Description
Book SynopsisConsiders the misappropriation of African American popular culture through various genres, largely Hip Hop, to argue that while such cultural creations have the potential to be healing agents, they are still exploited -often with the complicity of African Americans- for commercial purposes and to maintain white ruling class hegemony.
Trade Review“Soul Thieves is a collection of essays that critically weighs the consequences of appropriating black culture. … The volume has broad appeal and informs academics how black material culture is conversant with many of the same discourses as conventional historical narratives. … Soul Thieves is a welcomed addition to interdisciplinary fields, African American studies in particular.” (Kameelah L. Martin, Journal of American Culture, Vol. 102 (3), December, 2015)
"This ground breaking interdisciplinary publication is long overdue and offers deep insight into the efficacy of African American popular culture and it's critical impact on shaping artistic cultural production on a global scale. The contributors, leading scholars in their respective research areas, set the record straight through their thought provoking and accessible historical research." - Melanye White Dixon, Associate Professor, Department of Dance, The Ohio State University, USA
Table of ContentsPreface; Tamara Brown PART I: ENTERTAINMENT AND FASHION 1. 'So You Think You Can Dance'; Tamara Brown 2. 'Foraging Fashion'; Abena Lewis-Mhoon 3. 'In the Eye of the Beholder: Definitions of Beauty in Popular Black Magazines'; Kimberly Brown PART II: BLACK POWER STUDIES 4. 'Neutering the Black Power Movement: The Hijacking of Protest Symbolism'; James B. Stewart 5. 'Silent Protest: The Appropriation of Black Athletic Power'; Jamal Ratchford 6. Black Comic Book Characters; David T. Terry PART III: MUSIC AND TECHNOLOGY 7. Soul Thieves: White America and the Appropriation of Hip Hop and Black Culture; Baruti Kopano 8. I'm Hip: An Exploration of Rap Music's Creative Guise; Kawachi Clemmons 9. 'Cash Rules Everything Around Me! Appropriation, Commodification and the Politics of Hip Hop and Contemporary Protest Music'; Diarra Osei Robinson 10. 'The Appropriation of Blackness in Ego Trip's The (White) Rapper Show'; Carlos D. Morrison and Ronald L. Jackson, Jr.
