With Biden preparing to take office today, a short reflection about being in higher ed teaching media courses the past four years: 1/

One of the core memories I have of the 2016 campaign were the class discussions. Most of my students feared Trump winning, but didn’t think it’d happen. He was a clown. Voters weren’t that dumb. Etc. 2/

What that belief did is create space for privilege that came out in discussions (bear in mind a lot of my students are white). I had a *lot* of students disaffected and ambivalent about the choice. They didn’t read political coverage. Both sides were the same. A lot of that. 3/

The morning after the election, I had a lot of distraught students. I had about 15 in a class of 30 email me that they weren’t sure they could come to class that. I was distraught myself. I couldn’t blame them.

So I want to tell you a story I haven’t told anyone before. 4/

About an hour before class, my then-colleague Dr. Imaani El-Burki came into the office. She has since taken another position, but at the time she was our joint appointed professor in journalism and Africana Studies.

She’s an amazing person and I wish you could know her. 5/