abandoned ruins should be used as a playful environment, for adults, teenagers, and children. Due to "the absence of surveillance" (64), it is encouraged that visitors experiment with "playful and expressive performances" (67) with the terrain.  

below I have supplied a few articles that reflect on various features of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. I have tried to find articles that address the unique architecture, curatorial choices and a few opening day recounts. Hopefully these are helpful to get us thinking about this unique display of American history that puts the Black experience at the forefront and how we can present the material we are grappling with for our exhibition to come. 

For those interested int he architecture and design of the building: 

i feel like i'm in a participant-observer situation. i am here to learn, but i tune out the presenters and watch audience members instead. i watch the elderly Black woman run her hand over the skills in the Morton collection which are placed at the front of the auditorium // i watch what a (college student?) girl chooses to jot down in her notes // i watch slide after slide show the same theme of decrepit "African" children in tattered clothes with relation to sickle cell anemia, then malaria, then ...  // i watch an Indian girl, a Penn senior, who is presenting read a bunch of definitions about biomedicine from a powerpoint // i watch how she was sandwiched by two white women presenters // i don't see much more after that

Today in class someone mentioned that the audience at Nora Chipaumire's performance was largely white, and that she had addressed this, calling for more diversity and saying her piece was primarily meant for a black audience. I was reminded of my final for a class I took last semester, Writing About Theater - I had written about the political power of the poerforming arts and their inaccessibility in a lot of different ways. I thought I would post part of what I had written, including information from the NEA about why only certain people go to plays/dance performances/etc. 

When we decided on choosing different meeting places, London Room just jumped into my head. It's a room my city professor showed to us during class which I fell in love at first sight: I was totoally amazed by its coziness and homely atmoshpere. I enjoy the way we walked down the path and how we bumped into the room with a suddern turn, reminded me of the secret garden. I enjoy the detailed decorations and the vintage furnitures. Further more, I thought most of us hadn't been to here before so I wish to pass the sence of finding serendip to everyone in our class. The reality turns out to be as good as expected.

Our class discussion in ed, and also in english left me stuck and overloaded. So I turned to our paper assignment for english. When prompted how I read literary texts and what discipline I could rely on to unpack it, I thought to my major religion and furthermore, womanism. As I started thinking about how I wanted to write the paper and tie womanism to Beloved, I noticed that a lot of what I was reading applied to how I feel about our discussions in our ed class, and also exhibiting africa. so here's goes my approach to intersectionality and refiguring language/frameworks/mindset/conceptions of self, our true selves, our racial selves, etc.: 

“Hold up, did you just hear, did you just say, did you just see, did you just do that? Then the voice in your head silently tells you to take your foot off your throat because just getting along shouldn’t be an ambition.” -- Claudia Rankine, citizen

I am originally from Boston, but just spent thi spast summer living in New York City alone and felt like myself for the first time. In both spaces I have a level of anonymity, privacy, security, and joy to exist. My existence is simple. I am one of many on a train car, cafe, museum, sidewalk. I cherish the small and mutual interactions I have with people. I know there are other things happenin garound me that trouble me and leave me feeling exhausted after a day, but nothing compares to the exhaustion I feel in college.