‘The Underground Railroad’ and Cinema’s Origins in White Supremacy
In adapting the alternative history The Underground Railroad, Barry Jenkins and his crew made cinema – a medium with origins in white supremacy – work for them.
racism
‘Nothing But a Man’ Is an Unflinching Drama of Marriage and Racism
Nothing But a Man is about battling discrimination on an uneven playing field but also about tenaciously preserving friendships and families.
Immersed in America: The Creation of Elvis Presley
We know how Elvis Presley’s story reflects on American history, its music and mythology, but how did America help to create Elvis?
Modern-Day Minstrelsy in Cord Jefferson’s ‘American Fiction’
Cord Jefferson’s provocative satire on race and literature, American Fiction, skewers modern-day minstrelsy and performative allyship.
The Rise of Rock ‘n’ Roll Nation and the Far Right Reaction
American anxieties about the rise of rock ‘n’ roll nation were exploited by the far right, relating the music’s lyrics, sounds, dances, and subcultures to ubiquitous worries about communism and the developing civil rights movement.
‘Lady for a Night’ Poked a Stick in the Eye of Southern Censors
Hays Code era Lady for a Night links black American characters with upstart so-called “white trash” to expose corruption and “zombie” hypocrisy from the so-called “quality class”.
The Alt-Right’s Roots Go Deep in Co-Opting Pop Music
As with the Nazis and Goebbels and the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right’s desire to co-opt pop music for their purposes requires ideological and ethical gymnastics.
When Record Labels Blasted Through the Barriers in Segregated America
While their motives were more mercenary than musical, American small record label impresarios could hear the barriers falling between the races right before their ears.
James Baldwin Digs Into the Roots of American Music
James Baldwin’s writing about music illuminates the significance of racial slavery for all American music. Black American music can help America to move forward if used properly.
“I’m a Murderer”: Poker Face’s Vegan Feeling
The new crime drama Poker Face is one of the few TV shows to serve up an authentically represented vegan sensibility.
The Kids Are Alt-Right: How Punk Got Co-opted by Fascism
Like political populism, punk’s traits and tenets are sufficiently vague, contradictory, and unmoored to be vulnerable to co-option by all political opportunists—including the fascist alt-right.
Why Disney’s Splash Mountain Has Finally Gone South
The Disney Theme Parks are dismantling the decades-long ride Splash Mountain. It will be resurrected as Tiana’s Bijour Adventure. Why has the Song of the South-inspired ride finally gone South?