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Where
Are You Comin' From, Where Are You Goin' To:
In the Know: Who's Up on What's Goin' On "Who's up on what's goin' on? It would depend on what I'm lookin' for, what I'm lookin' to find out," states Chris. Chris, a sophomore, knows who he would ask for information about concerts or which organization he should go to for academic or career advice, such as MBP (Minority Business Program). He knows who to speak with about BSU-related news, and he knows he can "find out anything and all things" from a certain fraternity brother of his. "I am on campus, I am in organizations," explained Chris, "[but] he is organizations, he is campus, because he does so much on campus, he does so much out in the community." When persons are recognized for the specialized information they can provide (e.g., details about concerts) or the amount of information they can provide (Chris' fraternity brother), they're considered "in the know." When someone is placed as having valuable experience and information, s/he has Face--however temporary and limited to context--as a person in the know. Although no informants used the expression "in the know" within the context of the interview, I have heard it used frequently in my fieldwork encounters with Blacks at C.S.U.N. and elsewhere. Certain professors, especially Pan African Studies professors, are placed as in the know, as well as individuals in administrative offices. Olympia named persons in organizations such as Minority Achievers in Science and the Black Business Association, as well as a particular Pan African Studies professor. She made special note of those who gave strategies for surviving in school or after graduation. A person in the know is someone who has access to territories that may be unfamiliar or inaccessible to others, and can offer advice to those who want to enter these territories. For instance, the Black professor who reaches out to Black students, who prepares them for life after graduation, already shares the territory of race. She can place herself in the know as someone with experience, who "knows what it's like," and as someone who is willing to share her advice about the territories outside campus and after graduation. Keith referred to "in the know" as a kind of status. He claimed he was "up in status" as a member of the basketball team at the university he attended prior to C.S.U.N. "So I have more people that probably will talk to me more," he mentioned, "and I'm just a regular guy on the basketball team." Not everyone can join the basketball team, nor belong to a fraternity or sorority, and so people who can claim such memberships can be considered in the know if their experience and information are considered valuable enough. For instance, informants mentioned that if they wanted to know about a party, they would probably ask someone in a fraternity since fraternities sponsored many of the popular parties and dances. Communication scholars Jack Daniel and Geneva Smitherman
(1976), in their article on the African American communication system,
note the significance of participation in community events. Participation is the next aspect of Face that is described, and it is divided into two sections:
Next> Participation at Events
Placing and Black Students' Discursive Construction of Community Copyright (c) 1996, Corinna J. Moebius |