Description
Book SynopsisIn this collection of essays, interviews, visual art, and artist statements on topics ranging from music and dance to Black Twitter and the NBA's dress code, the contributors consider what culture and Blackness mean in the twenty-first century's digital consumer economy.
Trade Review“
Are You Entertained? is a thoughtfully constructed collection of scholarly work on blackness and subjectivity and their constant tensions with popular culture and mass media. Simone C. Drake and Dwan K. Henderson do a superb job of weaving together these shards of insightful criticism and analysis into a tapestry of fascinating commentary by some of the most dynamic voices in the field.” -- John Jennings, Professor of Media and Cultural Studies, University of California, Riverside
"The book is a valuable contribution to the interdisciplinary field of African American studies as well as to literature and sociology and to the overall study of performance, culture, media, and Blackness. Recommended. General readers through faculty; professionals." -- T. N. Allen * Choice *
“
Are you Entertained? is an immensely generative model and guide for doing sharp and powerful work in Black studies. It makes a case for why Black cultural studies matter by pinpointing the liberatory potential of Black popular culture in and for our current lives.” -- Elliott H. Powell * Ethnic and Racial Studies *
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1
I. Performing Blackness
1. "Mutts Like Me": Mixed-Race Jokes and Post-Racial Rejection in the Obama Era / Ralina L. Joseph 29
2. Black Radio: Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding, and Janelle Monáe / Emily J. Lordi 44
3. Camping and Vamping across Borders: Locating Cabaret Singers in the Black Cultural Spectrum / Vincent Stephens 58
4. The Art of Black Popular Culture / H. Ike Okafor-Newsum 77
5. Interview / Lisa B. Thompson 91
II. Politicizing Blackness
6. Refashioning Political Cartoons: Comics of Jackie Ormes 1938–1958 / Kelly Jo Fulkerson-Dikuua 101
7. Queer Kinship and Worldmaking in Black Queer Web Series: Drama Queenz and No Shade / Eric Darnell Pritchard 118
8. Styling and Profiling: Ballers, Blackness, and the Sartorial Politics of the NBA / David J. Leonard 134
9. Interview / Tracy Sharpley-Whiting 153
III. Owning Blackness
10. The Subaltern Is Signifyin(g): Black Twitter as a Site of Resistance / Sheneese Thompson 161
11. Authentic Black Cool?: Branding and Trademarks in Contemporary African American Culture / Richard Schur 175
12. Black Culture without Black People: Hip-Hop Dance beyond Appropriation Discourse / Imani Kai Johnson 191
13. At the Corner of Chaos and Divine: Black Ritual Theater, Performance, and Politics / Nina Angela Mercer 207
14. Interview / Mark Anthony Neal 229
IV. Loving Blackness
15. The Booty Don't Lie: Pleasure, Agency, and Resistance in Black Popular Dance / Takiyah Nur Amin 237
16. He Said Nothing: Sonic Space and the Production of Quietude in Barry Jenkins's
Moonlight / Simone C. Drake 252
17. Black Women Readers and the Uses of Urban Fiction / Kinohi Nishikawa 268
18. Interview / Patricia Hill Collins 288
Contributors 301
Index 307
