POPULARITY
11 episodes with Minstrelsy
5 episodes with Minstrelsy
2 episodes with Minstrelsy
3 episodes with Minstrelsy
2 episodes with Minstrelsy
2 episodes with Minstrelsy
2 episodes with Minstrelsy
2 episodes with Minstrelsy
2 episodes with Minstrelsy
Tunes: James Reay (Courtesy of Rick Lines): Paddy “Wake”, Paddy Whack, Adam Christie: Erin Go Braugh O'Farrell: Erin Go Braugh Hannam: Savournah Deelish Thomas Campbell (poem): Exile of Erin Fitzmaurice: Gerrald Hasset's Compliments to the Knight of Glen, Miss Ross of Rossy Castle's Jigg, The Humours of Aberdeen, Jigg From Rowly Powly: German Waltz, Rogara Duff (the Black Rogue), The Unfortunate Rake, Mrs. Dungannon's Jigg, The Ladies Lesson John Anderson: The Bonny Links of Aberdeen Jeremy Kingsbury: The Foul links of Aberdeen Sources: 1790: Paddy Wake, Paddy Whack courtesy of Rick Lines from James Reay Manuscript +X+ 1963: Adam Christie: Singing Erin Go Braugh https://www.tobarandualchais.co.uk/track/13404?l=en +X+ 1981: Erin Go Braugh from Dick Gaughan https://open.spotify.com/track/5E0CVypwF5IcEeVWN4irxB?si=874664b3d8aa4778 +X+ 1806: Erin Go Braugh From O'Farrell's Pocket Companion https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/87780098 +X+ 1810ish: Savournah Deelish from Hannam's Selection of Celebrated Irish Melodies https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/87766119 Check out: 1898: There Came to the Beach From Alfred Moffat's Minstrelsy of Ireland https://digital.nls.uk/special-collections-of-printed-music/archive/91385323 +X+ 1800 (written): Exile of Erin by Thomas Campbell https://archive.org/details/poeticalworksoft0000camp/page/170/mode/2up +X+ Brian Miller's Website article about Exile of Erin: https://www.evergreentrad.com/exile-of-erin/ +X+ 1805: Gerrald Hasset's Compliments to the Knight of Glen, Miss Ross of Rossy Castle's Jigg, The Humours of Aberdeen, Jigg From Fitzmaurice's New Collection of Irish Tunes: https://www.google.com/books/edition/FitzmauricesNewCollectionofIrishTu/vq4Fb5TyTK4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PP10&printsec=frontcover +X+ Rowly Powly Set: 1791: German Waltz from John Watlen's The Celebrated Circus Tunes Performed at Edinburgh this season, With the additions of some new reels and strathspeys set for the piano forte or violin and bass archive.org/details/Shand11/page/n100/mode/1up?view=theater 1808: Rogara Duff (The Black Rogue), From O'Farrell Vol. 3 www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/ofarrellspc3.pdf 1810ish: The Unfortunate Rake From Smollet Holden's Collection of Favourite Irish Airs Vol. II imslp.org/wiki/ACollectionofFavoriteIrishAirs(Holden%2C_Smollet) 1810: Mrs. Dungannon's Jigg here from John Murphy: www.google.com/books/edition/AcollectionofIrishairsandjiggswit/Up5WmARde0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA26&printsec=frontcover 1775ish: The Ladies Lesson from Straight and Skillern's 204 Favourite Country Dances imslp.org/wiki/204FavouriteCountryDances(Various) +X+ 1790s: The Bonny Links of Aberdeen https://imslp.org/wiki/ACollectionofNewHighlandStrathspeyReels(Anderson%2CJohn) +X+ FIN Here are some ways you can support the show: You can support the Podcast by joining the Patreon page at https://www.patreon.com/wetootwaag You can also take a minute to leave a review of the podcast if you listen on Itunes! Tell your piping and history friends about the podcast! Checkout my Merch Store on Bagpipeswag: https://www.bagpipeswag.com/wetootwaag You can also support me by Buying my Albums on Bandcamp: https://jeremykingsbury.bandcamp.com/ You can now buy physical CDs of my albums using this Kunaki link: https://kunaki.com/msales.asp?PublisherId=166528&pp=1 You can just send me an email at wetootwaag@gmail.com letting me know what you thought of the episode! Listener mail keeps me going! Finally I have some other support options here: https://www.wetootwaag.com/support Thanks! Listen on Itunes/Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/wetootwaags-bagpipe-and-history-podcast/id129776677 Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5QxzqrSm0pu6v8y8pLsv5j?si=QLiG0L1pT1eu7B5_FDmgGA
Send us a textElizabeth Garver Jordan's riveting coverage of the Lizzie Borden trial for The New York World captivated true-crime junkies of the late 19th-century, and her lengthy career as a journalist, fiction writer and literary editor still resonates today. Lori Harrison-Kahan and Jane Carr, editors of a brand new collection of Garver Jordan's work, join us this week to discuss her courtroom dispatches, her connection to today's #MeToo movement and how her “invisible labor” shaped the writing of literary giants like Sinclair Lewis and Henry James. Mentioned in this Episode: The Case of Lizzie Borden & Other Writings by Jane Carr and Lori Harrison-KahanElizabeth Garver Jordan's work:The Sturdy OakThe Whole Family The Lady of PentlandsThree Rousing Cheers“Ruth Herrick's Assignment”“The Cry of the Pack”The Superwoman and Other Writings by Miriam MichelsonHeirs of Yesterday by Emma WolfThe New York WorldNellie BlyThe Lizzie Borden caseThe Lizzie Borden house in Fall River, Mass.Harper's BazaarHarper and BrothersThe White Negress: Literature, Minstrelsy, and the Black Jewish Imaginary by Lori Harrison KahanAmish RumspringaSupport the showFor episodes and show notes, visit: LostLadiesofLit.comDiscuss episodes on our Facebook Forum. Follow us on instagram @lostladiesoflit. Follow Kim on twitter @kaskew. Sign up for our newsletter: LostLadiesofLit.com Email us: Contact — Lost Ladies of Lit Podcast
Once upon a time, many, many Blacks like COVID and Chemo had to struggle against bad faith arguments about racial identity after a whole entire yt lady in kinky twists, wigs, and braids, wig-caps, bonnets, and Badu headwraps was the head of the Spokane, WA chapter of the NAACP. In case you late, the "C" stands for "colored" and not "chicanery," which is what this infamous race-fakin' woman was on, leaving a trail of Black sorrows and strife in her wake with each delulu step. Some of y'all already know what it is, but everyone is welcome to join COVID and Chemo for a deep dive into the phenomenon of race faking, Blackfishing, and perpetual minstrelsy in the yt community. Also, that yt lady Elizabeth Finch is not only responsible for writing the senseless exits of beloved fictional characters on Shonda's hospital show, but she is also a whole entire lie. #staywoke #yakiaintforeverybody
Ta zgodba prihaja iz Škotske krajine, ki so ji včasih rekli tudi “sporna krajinaGre za mejno področje, po katerem so rovarili Škoti in Angleži, drug drugemu ropali posestva in plenili zemljo. V mnogih ljudskih pripovedkah iz tega časa nastopa čeden junak, ki reši nežno dekle. V pričujoči zgodbi se junakinja Jana odloči, da se bo rešila kar sama. Ilustrirana zakladnica škotskih pravljic in pripovedk, Theresa Breslin, prevedla Katarina Juvančič, Založba Morfemplus d.o.o., Jezero 2016, bere Nataša Holy
On Gettysburg College Week: Animated movies play an important role in the lives of children. Jennifer Bloomquist, professor of linguistics and Africana studies, determines explains why the representation of the characters on the screen matters. Jennifer Bloomquist is Associate Provost for Faculty Development & Dean of Social Sciences and Interdisciplinary Programs. Prior to her appointment […]
Host Nate Wilcox welcomes back Gary Giddins to discuss the opening section of his classic book "Visions of Jazz" including discussions of vaudeville greats Al Jolson and Bert Williams, Louis Armstrong's signifying takes on old time songs of slavery and some of the forgotten Black songwriters of 1920s Tin Pan Alley. Buy the book and support the show. CHECK OUT THE NEW LET IT ROLL WEB SITE -- We've got all 350+ episodes listed, organized by mini-series, genre, era, co-host, guest and more. Please sign up for the email list on the site and get music essays from Nate as well as (eventually) transcriptions of every episode. Also if you can afford it please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support the show. Thanks! Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.com Follow us on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook. Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Yikes! This movie has turn tables, and boy do the tables turn... listen to your hosts gasp in horror as a lil' dance flick reveals itself to be unabashedly racist in a big way. The person most confused by the film this week was: idk...anyone living in America in 2023?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Well friends we made it to the end of season 3. In this week's “What Is My Life?” moment we discussed PRIVACY. Is it a real thing? For example, should people be able to record you in the gym? What's with the lack of consent? Tap into this episode to hear what we think. We've enjoyed creating these episodes for y'all this season, it's been fun! See y'all for season 4. Merch will still be on sale so be sure to get yours!! Send us your pics we'd love to see them and share. Shop at whatismylifethepod.com. Take care, we love y'all AND SEE YOU AT CLUB RENAISSANCE! lol P.S. This weeks episode was a music moments episode and you can now find our very own resident DJ Sweet Potato the Vibe is on IG (@sweetpotatothevibe). Feel free to follow her to keep up with the latest hits she's groovin' too. As always, follow us on instagram and Tik Tok @whatismylifepod and on YouTube @What IS My life? The Podcast. If you loved this episode, leave us a comment and a five star rating! --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/whatismylife-thepod/support --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/whatismylife-thepod/support
Chapters 6-11 with returning guest Ric! We push Lu off a roof! We revisit the Gray Sisters cause we gotta get back to Hogwar--I mean Camp! Mostly though, we break down Will and Nico's dynamic and make VERY DETAILED predictions for The Sun and the Star . You do not HAVE to have seen Frozen II in order to listen to this episode.... but maybe you do. Some further reading on Minstrelsy and American Cartoons: Vulture: How Today's Most Daring, Weird Cartoons Transform the Minstrel Aesthetic By Lauren Michele Jackson: https://www.vulture.com/2017/12/weird-cartoons-today-transform-minstrel-aesthetic.html NPR Code Switch: "From Blakface to Blackfishing" https://www.npr.org/transcripts/694149912 SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PATREON: patreon.com/seaweedbrain Follow our show on Instagram @SeaweedBrainPodcast, on Twitter @SeaweedBrainPod, on TikTok @EricaSeaweedBrain Merch here: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/seaweed-brain-podcast?ref_id=21682 Sponsorship: Today's episode is also brought to you by BetterHelp. Visit Betterhelp.com/seaweedbrain for 10% off your first month!
Marcus sat down with Antonio Horne and Jared Thomas Johnson, the directors of "If Pekin is a Duck, Why am I in Chicago?" and "The Scottsboro Boys," to discuss their decisions to employ the art form of black minstrelsy in the two productions. Minstrelsy, and particularly for "If Pekin...," blackface minstrelsy, is a racist and stereotypical depiction of black life originating in the 1800s. Although American Musical Theatre can trace its roots from this point in theatre history. Reengaging in the art form could prove detrimental to our performers and patrons as we view theatre today. Antonio, Jared, and Marcus, who is co-starring in "If Pekin...," take time to delve into the significance of the art to convey these specific stories and the nature and care they have put into ensuring everyone's safety.
This second part of the story of Irving Berlin's life picks up after WWI, and covers his family life, his rise to fame, and the controversies that were part of his career. Research: Bergreen, Laurence. “Irving Berlin: This Is the Army.” Prologue. Summer 1996, Vol. 28, No. 2 https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/summer/irving-berlin-1 Carlson, Olivia. “What's White Christmas without Minstrelsy?” Music 345: Race, Identity, and Representation in American Music. Student Blogs and Library Exhibit Companion. https://pages.stolaf.edu/americanmusic/2021/10/25/whats-white-christmas-without-minstrelsy/ CBS Sunday Morning. “American songsmith Irving Berlin.” Via YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV9uq8z2k5E Greten, Paula Anne. “Irving Berlin.” American History. August 2006. Hamm, Charles. “Irving Berlin -- Songs from the Melting Pot: The Formative Years, 1907-1914.” Oxford University Press. Via New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hamm-berlin.html Hamm, Charles. “Alexander and His Band.” American Music , Spring, 1996, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Spring, 1996). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3052459 Hyland, William G. “The Best Songwriter Of Them All.” Commentary. October 1990. "Irving Berlin." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture Online, Gale, 2013. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K2419200098/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=be3b3028. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022. Jewish Lives. “Irving Berlin.” Podcast. Episode 4. 11/18/2019. Jewish Virtual Library. “Irving Berlin.” https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/irving-berlin Judaism Unbound. “Bonus Episode: Irving Berlin – Judah Cohen (American Jewish History #5).” Podcast. Episode 248, October 2 2019. Kaplan, James. “Irving Berlin: New York Genius.” Yale University Press. 2019. Kennedy Center. “This Land is Your Land: The story behind the song.” https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/story-behind-the-song/the-story-behind-the-song/this-land-is-your-land/ Magee, Jeffrey. "'Everybody Step': Irving Berlin, jazz, and Broadway in the 1920s." Journal of the American Musicological Society, vol. 59, no. 3, fall 2006, pp. 697+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A157180372/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=07c374cd. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022. Markel, Howard. “How Irving Berlin's blue skies turned to blue days.” PBS NewsHour. 9/24/2021. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-irving-berlins-blue-skies-turned-to-blue-days Maslon, Laurence. “Overture.” (And following pages) The Irving Berlin Music Company. https://www.irvingberlin.com/overture Schiff, David. “For Everyman, By Everyman.” The Atlantic Monthly. March 1996. Spitzer, Nick. “The Story Of Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land'.” NPR. 2/15/2012. https://www.npr.org/2000/07/03/1076186/this-land-is-your-land The Irving Berlin Music Company. “Irving Berlin.” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57d1974abe6594a72075321b/t/5a5f673eec212d2269841cf4/1516201791369/Irving+Berlin+-+official+biography.pdf White, Timothy. “Irving Berlin Knew Pop Music's Power.” Billboard. Vol. 111, Issue 21. 5/22/1999. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. v. Dieckhaus, 153 F.2d 893, 898 (8th Cir. 1946) https://casetext.com/case/twentieth-century-fox-film-corp-v-dieckhaus Bornstein, George. "Say it with music." TLS. Times Literary Supplement, no. 5698, 15 June 2012, p. 9. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A667239228/LitRC?u=mlin_oweb&sid=googleScholar&xid=7d90f5a8. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
The immeasurably famous Irving Berlin seems like the perfect example of a U.S. immigrant success story. But reality is complicated and imperfect, and so was Berlin's music-filled life. Research: Bergreen, Laurence. “Irving Berlin: This Is the Army.” Prologue. Summer 1996, Vol. 28, No. 2 https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1996/summer/irving-berlin-1 Carlson, Olivia. “What's White Christmas without Minstrelsy?” Music 345: Race, Identity, and Representation in American Music. Student Blogs and Library Exhibit Companion. https://pages.stolaf.edu/americanmusic/2021/10/25/whats-white-christmas-without-minstrelsy/ CBS Sunday Morning. “American songsmith Irving Berlin.” Via YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV9uq8z2k5E Greten, Paula Anne. “Irving Berlin.” American History. August 2006. Hamm, Charles. “Irving Berlin -- Songs from the Melting Pot: The Formative Years, 1907-1914.” Oxford University Press. Via New York Times. https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hamm-berlin.html Hamm, Charles. “Alexander and His Band.” American Music , Spring, 1996, Vol. 14, No. 1 (Spring, 1996). Via JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/3052459 Hyland, William G. “The Best Songwriter Of Them All.” Commentary. October 1990. "Irving Berlin." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture Online, Gale, 2013. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K2419200098/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=be3b3028. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022. Jewish Lives. “Irving Berlin.” Podcast. Episode 4. 11/18/2019. Jewish Virtual Library. “Irving Berlin.” https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/irving-berlin Judaism Unbound. “Bonus Episode: Irving Berlin – Judah Cohen (American Jewish History #5).” Podcast. Episode 248, October 2 2019. Kaplan, James. “Irving Berlin: New York Genius.” Yale University Press. 2019. Kennedy Center. “This Land is Your Land: The story behind the song.” https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/media-and-interactives/media/music/story-behind-the-song/the-story-behind-the-song/this-land-is-your-land/ Magee, Jeffrey. "'Everybody Step': Irving Berlin, jazz, and Broadway in the 1920s." Journal of the American Musicological Society, vol. 59, no. 3, fall 2006, pp. 697+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A157180372/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=07c374cd. Accessed 16 Nov. 2022. Markel, Howard. “How Irving Berlin's blue skies turned to blue days.” PBS NewsHour. 9/24/2021. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/how-irving-berlins-blue-skies-turned-to-blue-days Maslon, Laurence. “Overture.” (And following pages) The Irving Berlin Music Company. https://www.irvingberlin.com/overture Schiff, David. “For Everyman, By Everyman.” The Atlantic Monthly. March 1996. Spitzer, Nick. “The Story Of Woody Guthrie's 'This Land Is Your Land'.” NPR. 2/15/2012. https://www.npr.org/2000/07/03/1076186/this-land-is-your-land The Irving Berlin Music Company. “Irving Berlin.” https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57d1974abe6594a72075321b/t/5a5f673eec212d2269841cf4/1516201791369/Irving+Berlin+-+official+biography.pdf White, Timothy. “Irving Berlin Knew Pop Music's Power.” Billboard. Vol. 111, Issue 21. 5/22/1999. Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp. v. Dieckhaus, 153 F.2d 893, 898 (8th Cir. 1946) https://casetext.com/case/twentieth-century-fox-film-corp-v-dieckhaus Bornstein, George. "Say it with music." TLS. Times Literary Supplement, no. 5698, 15 June 2012, p. 9. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A667239228/LitRC?u=mlin_oweb&sid=googleScholar&xid=7d90f5a8. Accessed 2 Dec. 2022. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Host Nate Wilcox and Eric discuss some of the twists and turns in the long narrative of American music writing.Buy the book and support the show.Download this episode.Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter.Follow us on Facebook.Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts.
Host Nate Wilcox asks Dale about the musical ferment bubbling under the New York demimonde in the 1800s.Buy the book and support the podcast.Download this episode.Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter.Follow us on Facebook.Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts.
Host Nate Wilcox asks Emily to detail the 150 years of myth-making around Stephen Foster's song.Buy the book and support the podcast.Download this episode.Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter.Follow us on Facebook.Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts.
How do you listen to Bob Dylan? What do you listen for? Larry Starr is an emeritus professor of music history at the University of Washington, and the author of Listening to Bob Dylan. It's a book that answers the question you might not have thought to ever ask. The book talks about the 'musicality' of Dylan, and shares ways to understand the devices he uses in his work - melody, harmony, coloring, tone, repetition, silence, sequencing, and many others. In this conversation Larry talks about these items in terms of Time Out Of Mind. For listeners and fans who aren't musicians, it offers new ways to understand and appreciate the work of Bob Dylan. Mr. Starr also wrote a book on George Gershwin, and on American Popular Music from Minstrelsy to MP3 - and he’s a lifelong Bob Dylan fan. An extended version of this podcast is available to Plus and Premium Members, as is a video version of our discussion. Premium members can longer versions of nearly every episode, and bonus episodes and more. Visit FreakMusic.Club/join. For as little as $5/mo you can get more and support our work and our guests. LINKS: Listening To Bob Dylan (Book at Amazon) Q&A With Larry Starr
We discuss "The Godfather Of Pop Music" Stephen Foster and his anti-black lyrics. Old Folks at Home, My Old Kentucky Home & Old Black Joe are used for context. We use a blues song by Big Bill Broonzy titled 'Black, Brown & White.'
A motorbike adorned with a zebu skull is one of the central images of Djibril Diop Mambéty's classic 1973 film, whose title translates as The Journey of the Hyena. Listed as one of the 100 greatest films of all time in the Sight and Sound magazine poll, it mixes West African oral traditions with influences from the French New Wave and Soviet cinema. Mory and Anta are two young people growing up in a newly independent Senegal who fantasise about leaving Dakar for a new life in France, but how can they realise those dreams and do they really want to leave? Matthew Sweet is joined by New Generation Thinker Sarah Jilani, Estrella Sendra Fernandez and Ashley Clark. Touki Bouki is being screened at the BFI London on July 27th as part of the Black Fantastic season of films drawing on science fiction, myth and Afrofuturism. The curator of that season Ekow Eshun joined Shahidha Bari in a recent Free Thinking episode which you can find on BBC Sounds and as the Arts and Ideas podcast. Sarah Jilani is a lecturer in English at City, University of London and has written on neocolonialism in Francophone West African cinema. Estrella Sendra Fernandez lectures in film and screen studies at SOAS, University of London. She directed the award-winning documentary film Témoignages de l'autre côté about migration in Senegal. Ashley Clark is curatorial director at the Criterion Collection. He is the author of the book Facing Blackness: Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee's “Bamboozled” Producer: Torquil MacLeod In the Free Thinking archives you can find a series of programmes exploring silent film, star actors including Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marlene Dietrich, Dirk Bogarde, and classics of cinema around the world including Kurosawa's Rashomon, Satyajit Ray's films, the films of Jacques Tati and Charlie Chaplin.
Episode Two: The Alt-Minstrelsy Scene (1871-1891) by CLASSIX
(re)clamation is an intervention in the current conversation around theater history. This podcast from CLASSIX and Theatre for a New Audience recenters and uplifts the Black writers and storytellers of the American theater - both the celebrated and the forgotten. Each act of the podcast will explore a different era or theme in Black theater history through interviews, conversations, and excerpts of first-hand accounts. Join us starting July 11 for a 6-week exploration of Black Performance in the Era of Minstrelsy. Hosted by Brittany Bradford Produced by CLASSIX and Theatre for a New Audience Conceived and Written by CLASSIX (Brittany Bradford, A.J. Muhammad, Dominique Rider, Arminda Thomas, Awoye Timpo)
Host Nate Wilcox asks Henry about the genesis of the CD compilation and the roots of country music in 19th century American music.Have a question or a suggestion for a topic or person for Nate to interview? Email letitrollpodcast@gmail.comFollow us on Twitter.Follow us on Facebook.Let It Roll is proud to be part of Pantheon Podcasts.
We take a counter-racist look at the legacy of Anti-Blackness within U.S. Pop-Culture by way of Music, Film and Television with a focus on Minstrelsy, Vaudeville, Chitlin Circuit and Blue Comedy. All of which displayed Rap, Poetry, Spoken Words and Rhyming as a fundamental element of entertainment tradition. We contend that rap has been a part of U.S. Black Classifieds entertainment tradition from its beginning. We play clips of NPR, Butterfly McQueen, Butterbeans & Susie, Moms Mabley, Mantan Moreland, Pigmeat Markham, Redd Foxx, Lawanda Page, Leroy Daniels and Rudy Rat Moore to add context.
Are the Scottish Borders a rebel stronghold? Join Annie and Jenny as they examine the often-overlooked stories of the Border Reivers: the families of raiding, plundering, land-burning, outlaws. Jenny explores her ancestry roots in the Scottish Borders, to discover she comes from a family of bloodthirsty brigands. We look at Border clans, curses and, calamities as we unpick the ballad of Johnnie Armstrong. This episode is sponsored by Scotland Shop. If you are tempted to check out some of Scotland Shop's beautiful tartan garments and fabrics, please follow this link to Scotland Shop. https://hubs.ly/H0-0fjl0 You can support Stories of Scotland on Patreon! www.patreon.com/storiesofscotland References: Alistair Moffat, The Reivers, Birlinn, Edinburgh, 2008. ‘Johnny Armstrong' broadside ballad, National Library of Scotland Collections: digital.nls.uk/english-ballads/archive/74893315 John Veitch, The Tweed, and Other Poems, James MacLehose, Glasgow, 1875. Katherine Anne Groundwater, The Middle March of the Scottish Borders, 1573 to 1625, University of Edinburgh: era.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/24651 ‘The Ballad Poetry of Scotland,' Alloa Advertiser, Feb 1879. Claire Etty, Tudor Revolution? Royal control of the Anglo-Scottish border, 1483-1530, Durham University: etheses.dur.ac.uk/1283/ Walter Scott, Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, James Ballantyne, Kelso, 1802.
A motorbike adorned with a zebu skull is one of the central images of Djibril Diop Mambéty's classic 1973 film, whose title translates as The Journey of the Hyena. Listed as one of the 100 greatest films of all time in the Sight and Sound magazine poll, it mixes West African oral traditions with influences from the French New Wave and Soviet cinema. Mory and Anta are two young people growing up in a newly independent Senegal who fantasise about leaving Dakar for a new life in France, but how can they realise those dreams and do they really want to leave? Matthew Sweet is joined by New Generation Thinker Sarah Jilani, Estrella Sendra Fernandez and Ashley Clark. Sarah Jilani is a lecturer in English at City, University of London and has written on neocolonialism in Francophone West African cinema. Estrella Sendra Fernandez lectures in film and screen studies at SOAS, University of London. She directed the award-winning documentary film Témoignages de l'autre côté about migration in Senegal. Ashley Clark is curatorial director at the Criterion Collection. He is the author of the book Facing Blackness: Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee's “Bamboozled” Producer: Torquil MacLeod Image: Mareme Niang (Right), and Magaye Niang in a still from the film Touki Bouki Le Voyage de la Hyène, 1973 Senegal. Director : Djibril Diop Mambéty. Image credit: Alamy In the Free Thinking archives you can find a series of programmes exploring silent film, star actors including Jean-Paul Belmondo, Marlene Dietrich, Dirk Bogarde, and classics of cinema around the world including Kurosawa's Rashomon, Satyajit Ray's Pather Panchali, the films of Jacques Tati and Charlie Chaplin.
We cover a lot of ground in this episode!Autymn tells us why A Goofy Movie is a black nerd classic. Joe then gives us a dose of queer fan fiction. Then we discuss a microcosm of topics, including:the "down low"Art Babbitt, the genesis of the Goofy character, minstrelsy, black representation, phrenology AKA the pseudo-science of skull shape & Goofy's bumpthe racism of Disney & why old cartoons aren't on Disney+Goofy's mode of existence as proof that mistakes are okparent-child role reversalJeffrey Katzenberg & the checkered history of A Goofy MovieA Goofy Movie's marginal placement within the Disney Renaissance & its cult statusDisney + Miramax = Joe hates (and rants about) Oscar campaigninga roast of Gwyneth Paltrowchildhood afternoon cartoon programming blocksthe "fork in the road" movie: the movie that thrusts you right into adulthoodAdditional Resources:https://theoutline.com/post/7549/a-goofy-movie-black-classichttps://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/rjn24j/is_a_goofy_movie_one_of_the_bestmost_under/IG: @vhs_glowTwitter: @vhs_glowRoyalty-free music: Music Produced by: Aries Beats - https://www.youtube.com/c/ariesbeatsPromoted by: CRFC - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQLZ...
What does Legolas and Gimli's conversation in "The Last Debate" about rebuilding Minas Tirith tell us about creativity? Dcn. Nicholas Kotar and Jonathan Pageau team up with Fr. Andrew to discuss Elvish and Dwarvish making in Middle-earth and what that means for us Men, whose deeds hold both promise and disappointment.
What does Legolas and Gimli's conversation in "The Last Debate" about rebuilding Minas Tirith tell us about creativity? Dcn. Nicholas Kotar and Jonathan Pageau team up with Fr. Andrew to discuss Elvish and Dwarvish making in Middle-earth and what that means for us Men, whose deeds hold both promise and disappointment.
Dcn. Nicholas Kotar and Jonathan Pageau team up with Fr. Andrew to discuss Elvish and Dwarvish making in Middle-earth and what that means for us Men, whose deeds hold both promise and disappointment.
After a breathtaking episode on Othello last season, Ayanna Thompson is back to talk about her book, Blackface, which is part of our Object Lessons series. In this episode, we discuss the events that drove Ayanna to write this book, the history of Blackface up to the 21st century, how media weaponizes the notion of white innocence in contemporary examples of Blackface, and much more.
You use my existence as your aesthetic and call it fashion. In this episode, Jordan and Ambree discuss Blackfishing and how it has become a mainstream phenomena. What is the line between personal enhancement and blackfishing? What does this mean for future generations? Is there a solution? They talk about it ALL. CONNECT WITH US: Instagram - Here! TikTok - Here! YouTube - Here! I Want A Hoodie - Here! Website: www.GetIntoItPod.com #GetIntoItPodcast #ThatGirlBeActing --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/getintoit/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/getintoit/support
It's episode 80 and you know what that means: another Scottish case! Join us for our final episode on ancient serial killers as we travel to the Anglo-Scottish borders. This week we look at the case of Geordie Bourne and the infamous border reivers who wreaked havoc on the borders for more than 500 years. We hope you've enjoyed this month's Ancient Serial Killer theme. If there are any cases we missed, let us know on social media or via email and we'll try to work them into future episodes! FURTHER READING: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geordie_Bourne (Geordie Bourne) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Carey,_1st_Earl_of_Monmouth (Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Border_reivers (Border reivers - Wikipedia) https://electricscotland.com/history/other/minstrelsy_apdx2.htm (The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border - Geordie Bourne) https://elfinspell.com/PrimarySourceCareyScottishRaider.html (1597 AD, A Scottish Raider by Sir Robert Carey (Cary), (1560-1639), A Scottish Raider, Geordie Bourne, entry and primary source excerpt from Chambers Cyclopædia of English Literature, 16th century English Renaissance autobiography, (PrimarySourceCareyScottishRaider)) https://wwwborderreiverstories-neblessclem.blogspot.com/2013/01/history-of-scotland-border-reivers_7.html (Border Reivers from the 13th to the 17th centuries.: Border-Reivers-Geordie-Bourne) ----------------------------------------------- https://square-mile-of-murder.captivate.fm/listen (Like the show? Give us a rating and review!) Join our Patreon: https://patreon.com/squaremileofmurder (Patreon) Check out our merch store: https://squaremileofmurder.store/ (Square Mile of Murder Merch) Get our newsletter: https://squaremileofmurder.com/newsletter (Newsletter) Send us an email: info@squaremileofmurder.com Follow us on social media: https://www.facebook.com/pg/squaremilepod/ (Facebook) https://www.instagram.com/squaremileofmurder/ (Instagram) https://twitter.com/squaremilepod (Twitter) https://squaremileofmurder.com/ (Squaremileofmurder.com) Support this podcast
Episode Notes A lot of people think that tap dance is related to European dance styles because they look so darn similar, but what if it was really the other way around? Join host Tristan Bruns as he reports on the worse-than-you-thought history of international minstrelsy in England, Ireland, Australia, South Africa and more. Support this program by joining us on Patreon. 50% of all support goes to the M.A.D.D. Rhythms Tap Academy at the Harold Washington Cultural Center on Chicago's historic South Side. Link to our Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/GFADAF Or support this program through a one time donation in our tip jar! Thank you to Patreon supporters Pamela Heatherington and Liz Rancourt-Smith. Your support means the world to us! The Gasps From A Dying Art Form Podcast is a member of the M.A.D.D. Rhythms Podcast Network. #RespectTheDance Support Gasps From A Dying Art Form by contributing to their Tip Jar: https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/gasps-from-a-dying-art-form This podcast is powered by Pinecast.
We attempt to interpret the Legacy, Triumphs & Failures of our great literary Grancestor Paul Laurence Dunbar. We are not who we are supposed to be as long as the system of systematic antiblackness dominates the planet. We play clips of Paul Mooney, Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander and Neely Fuller Jr to add context.
We're looking at three changeling stories this week! TW/child abuse. Please skip to 6:50 if you would like to avoid this discussion. The Smith and the Fairies: https://folklorescotland.com/the-smith-and-the-fairies/ The Laird of Balmachie's Wife: https://folklorescotland.com/elementor-430/ Thanks to Linley for providing the cover art for this episode! Linley Barba: www.linleybarba.com/ www.instagram.com/penandwand/ For more fantastic stories about Scotland, be sure to check out Graeme's website! https://scotlands-stories.com/ Celtic Impulse by Kevin MacLeod Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/3484-celtic-impulse License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license Check out our socials to keep in the loop! facebook.com/FolkloreScotland twitter.com/FolkloreScot instagram.com/folklorescotland/ Folklore Scotland is a Scottish registered charity whose aim is to connect the tales of the past with the technology of today. You can visit our website and explore your local folklore at www.folklorescotland.com. If you would like to become one of our voluntary contributors or would like to get in touch, email us at info@folklorescotland.com SOURCES https://sites.google.com/site/goodwhiskytastingsbelgium/home/history/legends-and-tales/the-laird-of-balmachie-s-wife https://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/folklore/the-laird-of-balmachies-wife/#:~:text=This%20tale%20involves%20a%20fairy,of%20Scotland%20by%20W.W%20Gribbins. https://fairytalez.com/the-laird-of-balmachies-wife/ https://britishfairies.wordpress.com/2020/12/06/clouds-of-fairies-evidence-of-fairy-swarms/ Sir Walter Scott, "On the Fairies of Popular Superstition" (Introduction to "The Tale of Tamlane," Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border, Poetic Works (Edinburgh: Ballantyne, 1833), vol. 2, pp. 321-323. Ashlimann, D, “Changeling Legends from the British Isles”, a collection of changeling stories found at http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/britchange.html Sugg, Richard, “Fairies: A Dangerous History”, (Reaktion Books, 2018) in Fairy Scapegoats: A History of the Persecution of Changeling Children, https://longreads.com/2018/06/08/fairy-scapegoats-a-history-of-the-persecution-of-changeling-children/
BLACKFACE & MINSTRELSY - At its most basic level, 'blackface' is the application of any prosthetic to imitate the complexion of another race. In theory, it's a performance available to all, yet 'whiteface' is relatively unknown. Laurie Taylor talks to Ayanna Thompson, Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, about the painful history of ‘blackface’, an ancient European theatrical device that the Europeans brought with them to America. What connects it to Blackface minstrelsy, a specific comedic performance tradition rooted in slavery, and why does this racist practice endure today? Also, Christine Grandy, Associate Professor in History at the University of Lincoln, discusses the origins of the British Black and White Minstrel Show, a prime time, BBC variety programme which lasted for 20 years, from 1958-1978. She uncovers a little known history in which broadcasters, the press, and audience members collectively argued that the show had nothing to do with race whilst the complaints and anger of Black people were dismissed. Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with the Open University. Producer: Jayne Egerton
BLACKFACE & MINSTRELSY - At its most basic level, 'blackface' is the application of any prosthetic to imitate the complexion of another race. In theory, it's a performance available to all, yet 'whiteface' is relatively unknown. Laurie Taylor talks to Ayanna Thompson, Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, about the painful history of ‘blackface’, an ancient European theatrical device that the Europeans brought with them to America. What connects it to Blackface minstrelsy, a specific comedic performance tradition rooted in slavery, and why does this racist practice endure today? Also, Christine Grandy, Associate Professor in History at the University of Lincoln, discusses the origins of the British Black and White Minstrel Show, a prime time, BBC variety programme which lasted for 20 years, from 1958-1978. She uncovers a little known history in which broadcasters, the press, and audience members collectively argued that the show had nothing to do with race whilst the complaints and anger of Black people were dismissed. Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with the Open University. Producer: Jayne Egerton
BLACKFACE & MINSTRELSY - At its most basic level, 'blackface' is the application of any prosthetic to imitate the complexion of another race. In theory, it's a performance available to all, yet 'whiteface' is relatively unknown. Laurie Taylor talks to Ayanna Thompson, Regents Professor of English at Arizona State University, about the painful history of ‘blackface’, an ancient European theatrical device that the Europeans brought with them to America. What connects it to Blackface minstrelsy, a specific comedic performance tradition rooted in slavery, and why does this racist practice endure today? Also, Christine Grandy, Associate Professor in History at the University of Lincoln, discusses the origins of the British Black and White Minstrel Show, a prime time, BBC variety programme which lasted for 20 years, from 1958-1978. She uncovers a little known history in which broadcasters, the press, and audience members collectively argued that the show had nothing to do with race whilst the complaints and anger of Black people were dismissed. Thinking Allowed is produced in partnership with the Open University. Producer: Jayne Egerton
S02, EP3. I also talked about Baby Keem's new single. No intro song, I messed up… --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
S02, EP3. I also talked about Baby Keem's new single. No intro song, I messed up… --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
We discuss the life and legacy of Lincoln 'Stepin Fetchit' Perry under the context of Racism White Supremacy. We conclude that he was scapegoated and targeted for representing an image/caricature which existed at least a century before he was born. We use clips from Mel Watkins and Bill Cosby to add context.
This week Skye dives into the notorious career of Julie D'Aubigny that includes fencing, fighting, and a bit of fraternizing! Elizabeth dips her toe into minstrelsy but dives into vaudeville and how it made way for women in entertainment.
EXCUSE OUR AUDIO ERROR. WE JUST UPDATED THE EPISODE. It may take time for it to update on all platforms.Minstrelsy was an American theatrical genre present from the end of the Civil War to the early parts of the 1900s that placed white performers in the comedic enactment of racial stereotypes about Black people. Today, people are so turned off by Blackface that they're not willing to delve into the reason why it is considered offensive in the first place... and we haven't learned from our past. Blackface isn't dead. In this episode, we discuss the perceptions of Black people in the media; how we have discussions about challenging historical practices (that still persist today); and Spike Lee's movie Bamboozled.WE COULD NOT COVER EVERYTHING in this episode. There was no way. We didn't have enough time to talk about images, photographs, and so many other stories… like the recent renaming of the Aunt Jemima pancake mix. The Aunt Jemima pancake mix was named after "Old Aunt Jemima," an 1875 song from a minstrel show that featured performers in blackface who wore aprons and bandana headbands. Read about Aunt Jemima's name change here.Though some might find this topic "challenging" or "uncomfortable", living with racial stereotypes is also challenging and uncomfortable. This is a conversation worth having. We recommend that parents consider that younger children (0-7) may not be able to understand some of the themes discussed in this episode. It is however important that if kids are online they are often exposed to racist content and concepts and that should always be discussed.Resources for learning more about the American tradition of Blackface:Are your kids ready to watch? CommonSense Media Overview of Bamboozled: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/bamboozled A Brief Guide to 21st Century Blackface by Aisha Harris https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/25/opinion/blackface-tv-movies-race.html Garvey's Roblox Video on Blackface: https://youtu.be/BfO_ZK0Kvj8 NMAAHC https://nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/blackface-birth-american-stereotype How the History of Blackface is Rooted in Racism via History.com https://www.history.com/news/blackface-history-racism-origins Forms of Variety Theatre via Library of Congress: https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/vshtml/vsforms.htmlImages of Blackface via Library of Congress search: https://www.loc.gov/search/?in=&q=Blackface&new=true&st= Family Discussion Questions:What is the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation?How do the stories that others tell about us help or hinder us? How do the images we see, influence the way in which we think about other people and their culture?Why should we have discussions about blackface and digital blackface?Subscribe to our monthly newsletter: https://bit.ly/LetsK12BetterNewsletter!*Love our podcast? Rate. Review. Share!
Drag From The LEFT w/ your hosts Avery Ware & Juanita Bind'Em, a weekly digital series where we dish all things drag and pop culture through a radical leftist perspective. On this week's episode of #DragFTL we discuss Season 13 Episode 4 of #RPDR, Minstrelsy, and The Ebony Enchantress Symone. Drag from the LEFT and Call'n/Call Out are recorded live every Sunday at 6PM EST with your hosts @AveryWare and @JuanitaBindem on Stereo App: https://stereo.com/averyware https://stereo.com/juanitabindem Drag From the LEFT is available everywhere podcasts are streamed: https://anchor.fm/drag-from-the-left Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DragFTL/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/DragFTL Instagram: https://instagram.com/dragftl?igshid=15lrj515whrym Tune in for our after show, Call'n/Call Out, Uploaded Wednesdays @ 5PM. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/drag-from-the-left/support
Call'n/Call Out (Uploaded Wednesdays @ 5PM) - The exclusive after show of Drag From The LEFT w/ your hosts Avery Ware & Juanita Bind'Em, a weekly digital series where we dish all things drag and pop culture through a radical leftist perspective. On this week's episode of #DragFTL we discuss Season 13 Episode 4 of #RPDR, Minstrelsy, and The Ebony Enchantress Symone. Drag from the LEFT and Call'n/Call Out are recorded live every Sunday at 6PM EST with your hosts @AveryWare and @JuanitaBindem on Stereo App: https://stereo.com/averyware https://stereo.com/juanitabindem Drag From the LEFT is available everywhere podcasts are streamed: https://anchor.fm/drag-from-the-left Follow us on social media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DragFTL/ Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/DragFTL Instagram: https://instagram.com/dragftl?igshid=15lrj515whrym --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/drag-from-the-left/support
If you are looking for a light, funny podcast to combat the holiday blues, this is NOT the episode for you. Scott and Steve explore the awful histories behind "Jim Crow" and "Uncle Tom," in addition to discussing being bad at birthdays, denouncing the Eskimo supremacy movement, and how Michael McDonald can help you address difficult subjects. Plus, New Slang about the term “BTO.” For more, including Patreon exclusive podcasts, support Origin of Speakcies at patreon.com/speakcies.
DELIVERED ON LORD’S DAY MORNING, JULY 5, 1868, BY C. H. SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON. “God, even our own God, shall bless us. God shall bless us.” Psalm 67:6, 7.
Exporting Jim Crow: Blackface Minstrelsy in South Africa and Beyond (U Massachusetts Press, 2020) by Dr. Chinua Thelwell is a rich, well-researched, and sobering investigation of blackface minstrelsy as the “visual bedrock of a transcolonial cultural imaginary.” In tracing minstrel globalization across the Anglo-colonial and British imperial worlds beginning in the 1800s, Thelwell explores the ways that blackface minstrelsy helped to construct and maintain notions of exclusionary citizenship in racial states throughout the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific Ocean worlds. Thelwell shows that the South African Cape Colony became the minstrel nexus of these globalizing performance circuits. Putting this history in conversation with ongoing white settler colonialism and attendant plunder, annexation, and resource extraction, Thelwell argues that minstrel performances discursively strengthened the economic, social, and political cornerstones of the South African racial state, a state that ultimately developed into an apartheid state in the twentieth century. Through archival research and close readings of cultural artifacts, Thelwell shows that minstrel performances reflected gendered and racialized white fantasies of idealized Black laborers in events that normalized practices of racially exclusionary citizenship and reinforced labor exploitation. Exporting Jim Crow also significantly investigates subversive forms of Black resistance to these anti-black racial projects. For example, Thelwell interrogates how African American minstrels and Cape Coloureds attempted to change the terms of minstrel performance by creating shows that celebrated their own cultures and broadcasted images of equal citizenship. An important and critical study, Exporting Jim Crow enriches scholarship on blackface minstrelsy, South Africa, empire and colonialism, racial capitalism, and performance studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Exporting Jim Crow: Blackface Minstrelsy in South Africa and Beyond (U Massachusetts Press, 2020) by Dr. Chinua Thelwell is a rich, well-researched, and sobering investigation of blackface minstrelsy as the “visual bedrock of a transcolonial cultural imaginary.” In tracing minstrel globalization across the Anglo-colonial and British imperial worlds beginning in the 1800s, Thelwell explores the ways that blackface minstrelsy helped to construct and maintain notions of exclusionary citizenship in racial states throughout the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific Ocean worlds. Thelwell shows that the South African Cape Colony became the minstrel nexus of these globalizing performance circuits. Putting this history in conversation with ongoing white settler colonialism and attendant plunder, annexation, and resource extraction, Thelwell argues that minstrel performances discursively strengthened the economic, social, and political cornerstones of the South African racial state, a state that ultimately developed into an apartheid state in the twentieth century. Through archival research and close readings of cultural artifacts, Thelwell shows that minstrel performances reflected gendered and racialized white fantasies of idealized Black laborers in events that normalized practices of racially exclusionary citizenship and reinforced labor exploitation. Exporting Jim Crow also significantly investigates subversive forms of Black resistance to these anti-black racial projects. For example, Thelwell interrogates how African American minstrels and Cape Coloureds attempted to change the terms of minstrel performance by creating shows that celebrated their own cultures and broadcasted images of equal citizenship. An important and critical study, Exporting Jim Crow enriches scholarship on blackface minstrelsy, South Africa, empire and colonialism, racial capitalism, and performance studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Exporting Jim Crow: Blackface Minstrelsy in South Africa and Beyond (U Massachusetts Press, 2020) by Dr. Chinua Thelwell is a rich, well-researched, and sobering investigation of blackface minstrelsy as the “visual bedrock of a transcolonial cultural imaginary.” In tracing minstrel globalization across the Anglo-colonial and British imperial worlds beginning in the 1800s, Thelwell explores the ways that blackface minstrelsy helped to construct and maintain notions of exclusionary citizenship in racial states throughout the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific Ocean worlds. Thelwell shows that the South African Cape Colony became the minstrel nexus of these globalizing performance circuits. Putting this history in conversation with ongoing white settler colonialism and attendant plunder, annexation, and resource extraction, Thelwell argues that minstrel performances discursively strengthened the economic, social, and political cornerstones of the South African racial state, a state that ultimately developed into an apartheid state in the twentieth century. Through archival research and close readings of cultural artifacts, Thelwell shows that minstrel performances reflected gendered and racialized white fantasies of idealized Black laborers in events that normalized practices of racially exclusionary citizenship and reinforced labor exploitation. Exporting Jim Crow also significantly investigates subversive forms of Black resistance to these anti-black racial projects. For example, Thelwell interrogates how African American minstrels and Cape Coloureds attempted to change the terms of minstrel performance by creating shows that celebrated their own cultures and broadcasted images of equal citizenship. An important and critical study, Exporting Jim Crow enriches scholarship on blackface minstrelsy, South Africa, empire and colonialism, racial capitalism, and performance studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Exporting Jim Crow: Blackface Minstrelsy in South Africa and Beyond (U Massachusetts Press, 2020) by Dr. Chinua Thelwell is a rich, well-researched, and sobering investigation of blackface minstrelsy as the “visual bedrock of a transcolonial cultural imaginary.” In tracing minstrel globalization across the Anglo-colonial and British imperial worlds beginning in the 1800s, Thelwell explores the ways that blackface minstrelsy helped to construct and maintain notions of exclusionary citizenship in racial states throughout the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific Ocean worlds. Thelwell shows that the South African Cape Colony became the minstrel nexus of these globalizing performance circuits. Putting this history in conversation with ongoing white settler colonialism and attendant plunder, annexation, and resource extraction, Thelwell argues that minstrel performances discursively strengthened the economic, social, and political cornerstones of the South African racial state, a state that ultimately developed into an apartheid state in the twentieth century. Through archival research and close readings of cultural artifacts, Thelwell shows that minstrel performances reflected gendered and racialized white fantasies of idealized Black laborers in events that normalized practices of racially exclusionary citizenship and reinforced labor exploitation. Exporting Jim Crow also significantly investigates subversive forms of Black resistance to these anti-black racial projects. For example, Thelwell interrogates how African American minstrels and Cape Coloureds attempted to change the terms of minstrel performance by creating shows that celebrated their own cultures and broadcasted images of equal citizenship. An important and critical study, Exporting Jim Crow enriches scholarship on blackface minstrelsy, South Africa, empire and colonialism, racial capitalism, and performance studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Exporting Jim Crow: Blackface Minstrelsy in South Africa and Beyond (U Massachusetts Press, 2020) by Dr. Chinua Thelwell is a rich, well-researched, and sobering investigation of blackface minstrelsy as the “visual bedrock of a transcolonial cultural imaginary.” In tracing minstrel globalization across the Anglo-colonial and British imperial worlds beginning in the 1800s, Thelwell explores the ways that blackface minstrelsy helped to construct and maintain notions of exclusionary citizenship in racial states throughout the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific Ocean worlds. Thelwell shows that the South African Cape Colony became the minstrel nexus of these globalizing performance circuits. Putting this history in conversation with ongoing white settler colonialism and attendant plunder, annexation, and resource extraction, Thelwell argues that minstrel performances discursively strengthened the economic, social, and political cornerstones of the South African racial state, a state that ultimately developed into an apartheid state in the twentieth century. Through archival research and close readings of cultural artifacts, Thelwell shows that minstrel performances reflected gendered and racialized white fantasies of idealized Black laborers in events that normalized practices of racially exclusionary citizenship and reinforced labor exploitation. Exporting Jim Crow also significantly investigates subversive forms of Black resistance to these anti-black racial projects. For example, Thelwell interrogates how African American minstrels and Cape Coloureds attempted to change the terms of minstrel performance by creating shows that celebrated their own cultures and broadcasted images of equal citizenship. An important and critical study, Exporting Jim Crow enriches scholarship on blackface minstrelsy, South Africa, empire and colonialism, racial capitalism, and performance studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Exporting Jim Crow: Blackface Minstrelsy in South Africa and Beyond (U Massachusetts Press, 2020) by Dr. Chinua Thelwell is a rich, well-researched, and sobering investigation of blackface minstrelsy as the “visual bedrock of a transcolonial cultural imaginary.” In tracing minstrel globalization across the Anglo-colonial and British imperial worlds beginning in the 1800s, Thelwell explores the ways that blackface minstrelsy helped to construct and maintain notions of exclusionary citizenship in racial states throughout the Atlantic, Indian, Pacific Ocean worlds. Thelwell shows that the South African Cape Colony became the minstrel nexus of these globalizing performance circuits. Putting this history in conversation with ongoing white settler colonialism and attendant plunder, annexation, and resource extraction, Thelwell argues that minstrel performances discursively strengthened the economic, social, and political cornerstones of the South African racial state, a state that ultimately developed into an apartheid state in the twentieth century. Through archival research and close readings of cultural artifacts, Thelwell shows that minstrel performances reflected gendered and racialized white fantasies of idealized Black laborers in events that normalized practices of racially exclusionary citizenship and reinforced labor exploitation. Exporting Jim Crow also significantly investigates subversive forms of Black resistance to these anti-black racial projects. For example, Thelwell interrogates how African American minstrels and Cape Coloureds attempted to change the terms of minstrel performance by creating shows that celebrated their own cultures and broadcasted images of equal citizenship. An important and critical study, Exporting Jim Crow enriches scholarship on blackface minstrelsy, South Africa, empire and colonialism, racial capitalism, and performance studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
This week in part 1 of an accidental 3-part episode series (file this under things that happen when you underestimate how big a topic can be), we're looking at musical traditions that have changed or no longer exist. Pour yourself a drink and learn about some formerly common music practices that have (for good reason) been left in the past.
This episode covers a difficult but central part of the history of American popular music: the rise of blackface minstrelsy in the late 1820s and early 1830s. In order to come to grips with the emergence of what was widely considered the first truly "American" form of music and theatrical entertainment, this episode explores the contradictory ways of understanding Blackness that suffused the practice of African transatlantic slavery, discusses the political and social situation of working-class Whites and free Blacks, the role of Irish immigration in early minstrelsy, and the formation of two American minstrel archetypes: Jim Crow and Zip Coon.
Kristen and Catherine get into some sticky syrup: did you know Aunt Jemima's Kitchen was a restaurant at Disneyland? We go full history-mode in this episode, and learn the fascinating origins of the Aunt Jemima character from 1800's minstrelsy, plus we discover how she made it all the way to 1950's Disneyland... and stayed there. And apparently we had good timing, because the times they are a-changin': Quaker Oats has just promised to change the Aunt Jemima brand once and for all. And once more for the people in the back: Black Lives Matter! :)
It’s another episode of Inquisitive InTALKSication, where Jel and Lou get intoxicated and discuss things that make them passionate, infuriated, or intrigued! Today Jel talks about how American Musical Theatre has its roots in Minstrelsy and the harmful stereotypes and caricatures that continue to pervade American culture and media. While Lou discusses the almost lost art of Filipino tattooing. Filipino Tattoos: Ancient to Modern by Lane Wilcken https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764336029/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_AcRYEbKJ392VW The Forgotten Children of Maui: Filipino Myths, Tattoos, and Rituals of a Demigod by Lane Wilcken https://www.amazon.com/dp/1492768685/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_gdRYEbB83JAF1 The Aswang Project https://www.aswangproject.com/ Tatak Ng Apat Na Alon Tribe https://apat-na-alon-tribe.com/ --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/boredbrowngirls/support
(Lost Episode 2/3/2019) This episode we review the legendary career of D.W. Griffith who's known as the 'father of film'. We analyze the historical context and social climate that lead to the making of the first Block Buster Film in the United States of America(The Birth of a Nation). We contend that the film industry located in Hollywood has Anti-Black, Racist White Supremacist foundations served to the United States masses in a well edited, supremely scored multiple hours long, cutting edge piece of motion picture. This film was both the trailblazer for the Hollywood Industry and A Rallying cry for domestic terror groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
We discus the Legacy of celebrated Black Face Entertainer Bert Williams and his partnership with George Walker and Aida Overton Walker. We play clips from The C.O.W.S. hosted by Gus T. Renegade discussing the term 'John Henryism' and NPR. We critique the connection between anti-black pop culture and early sudden deaths of Bert Williams, George Walker & Aida Overton Walker. Is acting black bad for the health of people subject to black classification?
Cy & TJ are back with the fist episode of the decade, the year, and Season 3! And it looks like they're off and running quickly in 2020! Some of the stories they had to catch us up on from December of last year to now ...? You'd never guess it was the 21st century with the way some people are already behaving *smh* -- The Daily Plug wants to send love and condolences to the families of the horrific helicopter tragedy that claimed the lives of Kobe and Gianna "Gigi" Bryant. We here at TDP implore you all to live each day like it's the best and the last. Time is fleeing and fickle. Spend the time you have being happy, doing well and doing good for everyone around you! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app
In the first episode of The Sound of History podcast, we talk about everyone's favorite topic: minstrelsy. Mika learns just how terrible the first truly American form of music was, how it started and how it ended. Follow us! Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoundofHistory/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/soundofhistory_ YouTube Videos in This Episode: Jump Jim Crow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xG2zd6NCzJ8 Dixie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OKdbc0DYpM
Brown Men of the Moors: the hunters become the hunted.The Brown Men are on a mission: to take out anyone in mind to hunt, or otherwise harm, the wildlife who dwell in the borderlands between England and Scotland.Over many generations, short, swarthy, red frizzy haired known as the Brown Men of the Moors have stalked, lured and killed Human hunters!Not just protectors of wildlife and other Faerie, Brown Men are also expert in stealth and could charm the pants of any unwary dandy with a rifle.Kitty shares tales of encounters and poems written about the elusive Brown Men, and offers ideas on how to avoid becoming their next victim.To sign up for a 30 day free membership trial (including one free downloaded audiobook of your choice) go to www.audibletrial.com/kittyHave you sighted, sensed or encountered one of the Good People? Kitty would love to hear your story. You can contact Kitty here:www.facebook.com/encounterswiththegoodpeoplewww.instagram.com/encounterswiththegoodpeoplewww.faerieofireland.comTo watch episodes of my Podcast as videos on YouTube, click on the link below. Please be sure to 'Subscribe' and 'Like' my YouTube channel!https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZISzueo7YXNPwowda2p0zQPodcast Credits.Edited by Magic Dan.‘Notes on the Folk-lore of the Northern Counties of England and the Borders’ by William Henderson. 1879. Librovox recording.'Colt of Keeldar' excerpt from ‘The Minstrelsy of the Scottish Ballad’ by Sir Walter Scott. 1802. Read by Zed. www.fiverr.com/zornaph‘Fairy Tales’ by Skamble. 1869.Theme Music: ‘Irish Coffee’ by Giorgio di CampoAdditional Music:‘Folk Round’ by Kevin Macleod‘Pippin the Hunchback’ by Kevin Macleod‘The Pyre’ by Kevin Macleod‘Achaidh Cheide’ by Kevin Macleod‘At the Summertime Tide’ by Adrian von Ziegler‘Ancient Storm’ by Adrian von Ziegler
In this episode, Travis talks with the 2019 recipient of the Tap Preservation Award by the American Tap Dance Foundation, Hank Smith. They dive into the controversial topic of blackface and expose the complicated brilliance of silent film star, Bert Williams. Catch up on Hank Smith's Blog here: http://storyoftap.blogspot.com/2019/ Supplemental Music: The Story of O.J. - Jay Z Subscribe to the Tap Love Tour Podcast on Soundcloud and itunes: https://soundcloud.com/the-tap-love-tour itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-t…d1051033674?mt=2 Subscribe to the Tap Love Tour Youtube Channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsSfLevc4PJTChTNkmf5GVw?view_as=subscriber
The Scottsboro Boys were arrested as freight train hoboes in Alabama in 1931 and quickly convicted by an all-white jury of raping two white women. After several retrials and appeals, the case led to two landmark Supreme Court rulings on the right to adequate counsel and prohibiting the exclusion of black people from juries. Yet, the problems in 1931 -- wrongful conviction, juvenile sentencing, police brutality, tampering with juries and evidence, and adequate counsel -- are still a problem in 2019. Shows like Ava DuVernay's Netflix series "When They See Us," and the podcast, "In the Dark," are reigniting the injustice of the past within the context of current injustice and Black Lives Matter. Playhouse on Park is currently staging The Scottsboro Boys, a Kander and Ebb musical satire that stages the play within the frame of minstrelsy, a potent symbol of Jim Crow injustice. Does their use of minstrelsy expose the absurdity of racism or is it simply offensive? We continue the debate. Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On this episode of Jack Dappa Blues I speak with the American Songster Dom Flemons about how Blackface, Minstrelsy and African American Traditional Music morphed into America's top entertainment industry. In our discussion the true context of what became a stain on the image of Black folk is unpacked. Dom Flemons is known as “The American Songster” since his repertoire of music covers nearly 100 years of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. Flemons is a music scholar, historian, record collector and a multi-instrumentalist. He was recently nominated for a Grammy from his current album "The Black Cowboy" with Smithsonian Folkways. The tile for this program may be offensive, but it's from a Minstrel written and composed by Ernest Hogan, the first African-American entertainer to produce and star in a Broadway show @Jackpearley Jack Dappa Blues FB Group Jack Dappa Blues FB Page Jack Dappa Blues Heritage Preservation Foundation Black Spirituals, Field Hollers and Slave Seculars --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/jackdappabluespodcast/support
Wi hae passed the Spring Equinox - so it must be Spring. An in this April edition o the programme wi jine the gaitherin at the James Hutton Institute in Aiberdeen tae enjoy the Young Biodiversity Awards . We re wi the Irish an Scots Poets as part o Neu Reekie at the Poetry Library in Edinburgh, an we experience the spectacular production o Nordics In Exile at St Nicholas Kirk in Aiberdeen. Aa this an enjoying the company o oor Studio Guest, folklorist and musician, Steve Byrne spikkin aboot a new CD o Ballads fae Sir Walter Scott s Minstrelsy o the Scottish Borders. Jine us.
We discuss the cause and effect of the first Blockbuster film in Hollywood. We anylyze the aftermath of the contraversy surrounding the film from a black classified perspective. We close out the show with a word of wisdom from Dr. Francis Cress Welsing
This episode we discuss the untold legacy of plantation celebration songs by way of Black Face Minstrelsy. We critique the anti-black origin of The Ice Cream Song(nigger love watermelon and the confederate national anthem Dixie Land. We also discuss the Minstrel Stereotypes(black face caricatures) that were staples in Black Face Minstrelsy and continue to maintain longevity in contemporary performing arts and entertainment.
We take a brief historical analysis of the anti-black foundations of Popular United States Entertainment Culture. We critique the creation of white/black classification and its direct connection to Black Face Minstrelsy/Anti-black propaganda. We conclude that this connection plays a major part in the mistreatment, disenfranchisement, and mass murder of Native Black American DOS. Ohugen Chronicles: The Legend Of Frank The Tank
We take a brief historical analysis of the anti-black foundations of Popular United States Entertainment Culture. We critique the creation of white/black classification and its direct connection to Black Face Minstrelsy/Anti-black propaganda. We conclude that this connection plays a major part in the mistreatment, disenfranchisement, and mass murder of Native Black American DOS. Ohugen Chronicles: The Legend Of Frank The Tank
We take a brief historical analysis of the anti-black foundations of Popular United States Entertainment Culture. We critique the creation of white/black classification and its direct connection to Black Face Minstrelsy/Anti-black propaganda. We conclude that this connection plays a major part in the mistreatment, disenfranchisement, and mass murder of Native Black American DOS. Ohugen Chronicles: The Legend Of Frank The Tank
When VA Governor Ralph Northam was first confronted with a page from his medical school yearbook in 1984, he apologized for being one of the two people in a photograph that showed a white man in blackface, and a person dressed in the hood and sheet of the Ku Klux Klan. Calls for his resignation poured forth from both Democrats and Republicans, in VA and around the country. The next day, he announced that neither of the people in the photograph were him, but he had worn blackface and moon walked in a Michael Jackson imitation at around the same time in his life, some 30 years ago. Today – we simply ask: “What is the deal with white men dressing in blackface?” Is it ever to don the look of minstrelsy, which for generations has been recognized as demeaning to and racist against people of color? It is a practice that certainly did not begin or end in the 1980s, but how should the fact that two government officials wore blackface at that time inform how we think about what they did, and what form their contrition should take? ER Shipp won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. She is a journalist in residence at Morgan State University in the School of Global Journalism and Communication. She joins us on the line from the studios of our friends at WEAA RadioLawrence Ross is the author of six books, the latest of which is Blackballed: The Black and White Politics of Race on America's Campuses. He joins us on the line from New York.
When Jesus tells us to enter through the narrow gate, one of the things he's talking about is the real work of reconciliation. When tastes change and things we used to think go out of fashion, have we changed? Have we done the work of thinking through what is different for us now? How have we reconciled who we were with who we are and who we hope to be? Note, Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer came out in 1927. For more information about the history of minstrelsy, I recommend the BackStory Radio Podcast with Dr. Rhae Lynn Barnes: The Faces of Racism A History of Blackface and Minstrelsy in American Culture
Nathan talks with historian Rhae Lynn Barnes (https://history.princeton.edu/people/rhae-lynn-barnes) about Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s 1984 yearbook page and its link to a long and disturbing history of blackface minstrelsy. They discuss how white civic organizations used minstrel shows for fundraising, why the era known as Jim Crow is named after a minstrel character, and what must happen to prevent people from donning blackface going forward. THIS EPISODE CONTAINS SOME LANGUAGE THAT PEOPLE MIGHT FIND OFFENSIVE.
The Urban Breakdown misfits Ofofoley Oquaye, Mercer Prescott, Mercedes Wright, and F. Khristopher Blue break it down on Blackface and the idioticies associated with it... Blackface is much more than just dark makeup used to enhance a costume. Its American origins can be traced to minstrel shows. In the mid to late nineteenth century, white actors would routinely use black grease paint on their faces when depicting plantation slaves and free blacks on stage. To be clear, these weren't flattering representations. At all. Taking place against the backdrop of a society that systematically mistreated and dehumanized black people, they were mocking portrayals that reinforced the idea that African-Americans were inferior in every way. The blackface caricatures that were staples of Minstrelsy (think: Mammy, Uncle Tom, Buck, and Jezebel) took a firm hold in the American imagination, and carried over into other mediums of entertainment. Oh yeah, and we talk about Ray Caruth and more... Check out the demo for a song coming from Kaiser Sose/Eclectic Media at the very end... Recorded on 10/27/2018 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/theurbanbreakdown/message
Episode 164: On Minstrelsy and Mayhem: A Conversation with Yussef Cole (Right click and save as to download, or find us on iTunes, BlogTalk Radio, Stitcher, Google Play, or TuneIn). This week we talk to games journalist motion designer, Yussef Cole (@youmeyou) about his lastest research and article in Unwinnable, "Cuphead and the Racist Spectre of Fleischer Animation", Dishonored: Death of the Outsider, […]
This week, Alicia offers advice on appropriate cubicle decor. Jay discusses Mickey Mouse and his problematic crew. Cristaly indulges in some classic Pavlovian experimentation. CONTENT WARNINGS: Heavy discussion of racist stereotypes and caricatures.
Bill speaks with writer and film programmer Ashley Clark about his pursuits, from his early blog Permanent Plastic Helmet and programming screenings at the movie theatre where he worked to writing for publications like The Guardian, Sight & Sound, Reverse Shot and Vice and programming for the BFI and MOMA. Other topics covered include: THE HATEFUL EIGHT, Wendell B. Harris Jr.’s CHAMELEON STREET and the emotional side of curation, his book “Facing Blackness – Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee’s BAMBOOZLED”, TAXI DRIVER, the importance of editors, organizing the Black Star series at London's BFI Southbank, Ed Guerrero’s Framing Blackness, and having a smaller trailer than Billy Zane as a child actor. Visit Ashley Clark’s official site: http://www.ashleyclark.net/ Read Wendell B. Harris’ essay “Who Killed CHAMELEON STREET?” http://metrograph.com/edition/article/28/who-killed-chameleon-street Buy Ashley Clark’s book “Facing Blackness – Media and Minstrelsy in Spike Lee’s BAMBOOZLED”: https://www.amazon.com/Facing-Blackness-Media-Minstrelsy-Bamboozled/dp/1941629210/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1495317164&sr=8-8 Buy the BFI DVD/Blu-Ray TWO FILMS BY LINO BROCKA, featuring liner notes by Cathy Landicho Clark. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01N941RHA/ref=pd_sim_74_16?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=94GZDT8NATVG8FFCVYHZ Buy Ed Guerrero’s book Framing Blackness: The African American Image in Film https://www.amazon.com/Framing-Blackness-African-American-Culture/dp/1566391261/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1495415133 Watch Ashley Clark discuss BAMBOOZLED with Spike Lee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jxa83KgAy4&t=9s Hear Ashley Clark on The Film Comment podcast: https://www.filmcomment.com/blog/film-comment-podcast-identity/
We took the weekend off for Father's Day, so we're rebroadcasting this 2015 show. First up, Raúl Pérez, author of "Brownface Minstrelsy: ‘José Jiménez,’ the Civil Rights Movement and the Legacy of Racist Comedy." In the second half of the show, Alex Alvarez and Juan Vidal discuss their appearance on a HuffPost Live segment about Latin@ stereotypes and diversity in media.
Wesley: Hi, I’m Wesley.Robyne: And I’m Robyne.Wesley: And this is Obstructed View.Robyne: Today we’ll be discussing Hir at Playwright’s Horizons, written by Taylor Mac, and directed by Niegel Smith.Wesley: Hir follows Isaac, a dishonorably discharged soldier coming home from the war, to discover that his father had suffered a debilitating stroke, and that his mother, Paige, took over the household turning everything he knew upside down.Robyne: The design team for Hir was, scenic design, David Zinn, costume design by Gabriel Berry, lighting design by Mike Inwood, and sound design by Fitz Patton.Wesley: The play setting is in contemporary lower middle class America and the design team really reached for a sort of hyper realistic presentation of this world.Robyne: The attention to detail in this design was exquisite. The designers all worked together to create this very detailed hyper realistic world. The sound design was sparse. I can only really recall two cues: It was the sound of crickets in act II, and the sound of a car driving away in act I, and that was all that was needed. The silence that filled the room when silence was called for was great. Everything else was practical sound.Wesley: What Fitz Patton’s sound design was able to do for me in those rare moments they used sound design, it gave this great sense of this expansive world outside this home we know. It was a vague, not so much foreboding, as it was expansive world of the unknown outside this home. She goes out in the car and you’re left to your imagination what this city looks like. It kind of makes this “everywhere America” kind of feel to it.Robyne: And in conjunction with Mike Inwood’s lighting design, which was discrete and subtle, this world became so defined. The restraint on the part of the designers really created this wonderfully realistic world.Wesley: Something that I initially disliked, which grew to be one of my favorite parts of the piece was this photo-realism, and the subtlety and the refinement with which these designers, including lighting designer Mike Inwood’s work, where it was so small in detail, and in presentation that these people were then grounded as people in a real setting, in a real social structure, and with real personalities and histories.Robyne: From the moment that the curtain went up David Zinn’s set and Gabriel Berry’s costume designs just- you immediately knew who these people were and where we were, within two seconds. Even the slightly absurd opening of this production, you got a very clear sense: who was in control, what the living situation was, what the financial situation was of this family. And, it was gorgeous, it was claustrophobic almost, how trapped the designers made us feel in that moment, in the chaos of the set dressings on this wonderfully detailed set by David Zinn.Wesley: Yeah, so David Zinn’s set, when the curtain opened, it really had this feeling of one of those “Eye Spy” books I had when I was little. Everything was everywhere. Nothing but color. Nothing but handmade mess happening, and the costume design by Gabriel Berry, they were both matched, the same level, which is not abstract mess, but concrete. These were people with a financial background, with an ability to create this sort of mess they have in front of them. This wasn’t generic mess. This wasn’t even high abstract mess. This was a concrete, people creating the world around them. And, as much as I thought those initial moments with Isaac coming into the home were manic and- I thought I was in trouble with the show- it really gave a good background to what this show was going to be about. Isaacs difficulty of getting into this world and his ultimate departure from it.Robyne: The set dressings beautifully illustrated the chaos that was going on at home, beautifully demonstrated the intentional chaos that Paige had decided to exert on her home. Wesley: And there were a couple reveals in act II in the space, once the place gets cleaned up, once you start to see that this home is just a place where these people are able to project themselves, and their personalities, and their desires onto it. Even if it is, the father punching holes in the wall. And these sorts of moments became so grounded with this world being photorealistic.Robyne: Overall I thought that the design for this piece was exquisite.5:00 It was a lot of high detail work, and designers getting out of the way, to allow a piece of this nature to happen.Wesley: Right, as I said before there was something about it that I didn’t care for in act I, mostly because the writing style, and the nature of this world we were in felt more archetypal, it felt more abstract. But come act II, with the grounding of all these characters and their histories, and their lives, it became one of the most important things to make this production a success for me.Robyne: Taylor Mac’s writing in this piece is, in my opinion, a little hit and miss. There are many instances of things being brought up, and immediately dropped. There are moments where reveals happen to no end. It was simply more information that was piled on and contrary, I feel, to the design which was very concrete and hyperrealistic and, as I said, claustrophobic, in a sense, the actual writing and concept of the play felt even slightly farcical, in an unintentional sense. The play occurs over fourteen hours, and we see the first and the last of those two hours. I feel there were a lot of logical fallacies in the reality they had created.Wesley: Absolutely, so we are loaded with a lot of history in this family the second they start, but none of those are revealed very organically. There was a great deal of information we as audience members needed to get really quickly in this piece to understand the complexity of this family and what they’re going through. Often it came off with this sort of improvisational air to me. I think one of the reasons so much of the information is given so ham fistedly in the beginning is that there’s so much to get. We, like Isaac, are dropped in the middle of this insane world. So, Isaac had been dishonorably discharged for using drugs, and was sent back home. Not only had his father, Arnold, suffered this stroke, but his mother, Paige, is drugging him (Arnold) with estrogen pills in order to keep him docile and not only that but his sibling, Max, previously his sister is going through transition and is now going by the pronouns Hir and Ze. Which is something brand new to Isaac and which is where the piece gets its title from. His mother Paige is excited about all of these changes, and all this power she has in the household. Isaac does his best to regain some control in the family, and a great deal of this information is developed in this improvisational air of “here’s this new piece of information, we’ll play with it for thirty seconds, until the next piece of information”, just keeping it on rotation like that, rather than keeping it organically developing a conversation.Robyne: For a world where there seems to be so much consequence for your actions, there seems to be very little consequence for your dialogue, in this world. And I found that very troublesome. The play felt like a divide between wanting to be this hyperrealistic kitchen drama where you see all these people as people, as separate individuals, interesting, quirky human beings. And on the other side, it felt like it wanted to be a very important philosophical conversation. Now to Taylor Mac’s credit the piece did not feel preachy in the least. There was a brief lesson on pronouns, that when looking around the audience I felt was really necessary, but was not exhaustive, and had a beautiful coda where Isaac, not knowing what to do with Max, simply stared and Max said “Hug me, just hug me.” And there was this gorgeous moment where they embraced and Isaac said something about how Max smelled different and Max said, “I know isn’t it cool?” And that was wonderful, and there was a number of these moments in the dialogue, most of them Paige’s, where you see the nonsensical, farcical airs she puts on break in these gorgeous moments of honesty. For instance, when Isaac goes to remove Arnold’s mumu, and clownish drag makeup, and Paige immediately snaps “We will not rewrite his history with pity.” Gorgeous. The underlying structure of the story is fascinating and gorgeous and the conflicts these characters go through are fascinating and it’s so fast. A lot of the reveals are so fast. The amount of time this play is supposed to happen is so fast. If this was a miniseries on HBO, if this was a new “Angels in America” for this generation. If this wasn’t a play, but the structure was longer and we were given more time for these reveals and to get to know these characters. A play is the wrong format for this story I think. 10:00The conversations around gender and trans community would be vastly different than how they are handled in this play in which we only had two hours and it would relieve a lot of the time constraint stress and it wouldn’t seem so farcical.Wesley: That moment you discussed earlier, when she says “we will not rewrite his history with pity,” that was the first moment in this play when I thought to myself, “here is a drama.” Everything up ‘til that point, I thought I was in trouble. I thought it was mania. But when that moment hit it became clear that these characters are to be understood as being people. I think that a lot of the transitions that happen during it, do happen too quickly for the time allotted. They feel shoehorned into this time span of the fourteen hours. Between act I, and act II Isaac refuses to give Arnold Arnold’s smoothie and the results of that are just so extreme.Robyne: He was immediately from this docile invalid, who for all intents and purposes is pity able, because what this woman is doing to him is inexcusable abuse, to a much more functional man, after being off of these drugs twelve hours later, and you can see in him the abuser he was. You can see in him the fun, rebellious kind of energy he used to have. And that is nonsensical over that amount of time. Another issue I had with this piece was Paige’s treatment towards Max versus Paige’s treatment towards Isaac. Paige is willing to go to the ends of the earth for Max, and wants to create this new world for her and Max to live in together. Whereas she has already written of Isaac. She is totally unwilling to put in any effort to save or even care for her son who comes home from the war broken with PTSD. Simply because he was born a man and has been adopted into the patriarchy which just feels wrong for this character.Wesley: I disagree, I feel that Paige’s treatment of the two of them, Max versus Isaac, makes a great deal of sense. Max is in communication with Paige. They’re working together to make this world inside their house. They’re working together to create a new society. Isaac comes in with his version of reality and with his earlier indoctrination by his father, a man who he still, although he has misgivings, he can esteem to the point of humanization. Which is something that Max and Paige have lost both the will and ability to do. And while I agree Paige’s treatment of Isaac’s PTSD, it comes off as horrifying at times, I think that Isaac needs to show a similar respect for Paige’s PTSD, which he is almost never doing. Her PTSD of living with an abusive man who raped her. Who did terrible things to her. It makes sense that she would want this lack of compassion for her to no longer exist in her home.Robyne: I agree, both of these points of view are valid to me. Isaac returning back home and seeing the chaos this home has created, attempts to impose a little order, a little cleanliness. There are dishes everywhere. There’s no food. There’s clothes thrown about willy-nilly. There’s no cleanliness. And his argument is ‘You can’t live like this.’ And coming right from the military, that’s a very strict world he comes from and the shock of coming home to this must have been extreme. Paige’s point of view on the other hand is that they no longer worry about order and cleanliness and they’re free to be the people they want to be, but that goes so far as to extend into their finances, where they no longer keep checkbooks, and if you’re coming from the world of being an adult that is not tenable. That is not a reality you can live in. And the fantasy that she creates is so extreme that that’s how she thinks it should be.Wesley: Something that you’ll notice throughout the production is Max’s moving back and forth between Paige and Isaac, in terms of allegiance. Whenever Isaac demands for the bed to be done in a military style, Max is all for it. Yet, when Paige says it’s time to don wigs and dresses, Max is all excited for that too. 15:00Hir ability to go back and forth between hyper masculine and hyper “matriarchy” perspective, and I’m putting that in air quotes, it shows the nature of this conflict happening in America between old patriarchal style and this sort of “new age” aesthetic.Robyne: And again the time in which Max switches. The time in which Max goes from one side to the next, in the dialogue is justified, my issue is Max switches so quickly. The changes are excused and reasoned for in the dialogue but, the switching of sides occurs in a matter of seconds due to a single instance of pulling out some wigs, and while that’s fun, it’s, again, just nonsensical, and it makes this world farcical, especially when it’s juxtaposed against a hyperrealistic set.Wesley: And it turns the conflict from being a family drama to an archetypal drama, this back and forth. It was one of the reasons I wanted an abstract set in the first act is -these didn't feel like they were supposed to be People first, they were supposed to be archetypes first. We have the fallen patriarchy we have the new found matriarchy, we have the person being pulled between the two sides, and we have the son of the patriarchy trying to reinstall it. We have these archetypes fighting for control, rather than a household trying to remain in peace. And in Act II, something that happened especially towards the ends was these masks of these archetypes were revealed to be just that, masks. That, this person who is supposed to portray the “patriarchy” might have more compassion and forgiveness than this person that is supposed to display the matriachy. That this person who was previously in power and lost it might not deserve this treatment. Every moment that I loved in this play was when people would just stop and understand each other as individuals, and recognize that the battles that they’re waging in terms of these archetypes, in terms of order vs chaos, are the veneer they put on, it’s their drag, in order to fight for just their piece in this household. Robyne: I think that goes a lot towards what Taylor Mac is trying to do with this piece, it just gets clunky at the end, in my opinion. The signals seem to get mixed. I, again, have a huge issue with Paige’s treatment of Isaac and Paige’s treatment for Max. I can’t speak for being in an abusive spousal relationship, in my mind, Paige’s actions towards Arnold are completely justified, whether they are right or wrong I can’t say, she is abusing him, however it is revenge, and it is justified, whether it is morally correct it is neither here nor there. Her treatment of Max is justified, and Max’s treatment of Paige is justified, in this world, in this dialogue. Paige’s treatment of Isaac, in my opinion, is not justified, in the realism, in the kitchen drama that this piece strives to be. I Understand her, but it is not- there is not enough evidence, there;s not enough reason for her to treat Isaac as shittily as she does. And the moment of violence that happens from Isaac is completely justified, because that is what happens when you ignore someone’s PTSD. And then she removes him from the house. And for someone who is so warm and caring and compassionate to one child, to not be that for the other child, is just so illogical. Wesley: I, I totaly disagree with that. I think that her treatment of Isaac as this person who is an infection on the household, this person that is trying to restore a balance that had caused her almost nothing but pain. While I don’t agree with her to kick him, I would like to think that if I were in her situation, I would be able to extend myself further to his situation, but it just gets at what I think all great political theatre gets at which is I understand and I disagree are not mutually exclusive concepts. 20:00And her kicking him out, she did it with a lot of cruelty. But I think it just went further to show her damage. This is a broken person too. We’re not suppose to agree with her, I think, when she kicks him out. I think we’re supposed to be wanting him to stay. But I’m not sure if it’s best for Isaac, as much as it is I’m not sure if it’s the right thing for her to do. She does it with a great deal of cruelty, she gives this horrifying monologue towards the treatment of soldiers when they come back from the wars. And I think a lot of made me okay with it was in Max’s decision to stay, Max’s decision to take care of hir father. I think that in this, in this choice to be compassionate against the person who caused hir such harm, something was learned from Isaac. And the idea that the learning of compassion could come from the person in the patriarchal society, and the cruelty could come from somebody with the veneer of the matriarchal, is the exact kind of discussion I like to hear from these sorts of archetypal presentations. Robyne: I agree, i think those are beautiful moments, and in Act I Isaac is the audience surrogate, the audience’s avatar into this world, where as in Act II the story shifts to being all about Max and Max’s experience and the audience sees the world through Max. I just feel that there are so many ghosts of darlings from previous drafts in this, like the drug use, like the puppet show, that it needs a good cleaning, and could do with a much longer run time, whether that is an extra half hour in the dialogue or - … it does not feel like a two act play, there is too much in it. And these conversations are wonderful, and these lessons are wonderful, it’s just too much and it loses itself in the absurdity. Wesley: Well I agree, that moments of this piece, such as, this puppet show that happens in Act II where we discover more of the father’s cruelty, and the drugs and the, and the sort of Abbott and Costello Routine with turning off and on the air conditioner, they were Vaudeville, they were not realism acting, they were not suppose to give us this sense that these are people. And I agree, they derailed the piece whenever they came in. They might have been decent ideas, and they, a lot of them, were fun, but they did very little to show us the full force of what is happening within this family. And as much as I love abstract theatre, I think this piece works best when it was at its most Chekov, when it was at its most American Kitchen Sink Drama. I like the ornaments on the wall, the handmade feel of everything, the idea that paige and Max created this world, not archetypal “Matriachy”, not archetypal “New Generation”, but Paige and Max created these things, which we got from the design, and which we got any moment there was silence and people looking each other in the eye. But at those points of absolute theatricality, it became dissipated into the playwright’s dreation. Robyne: What made this production extraordinary was the voyeurism we were allowed into these people's’ lives, and that got lost when the play needed to happen. Any issues I may have with characters, I did not have with the characterization. All four of those actors were phenomenal.Wesley: It was some of the best acting I’ve seen on a New York Stage.Robyne: Kristine Nielsen was a Triumph. Wesley: YepRobyne: She was an absolute titan in that role. While again I may not agree with the character’s decision, her portrayal of that woman, her portrayal of that pain and the fight for that facade and the ability to switch into that fantasy she had created for herself, while being totally grounded in that background was exquisite. Wesley: I think that this is what it must have felt like to see the role of Amanda performed for the first time in Glass Menagerie. 25:00She was an absolute force of nature, her joy, her eccentricities, and yet at the same time, the second she went down, to being crumbled, to being angry, it was done with such determination, and such certainty, it’s hard to describe this performance, it’s beautiful. It’s so beautifully rendered, and this Paige is treated with such humanity, but with such an objective sense of the morality of this woman, that it really was one of the things that made this performance for me. Robyne: Agreed. Wesley: Something that could have easily gone very sour very fast was the portrayal of the father Arnold by Daniel Oreskes. But once again, he was incredible, he was incredible. The way he was able to perform somebody with so few lines and so little dramatic internal anguish on the same level as the nuance in Max and Isaac, but to hold his own and not turn it into this Jar Jar binks atrocity or Minstrelsy was phenomenal. Robyne: The restraint and detail work that went into his characterization was phenomenal. The issues I have with character are in writing, in his being an invalid and within just a few hours blossoming into a much more functional human being, and while those were slight illogical fallacies for me, Daniel Oreskes was fully committed to every moment of that. Whether he was much more functional and aware or whether he was being yelled at fifty times to close the door. And his understanding, it never felt farcical and it never felt false. And that’s incredible to do. Wesley: Yeah, it - there was something about it that could have very easily been disrespectful, it could have been played for laughs, and with Paige fighting for laughter so often, it was nice to see this character grounded in his loss of mental cognition. Robyne: Cameron Scoggins Isaac was great, was a far more physical role than I was expecting. A lot of the physical comedy came from him and it felt a little puppet like from the director and playwright. But the honesty, the naivety, the love he has, the fight for what he thinks is right is all prevalent throughout the production.Wesley: His determination throughout the piece and his consistency in what he’s looking for created such a great contrast to characters such as Max and he performed it with such a heart and with such an understanding that this person, who a lot of us could easily dismiss as an archetype of a soldier comes home from the wars, he did it with such nuance and understood that in this insane situation that Isaac is dropped in, a real conflict is created within the character themselves, and a real grounded sense of need to find- to fight for organization, to fight for this household. I never got the feeling that he hated anybody in this house, but at the end when he punched her, when he punched Paige, that seemed to fit as much in the character as him hugging Max, and that speaks very much to Cameron Scoggins skill. And then lastly we have Max performed by Tom Phalen. I’m so glad that his character wasn’t treated by either the playwright or the actor as our voice of reason, as our audience, “Let’s stand in with this character”. This was treated as a teenager, this was created as a kid. Robyne: And beautifully so, the dialogue and the performance were both exquisitely adolescent, there was a lot of righteous indignation and narcissistic self certainty tied together with a complete lack of self-confidence and a self awareness of hir standing in the world. There were a number of times where Max talked about how all ze wanted was to go live with the radical fairies in this farm and how ze didn’t know what the future held for hir, but that that was what ze wanted. And that is so adolescent and gorgeous and it was, it was some wonderful full-bodied textures to this character. Wesley: Yes, and the understanding that while the battle was between mostly Isaac and Paige, knowing that ze was the battlefield. 30:00More than the house more than the air conditioning, the battle was over Max and the future of Max. And to see that there was no clear victor at the end, Max stays with Paige but commits to the compassion of Isaac, was so beautifully rendered, never seemed wise beyond hir years, but still had a wisdom to learn. Incredibly rendered. Incredibly - all these performances gave an idea of a family going through a paradigm shift at their core.Robyne: Agreed. So Wesley, is Hir worth the $65 non-member ticket price? Wesley: I would say absolutely so. If you know this doesn’t sound like your thing, then fine, probably don’t attend, but I do agree when you say this could be the start off a kitchen sink Angels in America. It’s beautifully performed it’s beautifully written and it tells an incredible story of this era. Robyne: Agreed. This is a great piece of theater. Catch it in the next rendition, ‘cause it will surely be back. Wesley: Yeah.Robyne: As always you can find us and join in on the conversation at obstructed-view.com or on Facebook or Twitter. I’m Robyne.Wesley: And I’m Wesley.Robyne: And remember. Wesley: Please, don’t nod.
‘The Real’ is a bland, vacuous syndicated talk show broadcast primarily on Fox affiliates and is hosted by five women of color. (Sad that a decade and a half into the 21st century this is still something so unique we see it as a triumph but we’ll take it). Finally a show that refuses to perpetuate negative stereotypes but instead … Continue reading Next On ‘The Real’: Brownface Minstrelsy →
The moral arguments in defense of slavery hinged on the claim that it was the best arrangement for all parties involved, especially the slaves. Thomas Jefferson, for example, argued that the differences between black slaves and white masters were ‘fixed in nature’, with blacks being condemned to an existence driven more by ‘sensation than reflection’, thus making them incapable of comprehending the full weight of their predicament, let alone improving it. Freedom, according to John C. Calhoun, was the enemy of the black slave and would condemn him or her to the miserable life of a ‘pauper in the poor house’, rather than the ‘superintending’ care of masters and mistresses. When Jefferson returned from long trips, according to some biographers, he would have to wade through a throng of slaves eager to touch him, to thank him, to celebrate their master’s return. The minstrel, to many African Americans, is the physical embodiment of these arguments: the word made flesh. The minstrel stalks our collective imaginations like a grinning, groveling, hand-clapping, toe-tapping Freddie Krueger. He leaps out just when we let our guards down and turns dignified moments into disgraceful debacles. He transforms the Academy Award Ceremony into a tribute to the trials and tribulations of pimps. He turns televisions shows about the plight of the poor in the inner city into buck-eyed dyno-mite (!!!!) joke fests. He morphs news stories into youtube songs and memes – bedroom intruders, AK-47 fried chicken disputes, Jordan sneaker riots. Somewhere the minstrel lies in wait, ready to leap back into the hearts and minds of the American public at the expense of those of us who demand dignity and respect, but as with all things American the story of the minstrel is more complex. In Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop (W.W. Norton, 2012), Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen explore the minstrel tradition and put it in its proper context. While many of us may have used the label to attack particular artists or actions (see above), Taylor and Austen dissect it as a creature of American art, commerce, and racism that occasionally created opportunities for advancement – even for those who wore the mask. Yuval Taylor was kind enough to speak with me. I hope you enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The moral arguments in defense of slavery hinged on the claim that it was the best arrangement for all parties involved, especially the slaves. Thomas Jefferson, for example, argued that the differences between black slaves and white masters were ‘fixed in nature', with blacks being condemned to an existence driven more by ‘sensation than reflection', thus making them incapable of comprehending the full weight of their predicament, let alone improving it. Freedom, according to John C. Calhoun, was the enemy of the black slave and would condemn him or her to the miserable life of a ‘pauper in the poor house', rather than the ‘superintending' care of masters and mistresses. When Jefferson returned from long trips, according to some biographers, he would have to wade through a throng of slaves eager to touch him, to thank him, to celebrate their master's return. The minstrel, to many African Americans, is the physical embodiment of these arguments: the word made flesh. The minstrel stalks our collective imaginations like a grinning, groveling, hand-clapping, toe-tapping Freddie Krueger. He leaps out just when we let our guards down and turns dignified moments into disgraceful debacles. He transforms the Academy Award Ceremony into a tribute to the trials and tribulations of pimps. He turns televisions shows about the plight of the poor in the inner city into buck-eyed dyno-mite (!!!!) joke fests. He morphs news stories into youtube songs and memes – bedroom intruders, AK-47 fried chicken disputes, Jordan sneaker riots. Somewhere the minstrel lies in wait, ready to leap back into the hearts and minds of the American public at the expense of those of us who demand dignity and respect, but as with all things American the story of the minstrel is more complex. In Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop (W.W. Norton, 2012), Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen explore the minstrel tradition and put it in its proper context. While many of us may have used the label to attack particular artists or actions (see above), Taylor and Austen dissect it as a creature of American art, commerce, and racism that occasionally created opportunities for advancement – even for those who wore the mask. Yuval Taylor was kind enough to speak with me. I hope you enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/african-american-studies
The moral arguments in defense of slavery hinged on the claim that it was the best arrangement for all parties involved, especially the slaves. Thomas Jefferson, for example, argued that the differences between black slaves and white masters were ‘fixed in nature’, with blacks being condemned to an existence driven more by ‘sensation than reflection’, thus making them incapable of comprehending the full weight of their predicament, let alone improving it. Freedom, according to John C. Calhoun, was the enemy of the black slave and would condemn him or her to the miserable life of a ‘pauper in the poor house’, rather than the ‘superintending’ care of masters and mistresses. When Jefferson returned from long trips, according to some biographers, he would have to wade through a throng of slaves eager to touch him, to thank him, to celebrate their master’s return. The minstrel, to many African Americans, is the physical embodiment of these arguments: the word made flesh. The minstrel stalks our collective imaginations like a grinning, groveling, hand-clapping, toe-tapping Freddie Krueger. He leaps out just when we let our guards down and turns dignified moments into disgraceful debacles. He transforms the Academy Award Ceremony into a tribute to the trials and tribulations of pimps. He turns televisions shows about the plight of the poor in the inner city into buck-eyed dyno-mite (!!!!) joke fests. He morphs news stories into youtube songs and memes – bedroom intruders, AK-47 fried chicken disputes, Jordan sneaker riots. Somewhere the minstrel lies in wait, ready to leap back into the hearts and minds of the American public at the expense of those of us who demand dignity and respect, but as with all things American the story of the minstrel is more complex. In Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop (W.W. Norton, 2012), Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen explore the minstrel tradition and put it in its proper context. While many of us may have used the label to attack particular artists or actions (see above), Taylor and Austen dissect it as a creature of American art, commerce, and racism that occasionally created opportunities for advancement – even for those who wore the mask. Yuval Taylor was kind enough to speak with me. I hope you enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The moral arguments in defense of slavery hinged on the claim that it was the best arrangement for all parties involved, especially the slaves. Thomas Jefferson, for example, argued that the differences between black slaves and white masters were ‘fixed in nature’, with blacks being condemned to an existence driven more by ‘sensation than reflection’, thus making them incapable of comprehending the full weight of their predicament, let alone improving it. Freedom, according to John C. Calhoun, was the enemy of the black slave and would condemn him or her to the miserable life of a ‘pauper in the poor house’, rather than the ‘superintending’ care of masters and mistresses. When Jefferson returned from long trips, according to some biographers, he would have to wade through a throng of slaves eager to touch him, to thank him, to celebrate their master’s return. The minstrel, to many African Americans, is the physical embodiment of these arguments: the word made flesh. The minstrel stalks our collective imaginations like a grinning, groveling, hand-clapping, toe-tapping Freddie Krueger. He leaps out just when we let our guards down and turns dignified moments into disgraceful debacles. He transforms the Academy Award Ceremony into a tribute to the trials and tribulations of pimps. He turns televisions shows about the plight of the poor in the inner city into buck-eyed dyno-mite (!!!!) joke fests. He morphs news stories into youtube songs and memes – bedroom intruders, AK-47 fried chicken disputes, Jordan sneaker riots. Somewhere the minstrel lies in wait, ready to leap back into the hearts and minds of the American public at the expense of those of us who demand dignity and respect, but as with all things American the story of the minstrel is more complex. In Darkest America: Black Minstrelsy from Slavery to Hip-Hop (W.W. Norton, 2012), Yuval Taylor and Jake Austen explore the minstrel tradition and put it in its proper context. While many of us may have used the label to attack particular artists or actions (see above), Taylor and Austen dissect it as a creature of American art, commerce, and racism that occasionally created opportunities for advancement – even for those who wore the mask. Yuval Taylor was kind enough to speak with me. I hope you enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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