I'm reminded of what President Obama said recently in an interview with NPR. Essentially, the racism we see so explicitly on social media as part of #blacklivesmatter is not new. Only smartphones and the ability of the oppressed to leverage media channels is new. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNop1dom1m8

In recent years there has been a growing critique of the US media for publishing mugshots of victims when black citizens are shot by police. In these instances, critics point out that the officers under investigation for misconduct are pictured in dress uniforms with American flags behind them while The innocent citizens are shown as criminals. Looking at King in a mugshot now, I know history will remember him as a formally dressed minister but I see the importance of his decision to dress as a common man and subject himself to arrest and jailing. Seeing him photographed this way might slow the judgements we make about the people our popular media frames in mugshots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WZbxYGy3As

A powerful excerpt from the last speech of his life.

A quick search on Jimmie Lee Jackson taught me that King revised the eulogy he used for the four girls who died in the bombing of the 16th St Baptist Church in order to speak about Jackson's killing. Obviously a big difference resulting from that revision would be lines like the ones quoted here that denounce the police and the political system. Back to sanitizing, we're more comfortable as a culture in denouncing racist terrorism like the bombing of the church but we struggle to see systemic racism in our government agencies.

To what degree have we sanitized King to make his image palatable to white America? One way we have, in my mind, is by canonizing his "I Have a Dream" speech with its positive vision while focusing less on the critiques of the white church he levels in "Letter From a Birmingham Jail."

Maybe these myths serve to support this sanitized view, which works in service of "the politics of personal exoneration" that Coates writes about in Between the World and Me.

The Huffington Post published a good article in 2014 about why King was in Memphis in the first place. That text paints a clearer, more specific context by describing the mistreatment of black sanitation workers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuqbrZLMYsg&feature=gp-n-o&google_comment_id=z12hel4a3tmww1rad04ceroogzq0jnwbmak

Thanks, you guys, for marking up the margins of the page.

Those conversations about text can reside in the margins, too. Although I have to admit I can't seem to get a YouTube video to embed in an annotation even though I've seen annotations with vids embedded. Do you know what I might be doing wrong?

I wonder if the mess naturally precedes the beautiful curation effort. In a museum like the one pictured below, you can imagine the back rooms cluttered with treasures and artwork that needs sifting and organizing by someone with any eye toward presentation. Does the mess stimulate the meaningful curation?

The margins can really come to life when .gif files appear.

I think it is important how you note that there are a number of tools with which to engage in social annotation and the social experience is something unique. Really, there are two reviews people might do: a tool review and a reflection on the experience.

A key point. When I think about a portfolio, I like the real world analogy of a photographer or architect who has a messy studio from which they pull pieces for real world audiences and would-be employers. They emerge from the studio with a polished, clean, audience-specific presentation. With curation so easily done online, wouldn't we want the metacognitive aspect and the awareness of audience?

Here, too, the idea that a portfolio is build for and stays with the student is a palatable one. Again, I struggle with the idea of quantifying something that can really give a more complete narrative about someone's learning, passions and successes.

It seems like this "Fitbit of higher ed" is not such a repulsive notion, if we accept that a student might have personal goals and want to track progress toward them. The "quantified student" on the other hand flies in the face of what I think workforce wants and the world needs- the truly "qualified" student.

What a turn. I expected one thing when I saw the picture of the farm jack and got another. I was unprepared for this ending but I also appreciate the stream of consciousness reflection as an engaging public brain-dump.

The stacked .gif files is a wild effect that I may have only seen in #ds106 until now. I really think it is a great visual device.

Now I think this might be about lists and the usefulness of them, somehow. In that case, roll with your podcast list idea, my friend, and scratch my unsolicited advice. I'm interested in your thoughts about this book because it is the second time in a few weeks I've heard someone mention it.

I wonder about drilling into one or three, really shortening the list since his is extensive but overwhelming to you. It might be more "signal oriented" for others if you describe why one podcast is a favorite and even touch on episode specifics. Just a thought.

I've been listening to the Note to Self podcast about technology Note to Self podcast and thinking how they would make great media texts to study with high school students or to launch personal learning inquiries with teachers. I wonder what kind of unpacking you envision?

I propose some prototypes for this kind of scholarly/active research work.

1. Pick a short text/poem/digital object.
2. Create a solo Hangout on Air.
3. screencast the text chosen at highest possible resolution.
4. annotate with hypothes.is while the the Hangout is running.
5. When finished, upload to YouTube.
6. Create a YouTube playlist with all participants represented.
7. Use Vialogues or NowComment to comment on other's videos or to analyze or otherwise annotate and observer and name and notice.

Of course one could also do this with a screencasting tool like Screencast-o-matic or Camtasia. I am sure there is better workflow than this, but maybe this "small pieces loosely joined" philosophy works best. It doesn't matter how you get it to the cloud, just get it there and share. I know I will be doing this in my online intro to lit course this semester. Gotta.

1. save

Yes! This is the next step that these technologies enable. And who knows what will happen once we step through that door and see four more doors in front of us. Just hope it's not a tyger behind one or all of them.

Take it a little further from the other night--Google Hangout on Air + Screenshare +Hypothes.is = a new way of collaborative learning. And a new way to learn about our learning, metacognition on the hypothes.is half shell.

Great. My thoughts, too. How do we make these affordances dance, how do we make them mean more and give us a stronger signal on how people and ideas work.

ah, the subtext here could fill volumes...well,

Does it seem like annotation tools are just pouring old wine into new bottles? They afford so much more. What they represent are useful palimpsests, bridges between people carried by 'text' like a StarTrek transporter.

Yet another way to look at writing and reading as indistinguishable conversations. This would be a profound author talk tool.

Just love the rhetorical strategy here--give a fav. I love the phrase "for example". As a reader I am being mapped down a wide blue highway when I hear it or its many cognates.

Love the moniker. Now where's my gat. Gotta have a gat to be a mobster. Or at least a pen.

Consider all the adjacent possible doors that had to open for us to even consider taking this small step toward collaborative annotation. We stand on the shoulders of giants.

But now...annotation can be social. The Webs are alive with marginalia.

In pairs, in web-powered groups, and yes oh yes in crowds

Historically, even very recent history, annotation is a solitary act. Or at best it's an imagined conversation with the author, usually one-sided.

Talk back to the text--annotate