Blackness

A Different World “A Different World” was a spin-off sitcom of the “The Cosby Show,” which aired for six seasons between 1987-1993. It focused on primarily African American college students at the fictitious historical black college (HBCU), Hillman College, in Virginia. Before the Civil War, there was no form of higher education provided to African Americans, and higher education was prohibited in certain parts of the country. In 1892, the second Morrill Act was passed requiring states to…

the ultimate Southern aristocracy which inhibits the traditions of white male prosperity. Black people are perceived as “wild niggers like beast half-tamed to upright like men” (3). Blackness is to be viewed as an unfit being which is akin to an animal void of any respectable human qualities. Thus, any hint of blackness within his design renders his status among the white Southern…

have terrible experiences because of her blackness. She was relatively well off, was to benefit from the assumptions people made about her race. Larsen makes a difference between passing “socially” and passing for “convenience,” to pass socially would mean that Irene’s is actively trying to “disguise” herself as a white woman, to pass for “convenience” in Irene’s case is unintentional. Irene never felt the need to pass because she felt connected to her blackness and she felt she belonged in the…

of Serena Williams. I will focus on how she represents herself on her Instagram. Especially, I will focus on how to deal with her representation as a black woman. Looking through her Instagram, it is obvious that she implicitly emphasizes on her blackness and womanhood in her post. Instagram is one of the popular SNS (Social Networking Services) in the world. We can post a picture with a comment and hashtag on the Instagram. Because we need to choose at least one picture to post, it is easy…

Have you ever wondered what your coat of arm is? Well I am going to share my coat of arms with you. So three things that represents my coat of arms is my motto, three character traits and three symbols. My motto is Dream Big, Soar High. This motto means you can never dream too big and you can always accomplish the dream somehow and someway. Also, it means if you believe in yourself, you will be able to succeed through life. One last reason that it means is don’t let people drag you down…

change negative notions of blackness through their work so the black American no longer says, consciously or subconsciously, “I want to be white” and instead says “Why should I want to be white? I am a Negro--and beautiful?” (95). This idea of climbing the “racial mountain” becomes a manifesto of sorts for the Harlem Renaissance, and in this movement where art is utilized as a force of social change much of the work produced conveys and confirms the beauty of blackness Hughes calls…

being woman as “a series of contradictions. Being smart is seen as being aggressive. Being direct is seen as being rude.” Intersectionality of Blackness and womanhood. The contradictions of womanhood may be fueled by women’s inability to disentangle their Blackness and womanhood. Though a less endorsed response, women did acknowledge how separating Blackness from womanhood was a challenge.…

In Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child, the protagonist of the novel, Bride, finds herself slowly transforming back into an adolescent. The novel uses magical realism to both literally and figurately revert Bride back to a state of girlhood. Her increasing lack of secondary sex characteristics, like breasts and pubic hair, triggers a fear of reverting back into a “scared little black girl”. The novel deals with several prominent themes, the two most prevalent being race and childhood trauma.…

To the gross clasps of a lascivious Moor If this be known to you and your allowance We then have done you bold and saucy wrongs” Through the use of the word “lascivious”, Othello as a black man is portrayed as having an insatiable lust for sex and likely perversion, a framing designed to fuel the father’s worst possible fantasies. In this presentation, Brabantio has had his daughter abducted by a black man, taken against her will or perhaps as a result of some dark magic employed by Othello. As…

music that “…continued to resonate with Puerto Rican youth who sought an outlet to express their experiences of marginalization, to contest the racism and classism that adversely affected their communities, and to articulate their affinities for blackness”(Rivera-Rideau pg.…