Friday, June 19

Tag: america

In 19th-century America A Black Writer Used Humor To Combat White Supremacy
No Comments
AMPLIFYING DIVERSE VOICES

In 19th-century America A Black Writer Used Humor To Combat White Supremacy

Any writer has to struggle with the dilemma of staying true to their vision or giving editors and readers what they want. A number of factors might influence the latter: the market, trends and sensibilities. But in the decades after the Civil War, Black writers looking to faithfully depict the horrors of slavery had to contend with readers whose worldviews were colored by racism, as well as an entire swath of the country eager to paper over the past. Charles Chesnutt was one of those writers. Forced to work with skeptical editors and within the confines of popular forms, Chesnutt nonetheless worked to shine a light on the legacy of slavery. His 1899 collection of stories, “The Conjure Woman,” took place on a Southern plantation and sold well. At first glance, the stories seemed to mimic...
Read More
Black History Month: Past Movements For Civil Rights – What America’s Voting Rights Activists Can Learn
No Comments
AMPLIFYING DIVERSE VOICES

Black History Month: Past Movements For Civil Rights – What America’s Voting Rights Activists Can Learn

With Congress failing to pass new voting rights legislation, it’s worth remembering that throughout U.S. history, new civil rights laws designed to end racial inequities across American life have been met by stubborn resistance. Senate Democrats Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona joined Senate Republicans in blocking both the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. These bills would have combated voter suppression by creating a national automatic voter registration system, and they also would have banned partisan gerrymandering. In the wake of the vote, President Joe Biden said he was “profoundly disappointed that the United States Senate has failed to stand up for democracy.” These setbacks in Congress come on the heels of millions ...
Read More
A Visual Timeline Of Black Life In America From The Mighty To The Mundane
No Comments
AMPLIFYING DIVERSE VOICES

A Visual Timeline Of Black Life In America From The Mighty To The Mundane

For nearly a century, Black History Month has been a time to celebrate the achievements of groundbreaking people who have shaped our country’s history. Much of this focus is on trailblazers like Kamala Harris, civil rights pioneers, advocates, politicians, policymakers and entertainers from Beyoncé to Cardi B. But as those leaders spoke to crowds and infiltrated halls of power, millions of Black people lived their lives and made their own history. Often those contributions were more humble. Even simply celebrating the things and people closest to them in ways that might not have been accessible to previous generations — from birthday and retirement parties to navigating grief or simply having a picnic at a park — served as markers of progress. This Black History Month, in addition to hig...
Read More
Growing Up Black In America
No Comments
AMPLIFYING DIVERSE VOICES

Growing Up Black In America

I grew up in a home with both parents having a heritage rooted in black America. My father was born in Mississippi to parents who operated a farm their entire lives. He had 2 sisters and a brother. Once he was grown he moved to Illinois, took a job, married and raised a family. My mother was born in Louisiana to a father who was of direct African descent and a mother who was of direct native Indian. They moved to California and made a home having just one daughter and many sons. Her brothers ended up joining the military and made a career serving and protecting our country. As a child we never had a lot of money but my family still managed to purchase a home, my father always keep a nice car and he worked every day to support his family. I learned from my father the importance of a great...
Read More
America’s First Known Black Master Distiller – The Story Of Nearest Green
No Comments
AMPLIFYING DIVERSE VOICES

America’s First Known Black Master Distiller – The Story Of Nearest Green

On The Record Stefanie Benjamin, University of Tennessee When you hear the name Jack Daniel, whiskey probably comes to mind. But what about the name Nathan “Uncle Nearest” Green? In 2016, The New York Times published a story about the distiller’s “hidden ingredient” – “help from a slave.” In the article, the brand officially acknowledged that an enslaved man, Nearest Green, taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. Since then, scholars, researchers and journalists have descended upon Lynchburg, Tennessee, hoping to learn more about a man who, until then, had appeared as a mere appendage in the story of the country’s most popular whiskey brand. As a scholar of tourism whose research involves highlighting marginalized populations and counternarratives, I followed these developments with k...
Read More
No Comments
SEX-CAPADES

The Hidden World Of America’s Handmade Pornography

“To live among the handmade,” philosopher and antiques dealer Leon Rosenstein once said, “is to live among the human.” Soldiers used spent shells and casings to make trench art, like this brass bottle opener that was made during World War II. Michael Riordan, CC BY-SA Well, there’s nothing more human than handmade pornography. When you hear “pornography,” you might think of Playboy and Penthouse, X-rated movies and internet porn. But one type that has been largely hidden and forgotten is the pornography people make for themselves. Unlike pornography for profit, handmade pornography is crude and funny and subtle. It, too, contains multitudes. Over the past decade, I’ve visited archives and museums, met with collectors and antiques dealers, and talked with artists and scholars to reconst...
Read More
No Comments
MOVIES

Danny Glover on New Film “Sorry to Bother You” and the Myth of Postracial America

What the actor wants that “White voice” to tell us and how we’ve gotten the American Dream so wrong. Boots Riley’s debut film, Sorry to Bother You, offers a renewed sense of urgency in how we respond to the racist and capitalist divides that impact us all. Satirical, dystopian, part sci-fi. Emotionally and intellectually, it’s everything we didn’t know we needed. Cassius “Cash” Green represents many unemployed young Black males looking for work and their subsequent climb to the top after they finally land a job. After getting a low-level telemarketing position, Cash learns the secret to how many people of color get ahead—assimilation. His “White voice” talent propels him to success, and after being struck in the head by a soda can thrown by a protestor, he eventually becomes a viral ...
Read More