Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship, is a cultural ethnography detailing the lives of African American women in the Fresh Start homeless shelter. Author Aimee Meredith Cox argues how different techniques used by homeless black women including the arts allow them to make sense of the different ways they experience things like racism, violence, and poverty as it relates to their everyday lives. Cox also uses these stories to highlight broader issues in society as well as the history of the city of Detroit. This novel covers a wide array of topics, including race, gender, and sexuality, making it extremely relevant in today’s society. This ethnography details real examples of the material learned in the course Anthro
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The residents of Fresh Start engage in many different outreach programs, including Give Girls a Chance and the Early Start Program. Most importantly, the girls gain exposure to the arts and learn skills like dance and poetry. These provide outlets for self-expression, performance, and creativity while simultaneously giving a voice to young African American women and opportunities to express their agency as they navigate the world around them. Cox defines these unique solutions as choreography, applied to navigate gender and racial stereotypes as well as the social and racial hierarchy embedded in today’s …show more content…
After a journey spanning nearly a decade, Cox argues how different techniques like expression through art and new terminology used by the homeless black women allow them to make sense of the different ways they experience things like racism, violence, and poverty. The stories told are also used to highlight broader issues in society, such as sexuality, deindustrialization, the Great Migration, Detroit’s troubled history, and the role African American women play in politics and society. This ethnography is recommended to be included in next year’s course work for Anthro 104, as it covers a wide array of topics including race, gender, and sexuality, all of which are both relevant to today’s society as well as real world examples of the material learned in the
The residents of Fresh Start engage in many different outreach programs, including Give Girls a Chance and the Early Start Program. Most importantly, the girls gain exposure to the arts and learn skills like dance and poetry. These provide outlets for self-expression, performance, and creativity while simultaneously giving a voice to young African American women and opportunities to express their agency as they navigate the world around them. Cox defines these unique solutions as choreography, applied to navigate gender and racial stereotypes as well as the social and racial hierarchy embedded in today’s …show more content…
After a journey spanning nearly a decade, Cox argues how different techniques like expression through art and new terminology used by the homeless black women allow them to make sense of the different ways they experience things like racism, violence, and poverty. The stories told are also used to highlight broader issues in society, such as sexuality, deindustrialization, the Great Migration, Detroit’s troubled history, and the role African American women play in politics and society. This ethnography is recommended to be included in next year’s course work for Anthro 104, as it covers a wide array of topics including race, gender, and sexuality, all of which are both relevant to today’s society as well as real world examples of the material learned in the