Reading Hip Hop: Black Lives, Black Protest
This week’s playlist from my course, Reading Hip Hop, provides a sample of music we engage in our conversations about Black Lives and Black Protest. Students also watched the film, Do the Right Thing, and discussed readings by Robin D.G….
Singing the Nation Into Being: Anthems and the Politics of Black Female Performance
This project focuses on black women’s performance of James Weldon Johnson’s “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to examine what these evocations might reveal about black subjectivities, diaspora, and identity formation vis-a-vis discourses on national belonging. Part of a larger Omeka-based project called…
Pairings: Zapp and T-Pain
I am drawn to the simplicity of both these love songs as well as the way they engage technology and the “modern.” “Computer Love” –Zapp “You know, I’ve been searching for someoneWho can share that special love with meAnd…
Pairings: Jean Grae and Beyoncé
I have to admit it, I like Beyoncé’s “Partition.” But the more I listen, I can’t help but be reminded of an earlier song by Jean Grae, “Love Thirst.” I find it interesting the way each woman visually represents sexual…