Tag Archives: Black

Booker T. Washington Checks Out of a Hotel…

1903 was a particularly difficult year for African Americans, as described in Douglas Blackmon’s book, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II. In that year alone, at least 85 African Americans were … Continue reading

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A New Native Son, Part 2

Read Part 1 here As promised, I wanted to address a few more things regarding the proposed upcoming adaptation of Richard Wright’s Native Son. First, the way the novel links to our current political situation, and second, what Suzan-Lori Parks, the … Continue reading

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A New Native Son, Part I

Content Note – discussion of fictional rape and murder follows. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, Y’ALL: Variety is reporting that Richard Wright’s novel Native Son will be adapted for film by Rashid Johnson and Suzan-Lori Parks. And I’m not sure I can effectively … Continue reading

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Some Thoughts About Intersectionality

Intersectionality has been on my mind a lot lately. It’s an important concept in my scholarly work, but it is having a larger cultural impact right now, I think, and it might be instructive to consider this impact more closely. … Continue reading

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Conference Con 2016!

Apologies for no post last week–my work load got a bit overwhelming and then the election sort of deflated me for a few days. Then, I had to head off the the 2016 convention of the Midwest Modern Language Association … Continue reading

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Olympic Feminism

On the heels of my recent piece about intersectionality, I’m thinking a lot about Black feminism this week. African American women have been spectacular at this year’s Olympics in Rio, and their strength has been legendary. I wanted to highlight … Continue reading

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Making Black Lives Matter

I don’t have a lot to say in this post this week–last week was a very difficult week for the US, and for our nation’s Black citizens in particular. At this point, it seems incomprehensible that concepts like white privilege, … Continue reading

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#RIPAli

By now, we’ve all heard of the passing of the Greatest, Muhammad Ali, over the weekend. He was truly the Greatest, as he himself continually reminded us, and we continually agreed. Since I moved to the Louisville area a few … Continue reading

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Reassess the Diss

I’m in the midst of a four-day faculty writing retreat. Seven hours each day of camping out in a conference room on campus, with 19 colleagues from various disciplines, and a middling catered lunch every day. Sounds glamorous, right? We’re … Continue reading

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On Lemonade, Part I

I, like everyone, can’t stop talking abut Beyoncé this year. I wrote about her “Formation” video and Super Bowl Halftime performance here and here. I’d like to add to the excellent conversations that are happening everywhere online right now about … Continue reading

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