,

The only answer I'll give about the poems in Teaching While Black

,

I.

I have been a (paid) educator for 18 years.

I have taught at the middle school, high school, undergraduate, and graduate levels, at six different institutions of learning.

I have taught [I don’t do math] number of students in my career.

II.

The poems in this book are:

  1. Based on real events I experienced

  2. Based on real events students/colleagues/friends/family have experienced

  3. Based on real events I have heard about/was told about

  4. Based on real events I have imagined

  5. Based on a combination of 1, 2, 3, and/or 4.

III.

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Unless we have a prior arrangement, I won’t tell you the genesis of the poem(s) you’re wondering about.

Stop asking.

Love,
MEH