Lecture Notes: How To Read
This is not a definitive guide. It is presented in the hopes that you will discover a rhythm that works for you, for your learning style. It is presented as a way to break from the idea that we can somehow get away with not reading. In an environment, where even those who teach us have evaded the practice of critical reading, part of what might drive us is an insistence that we read for ourselves. Further, it is not simply a guide to getting through a course, it is about cultivating a practice that is useful for life.
There are many senses in which engaging the text emerges out of African practices of intellectual work. In an earlier Lecture Notes, I spoke to some of the urgency with which we continued these practices throughout the modern era, sometimes as a literal means of escape. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the stories of bibliophiles and reading circles are legion. So are the legends of voracious reading as a practice critical to movement-building, organizing, and “ideological clarity.” Reading then is a serious matter. We know that. But it still bears repeating.
Yet what does it look like to create a reading practice now? At least part of the answer lies in creating collective spaces for study. Reading alone can be a joy. So too, can studying together. Many people have asked me how I read (and even if I really read all those books). The answer is practice. So here are some practices that I have found useful.
1. Read Every Day.
We come from traditions where repetition matters. Our musicians and dancers speak beautifully about making sure to get their work in every day. Sometimes for hours (shout out to Muni). The same should be true of reading. But you should not force yourself into a practice that tries to mimic, say, a Paul Robeson who ended up reading almost seven books a week. Start with ten minutes. Make it a routine. If you simply read for ten minutes every day, the space between completing a text and wishing you had will rapidly evaporate. But not only that, the ten minutes will likely grow to fifteen to half an hour. Many of us have routines that we do not recognize as routines. We check our phones the first thing in the morning. Or we end each day by checking our emails. We make sure we call our loved ones at some point. Just to hear their voices. Our reading practices can be routinized too—without feeling like regulation or discipline.
2. Write Every Day.
No, I do not mean writing an essay. Or even a paragraph. What I mean is that our reading practices are enhanced by our writing practices. This may mean taking a text and writing an outline as you read and study. It could mean writing one sentence that captures what is being written. It may be a tweet offering a reflection. The joy of reading is enhanced when we are able to participate in the creative process ourselves, when we actually engage in a dialogue, a communal conversation, with the author and their writing. Even writing in the margins—only if you own the book!—can be a generative practice. What you will find is that if you are constantly writing back to the text, the arguments, the messages, the general sense of the transformation you are experiencing will make more and more sense to you. The texts will become your companion in a different way. Our journaling practice (see your syllabus or email me) is a guide to writing every day.
3. Create a Dedicated Space.
A lot of what makes study difficult is that we often have to do so in spaces and environments that are not designed for that purpose. Some of us have had to read while at work. Others of us have been confined to our bedrooms as the only place we can find momentary solace. Sometimes these are not optimal spaces. We have to create spaces that our brains recognize as only for reading. It then reinforces the neural response that now is the time to focus. Now, of course, this could be while at work for some folks—shade to the bosses. And it could be at home in bed. But what I have found is that dedicated reading spaces work best to cultivate focus as well as comfort.
4. Eliminate Distractions.
Relatedly, remove as many distractions as possible. We have so many now that need to be eliminated. It should be only you, your text, and your writing implement. This of course is now complicated by the fact that increasingly people are reading on screens. The obvious temptation to open a new tab or check social media and email while reading is more prevalent. Think about how to eliminate that distraction. It is hard for us to focus on a complex text when you are moving to another screen or tab every five minutes. Which gets me to my other point: Leave your phone in another room. If you can, leave it on silent. All it takes is one gossipy text from a friend to derail a study session. It can wait an hour. (Emergencies are real, however. So if you have responsibilities for others, make sure you allow those calls/texts to get through). There is a lot of debate on this, but I have found that ambient noise can be helpful for some types of readings. So if you have a dedicated space with ambient noise it could be useful. But this is something you should try for yourself. Also, music. A lot of genres of music can be the background for our study. If you have not tried music while studying, give it a try. Many people have found it helpful. I think it may have to do with the way music creates calm and has a therapeutic value. Finally, it is hard for me to offer advice to those who have been diagnosed with ADHD. I also do not know how valuable the advice that is already out there really is. That’s something that I am interested in thinking through, however. It’s clear to me though that there is a way for all to create a practice where they are not distracted. It has to be intentional.
5. Read Together.
I have already gestured to this above. But collective reading is our tradition. So there must be something to it. Find time and space to read important passages aloud with others. Work through definitions, concepts, ideas in real time and space with others. Out of this collective kind of gathering comprehension will happen. It is really where the magic of maturation and growth happens. Still, the other points apply here. Do not let distractions carry you away from the text, in the ways that it is possible when many personalities are in a room. Make the text the center. Then move out from that center to reach out and touch all gathered around in the circle.
