His life is his message

Abstract

This tribute about William (Bill) Labov is focused on his work on AAVE (African American Vernacular English), establishing his career-long commitment to social and educational justice for the Black community. The title (“His Life is His Message”) are the words of Mahatma Gandhi and reflects Bill’s work and spirit—his words, his principles, and the motivation he instilled in others to act with authenticity and integrity. Although society continues to generate false and negative stereotypes about Blacks, his voluminous work about AAVE—which began in the 1960s—dismantled many harmful myths about its speakers and Black people generally. His work on AAVE and its speakers ultimately led to wider work in the field and established him as the icon of variationist sociolinguistics. He bestowed prestige on his students, making us proud to claim professional and social identity among those he taught and mentored.