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Key take aways

The biggest takeaway for me is how I learned in depth what blackness means and how the discourse around it has changed. For example, blaxploitation films and how they portray black characters  as just characters and not human beings. It exploits the character they are playing and makes it a performance. Also, I appreciate this course focusing on today's examples of women and men that have changed that discourse around blackness in TV and media by intersecting political movements. For example Spike Lee and Dr.Yaba Blay. I just watched Lorraine Hansberry's documentary, and I definitely believe she was a prime example of how she used her talent in writing to speak to the black families and to white America of the truth. From the speakers and the readings we have heard from, I have ultimately learned to use what you know is true to you, your talent, your hobby or your passion, and use that for something bigger than yourself. I feel like that is what Dr. Yaba Blay does and Lorraine Hansberry successfully did. 

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Takeaway: My biggest takeaway from this course was the diversity of Black experiences that exist in the world and how they are underrepresented in the media our society consumes.  To often are we fed stereotypes such as those in  Blaxploitation films and magazine covers, which harms representations of other people who's black experiences are just as valid.  This ties into our discussions of authenticity, as people believe that in order to be authentically black they must conform to these stereotypes, which can often have roots in colorism, white beauty standards, or just straight up misogyny.  The song I've chosen is "The Kids Are Alright" by Chloe x Halle, a young sister R&B duo.  In the song they celebrate who they are, singing "when I'm in the mood I get as ratchet as I wanna," while also enforcing the mantra "the kids are alright."  This experience, that of two young black women from Atlanta, is just another facet of the Black experience, and it is not often we hear this perspective from people currently experiencing it.  Their song sends a hopeful message that young Black people are "alright," and they will go on to do great things for themselves, their families, and America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cITLq1UrhAs

Song: "The Kids are Alright" 

Released: 2018

Artist: Chloe x Halle 

Writer: Chloe and Halle Bailey, Tayla Parx

Genre: R&B

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Dear Class,

See Course Wrap Up activity below.

This activity is “OPTIONAL” but I hope some of you will choose to participate. 

Remember to INCLUDE A LINK TO THE SONG IN THE POST (click the green “Chain” icon to use the Link option). Your post should appear with and embedded link to the song and written response included. 

- Professor McNair

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For Thursday, November 29th (OPTIONAL):

1. Consider your course readings, lectures, films, reference videos, and Tumblr prompts and posts.  

2. In no more than 200 words, answer the following questions:  

What is your biggest takeaway from this course?

What have you discovered about Black Popular Culture that you did know know before as a result of taking this course?  

3. Conduct net-research.  

Select 1 song by an African American (or African Descended) artist about Black life, history, and popular culture (of any music genre and period) that illustrates and is relevant to your biggest takeaway from the course. Briefly explain your choice. INCLUDE A LINK TO THE SONG IN THE POST (click the green “Chain” icon to use Link option).  

For Example:  

Takeaway: My biggest takeaways from this course is recognition of the humanity and resilience of African descended peoples throughout the diaspora. I enjoyed discovering how African Americans in particular have found avenues for creativity, self-expression, and peoplehood despite facing what would seem impossible odds. In the domain of popular culture, Black people and various Black communities have labored to create spaces for joy, laughter, pleasure, desire, spirituality, artistry, politics and identity. The song I’ve chosen is "Someday We’ll All be Free" by Donny Hathaway, one of my favorite artists. The musical style illustrates Hathaway’s merging of the Black spiritual tradition and blues into soul music. Each of these genres were covered in course readings and our discussion on “Representations of Blackness in Music.” Keeping one’s self-respect and pride and the quest for freedom (of self-definition and self-determination) are themes that many individuals introduced in the course have advocated (e.g. DuBois, Garvey, James Brown, the Black Panther Party, Angela Davis, Marlon Riggs, Staceyann Chin, Yaba Blay, Chinwe Okona, Damon Turner, Richie Reseda and other artists and culture workers). Given the long freedom struggle for Black Americans, this song encompasses beautiful and complex elements of African American life, history, and popular culture.

Song: "Someday We’ll All be Free"

Released: 1973

Artist: Donny Hathaway

Writer: Donny Hathaway; Edward Howard

Genre: Classic Soul

4. Remember:  

Be sure to check the class Tumblr before submitting to make sure you don’t choose the same song as someone else.

Please submit your response to the class Tumblr in a separate post.  

- Professor McNair  

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Amanda Elimian and Ava Badii

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Barrett Bock

Nicholas Benson

Matthew Gomez 

(forgot to put names on original post)

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#BlackThanksgiving

https://twitter.com/askbunz/status/1064541158074998786?s=21

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Drew Welch Willard Jessica Boswel

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Black twitter

https://twitter.com/ideshonte/status/1064163012989329409?s=21

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Class activity

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bb5KL1KBk-t/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=srv2bjy786t6

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Kionte’ Hickman Ashley Estes Kaylah Baker

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https://www.instagram.com/p/BqF44jYgtyh/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=1apt2feyu3uko Instagram, #blackthanksgiving

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Black twitter

https://twitter.com/ideshonte/status/1064163012989329409?s=21

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https://twitter.com/IDeshonte/status/1064163012989329409?s=20 Leslie Hernandez Nancy Huang