ABSTRACT
Every day there is another incident. Another headline, Tweet, post. I wrote an essay in the aftermath of Eric Garner’s death by police, in which I questioned what I, a middle-class, well-educated, college professor, could say to my Black and Brown students who face this country’s increasingly unchecked racism regularly to ease their pain. What would give my students strength to keep going as it becomes more and more difficult to live in America while non-White? They are harassed when they are on public transit, as they walk down the street, drive to school, shop for a new outfit … while just living their lives. What could I, in my role as their English professor, possibly do to help? How can I help myself?
