How to Persuade a Black Scholar

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In aristotle's idea, you need three things to persuade someone: ethos, pathos and locos. The hipos sa tebactof theti sweet juse i say, te do of the flesh ing that the is of spoken words. It means that it is a case turned to the affirmative because we are en the use of what we call street scholars. But there could be really angry, screaming matches at tournaments. Would you have objection toa prohibition as a coach, if you sad i look for next year? Let's never talk about you and leave your gender, your sex, your background, your family, your religion behind and stay entirely in the brain. I think

In competitive debate future presidents, supreme court justices, and titans of industry pummel each other with logic and rhetoric.

Unclasp your briefcase. It’s time for a showdown. Looking back on an episode originally aired in 2016, we take a good long look at the world of competitive college debate. This is Ryan Wash's story. He's a queer, Black, first-generation college student from Kansas City, Missouri who joined the debate team at Emporia State University on a whim. When he started going up against fast-talking, well-funded, “name-brand” teams, from places like Northwestern and Harvard, it was clear he wasn’t in Kansas anymore. So Ryan became the vanguard of a movement that made everything about debate debatable. In the end, he made himself a home in a strange and hostile land. Whether he was able to change what counts as rigorous academic argument … well, that’s still up for debate.

Special thanks to Will Baker, Myra Milam, John Dellamore, Sam Mauer, Tiffany Dillard Knox, Mary Mudd, Darren "Chief" Elliot, Jodee Hobbs, Rashad Evans and Luke Hill.

Special thanks also to Torgeir Kinne Solsvik for use of the song h-lydisk / B Lydian from the album Geirr Tveitt Piano Works and Songs

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