In this article, the author reflects on ways that their folklore-studies approach to the college writing classroom enables Virginia Commonwealth University's diverse student population, and especially historically marginalized groups, to create and appreciate cultural texts. Illustrated is how a "material culture" course theme can convey the importance of folklore in the writing classroom as a tool to explore locally engaged and community-driven topics. It is argued that this is especially useful as students make sense of the 2020 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests that deeply affected their connection to the VCU campus (and to Richmond city) and their emotional wellbeing. The author shares several pedagogical tools and discusses the role that each plays in the organization of the material culture course to engage students in analyzing, evaluating, and creating both written and digital texts.