A Nation of Cowards

Posted on March 3, 2009 by tracy11

In the conclusion of her book, Artificial Africas, Ruth Mayer references James Baldwin. One of Baldwin’s main claims is that “being black in the United States differs from being black in Europe.” He attributes this difference to the different historical context of race and race relations on each continent.  This argument seems to tie in [...]

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whiteness

Posted on February 28, 2009 by arlettedlc

Richard Dyer’s dissection of whiteness I think provided a fuller background for last week’s article on the imperial gaze in regard to what motivates the fetishes the West has with the “Orient”.  As he points out whiteness is the normal, they have colonized the definition of normal (Dyer, 458).  Therefore anything that diverts from this [...]

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  • RSS screening 2

    • Africa Fashion
      I’m offering a critique on the Africa in Fashion project. I was intrigued with the use of the homepage to bring each group member’s ideas together under one broad theme. The clickable pictures were very user-friendly and gave the project a professional feel. Great job! In the Magazine, the pictures were attractive [...]
      jacquelinewatson
    • Dave Chappelle and Africa
      As many of you may know, Dave Chappelle disappeared to Africa a few years ago to escape the pressures of the entertainment industry. I watched this interview on “Inside the Actor’s Studio” recently in which Chappelle talks about some of his reasons for going to Africa. It almost reminded me of Dr. Garrigan in “Last [...]
      v3nise
    • Black Hair
      Someone posted on Tyra and African American hair and reminded me of a documentary I watched on Black hair and Koreans in the black hair idustry. The documentary points out that almost 90% of black hair beauty supply stores are owned and operated by Koreans, but supported 100% by African Americans. Do you think there’s [...]
      v3nise

  • RSS Screening 3

    • African Performance–Review
      I like the front image of Africa that leads to the different links, it was clever and it emphasizes the idea of how cultural forms can differ so widely from region to region. Just on a technical note, the group used the Tumblr engine but didn’t really take advantage of what it had to offer [...]
      fangirlinbondage
    • John Ryle: Wrap Up
      John Ryle’s “The Many Voices of Africa” shows how music has helped to create a “modern” Africa. He uses Jal, a Sudanese ex-child soldier to illustrate how music has transformed into a form of activism for African youth. Ryle also discusses how the music’s language influences the international community and draws attention to Africa. Many [...]
      ljackson12
    • Blood Diamond: Leonardo DiCaprio
      Blood Diamond would have been a successful if it wasn’t for Leonardo DiCaprio’s accent. I watched the movie when it first came out, and I absolutely loved it. I felt that the movie was informative and very conscious of a current crisis. I first took interest in conflict diamonds when I read an article in [...]
      ljackson12

  • RSS Screening 4

    • The African Channel-Critique
      http://www3.amherst.edu/~jflores10/native.html Wonderful work pals, your channel is great. I love the home page. It constitutes various images and captions about different issues; links to detailed information just like any other internet-based channels.  Holistically, the project is good and the links between the sections is reasonable, although the technic […]
      mbatang12
    • ?
      While it is the end of the semester I am still faced with some challenging questions I would like to share. With the American movies we have watched in mind: How much of an effect do these movies have on the public? While of course they provide awareness , do they inspire action? Or, have [...]
      stevenmp442
    • Fashion
      I immensely enjoyed reading, watching, and simply looking at all the images of the fashion project. It’s hard to give an extremely detailed assessment without choosing one individual project for the each had so many facets. This group did a very good job on the aesthetics of the website, even including an intro page introducing [...]
      stevenmp442