Blackness

Trances and Dreams Complicating Desire & Blackness in Jean Toomer’s “Esther” Jean Toomer’s “Esther” is a bildungsroman text that follows the light skinned protagonist, Esther, through four distinct ages in three chapters. “Esther” is full of magical realism coupled with female desire which is often expressed through dreams, visions, and color. From the beginning, the reader can contrast Esther with Karintha, Louisa and other female characters in Cane. Esther is not desired by white or black…

A remarkable book chronicling an understudied period in Cuban history, “Nationalizing Blackness: Afrocubanismo and Artistic Revolution in Havana, 1920-1940”, by Robin D. Moore is an intriguing study of Cuban popular music in the twentieth century. Moore dissects and explains how the music which is often associated with Cuba was considered at one time riffraff and lewd because of its African influence, origins and associations compared to the more sophisticated music of Europeans. Between 1920…

Othello is sleeping with Emilia, and Othello has passed him over for the position of Lieutenant. In this essay I will propose that race is not the central concern of the play by comparing the original story and Othello , examining the double role Blackness serves in the play, and by presenting what I believe was the real motive for Iago’s plan of ruination. Othello is an adaptation of the Italian writer Giraldi Cinthio 's Hecatommithi. Within both stories, there are major differences and…

In Blackness We Trust Tatyana Tandanpolie Pickerington High School North  In Blackness We Trust Pride. Denotatively, it means having a high opinion of yourself in regards to who you are and what you’ve accomplished. However, to many its meaning often spans farther than the average dictionary definition. In America, pride is a key part of our national identity. We take pride in the Pledge of Allegiance and the symbolic meaning behind each star and stripe on our flag. We take pride in our…

Throughout the novel “Blackness in the White Nation: A history of Afro-Uruguay,” George Reid Andrews provides an extensive outlook on the historic plight of the Afro-Uruguayan, originating from the colonial period to the present. Deriving out of the genesis of the reading, he presents the irony in the “2002 Llamadas, the annual parade of the African inspired Carnival comparsa. (Andrews, 1)” These comparsas which mainly composed of white or Euro-Uruguayans temporarily identified themselves as…

In Junot Diaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao we get a greater glimpse into the politics of phenotypes and authenticity in Dominican culture. More specifically in its relationship to blackness. In Irene Lopez, a Puerto Rican clinical psychologist’s essay, Puerto Rican Phenotype: Understanding Its Historical Underpinnings and Psychological Associations, she posits that, “Puerto Ricans who consider being “Indian” more beautiful, or more authentic, than being Black and, thus, often prefer to…

Afrocentricity is the having African interests, values, and perspectives at the center of your thoughts and actions. It challenges all oppression and while tying blackness to ethical action. Coming to this way of thinking requires transformation of thought and requires awareness. These transformations are categorized as: skin recognition, environmental recognition, personality awareness, interest concern, and Afrocentric awareness. Every single person of African descent in the diaspora is in one…

When I was 11, I noted one day after a cold, ugly winter that it was actually warm enough for me to wear shorts to school. I had only worn long pants all season and I had no trace of a tan, but the tint of my skin never crossed my mind. Minutes after I sat down in class, one girl, her complexion darker than mine, turned to me and said “Your legs are so white!” Cue the mental record-scratch. My legs were white? Impossible. My mother is Black. My father is Black. I am Black. End of story. But…

is not as progressive or uplifting, and this highlights the controversy of Walker’s art because of its ability to represent black art by not be as radically transformative. English advocates for black art to debunk whiteness in order to platform blackness. For example, the piece of work Uncle Tom’s Cabin highlights the sugarcoating of slavery, in which it dilutes the actual reality and violence through art. The drawing of the overpowering tree signifies the reliance of a slave-based society as…

exemplary, even distinctive, for its representation of diversity and engagement with black cultural politics? And on the question of blackness, why not frame this show in the same terms as those I call assimilationist and pluralist?” To answer these questions Gray uses the shows characters, writing, setting, and themes, to explore how the show represented blackness during at time of cultural and social…