Blackness

of the head lights looked like those of a sports sedan. I heard the engines as it geared down and slowed. The car whipped in behind mine. I couldn’t make out the driver, as the windows were as dark as the night around it. Tinted to illegal blackness, and I felt a slight dread, wondering if this was safe. I saw the emblem of the Cadillac on the front. Surely someone who drove a car of this caliber wouldn’t be an axe murder. I could imagine my Dad scolding me for such an assumptive…

Film not only gives audiences a chance to find the similar experience, but also gives a way to audiences to see how certain condition impacted the society. The films The Birth of a Nation and Within Our Gates both incorporate controversial issues during that time; lynching, rape, discrimination, violence, education, and exploitation. By applying the film as social and political force, Griffith's The Birth of a Nation proposes a controversial for the negative depiction of African Americans and…

How am I expected to choose between being a woman and being black? Do I ignore the aspect of white supremacy that plagues the feminism movement? Do I ignore….? How can I support something that doesn’t have my best interest involved? For a while, these questions puzzled me. My community had robbed me of my identity as a black woman. I wasn’t black enough," unworthy of my black identity. However I was never given the privilege of being treated like a “stereotypical” Asian. I didn’t belong…

Artemisia Gentileschi’s Judith Beheading Holofernes is a depiction of the story of Judith from the Old Testament of the Bible and how she saved her city by seducing the invading army’s general, Holofernes, and then got him drunk and cut off his head with his own sword. Judith and her servant then snuck back to the town with the general’s head in a basket. The town displayed the prize the next day and the invading army retreated. The most striking visual elements of this piece are the use of the…

Within the first few pages of Citizen by Claudia Rankine the audience is introduced to the term, “John Henryism,” (11). It is a term used to describe those “exposed to stress stemming from racism. They achieve themselves to death trying to dodge the buildup of erasure… the physiological costs were high,” (11). The book then goes on to explore the psychological costs of this erasure, the inner monologue of grief, anger, and confusion that stems from exposure to discrimination. Rankine has turned…

In the article entitled “ 4 Myths About Undocumented Immigrants That Are Hurting Feminism” written by Alan Pelaez Lopez, Lopez goes through four myths which surround undocumented immigrants, explains how these myths hurt feminism and how they affect his own life and understanding. Some of the myths which Lopez discusses are the idea that people believe undocumented youth did not migrate of their own free will, during this section he also discusses how the term DREAMer can be a form of…

Needs must I now perform knightly deeds in this hall, or here must meet my doom in darksome night”. (Beowulf 47) Beowulf Showing his bravery by swimming into the blackness of the night with such vigor he scared sea monsters away he “fought” Grendel's Mother. (Beowulf 51) Ragnar However Showed his courage and bravery in other ways. Ragnar is known as one of the most famous Viking warlords of his time. He was a very…

The Blackness of Ink “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” - Thomas Merton Tattoos have been around for a long time and are used in different groups for different purposes. Tattoos originated in small cultural tribes and religious groups. This type of body art has been linked to being used as a source of identity for cultural groups, religious beliefs, and express personal and family pride. Tattoos have also been used in certain periods of war. Through…

Claire Denis’ Chocolat in juxtaposition to Frantz Fanon’s concept of colonial violence. 1. Introduction Analyses of the film “Chocolat” by Claire Denis in contrast to Frantz Fanon’s writing “The Fact of Blackness.” The title of the movie Chocolat was derived from a colloquial speech meaning “to be had, to be cheated,” in connotation with “to be black and to be cheated” (cited in Sandars 2001). Chocolat is a movie of endless delicacies, it is about the boundaries set by the racist society. In…

#1 Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man discusses important ideologies about race and identity. The novel presents an internal conflict of self-perception and how others perceive the Invisible Man. Ellison’s narrative speaks to the African America struggle with personal identity and individuality. African Americans, as the Narrator demonstrates, suffers a double consciousness of perceiving themselves through the eyes of the white power structure. The novel’s protagonist essentially goes through a…