A Black Female Perspective…
Themes of race, gender etc explored in popular culture.
For a current summer course, were were assigned an article from The Atlantic entitled “The Humiliation of Aziz Ansari.” The article, authored by Caitlin Flanagan, speaks to the danger of white female supremacy. Flanagan’s piece is in response to an article by Katie Way titled, “I went on a date with Aziz Ansari. It turned […]
Reality stars Donald Trump and Kim Kardashian engaged in a highly publicized hearing in which black woman Alice Marie Johnson’s fate was determined. The outcome was Johnson’s physical freedom, affording the white savior image to anti-black agents Kim Kardashian and Donald Trump. The coverage of Johnson’s release mirrors the reality of her foremothers and forefathers, […]
Intro On Saturday, as Meghan Markle settled into her role as contractual concubine to the British throne, Twitter was flooded with images and a brief biography of a late “Princess” Sophie Charlotte. Sophie Charlotte, grandmother to the late “Queen” Victoria, was believed to have African ancestry. An ancestry veiled by portraits that implement what filters […]
I have spent the bulk of today, reading Malcolm X quotes, and listening to his speeches. His smooth, precise, passionate speech personifies the poetic prose of black power personified. He is “our shining prince” as they say, in both life and death. He shines because his internal freedom bleeds outward. Yet, this year, perhaps more […]
FX’s Atlanta presents what is largely missing from black portrayal—an unadulterated portrayal of black life. The series does not feature picturesque characters of the cookie cutter sort. Though the series lead Earn (OG) is a Princeton graduate and in real-life Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) is a Yale graduate—the series captures a narrative that […]
Call for Papers Fire: The Second Edition (Title in progress pending copyright) Catherine C. Saunders: Editor In honor of the 92nd year since the first and only issue of Fire: Devoted to the Younger Negro Artist, this upcoming project seeks to pay homage to writer and editor Wallace Thurman and the black creative in producing […]
Introduction George Washington. Thomas Jefferson. Christopher Columbus. These are just a few of the white men history remembers favorably–despite their unfavorable actions. Washington was a slave owner. Jefferson was a rapist. Columbus was a thief. Yet, the date of their earthly arrival remains a national celebration. Those of us subject to the contemporary enslavement enabled by […]
To be honest, Breaking In did not even bear much of a promise in its promos. By this, I speak specifically to the banality of the promotional images, not the talent of the featured melanated actors. Nevertheless, the allure of a black leading lady was enough to fill theatre seats with black women and black […]
She wasn’t there on birthdays, or Christmas. In fact, I am not sure once they reached adolescence if they even remembered her face. Though I hope they did. I hope that when they reached deep inside themselves for memories the institution told them to forget, they saw her-her full Afro. That in deafening silence they […]
Allow me to set the scene…. It was a spring day in Oakland, California and a black mother, diligently working on her degree was summoned to campus to tend to some collegiate business. She brought her son along with her, who was on a state-designated break at the time. She positioned him with lunch, a […]
