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Ellie Leonard's avatar

Really well-written. I, too, grew up in the church, and while I've always loved the public speaking side of things, I really struggle with imposter syndrome when it comes to reading my writing. I handle the structure of a podcast or speech much better than mingling with other authors and, worse yet, coming up with a bio for an emcee to read before I hit the mic. Always a work in progress. Thanks for the great essay.

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Bianca W's avatar

Fred Moten was generous enough to be the discussant on a panel I co-organized as a grad student. I’ll add to your celebration of his public reading and speaking that he is kind, caring, and gracious with the words of others also, even grad students just learning how to speak publicly. It is a generosity that encourages them to grow and continue to speak, and I’ve been always grateful for it. Thanks for writing and sharing this!

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