It has taken me a while to read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah, but I picked it up recently because my daughter suggested it as one of the books she wanted us to talk about on our podcast Classics & Coffee. There’s a lot in Americanah, and I do not have the space to even scratch the surface of topics that Adichie covers. Today, I want to focus … Read More Performative Acts in Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s “Americanah”
One of my favorite projects to incorporate into classes is the mixtape assignment. I don’t do this every semester, but I assign it probably once every two years. The purpose of this assignment is to help students think about connections between the themes they encounter in the literature and connect it with other parts of their lives, highlighting the role of literature and art … Read More Mixtape for Banned Books Syllabus
+ astronautlis, bangarang, cecil otter, chill dummy, dessa, doomtree, four fists, gravedigger, hip hop, joe strummr, lazerbeak, mike mictlan, no kings, p.o.s., paper tiger, rap, rhymesayers, sims
“Gravedigger” Chill, Dummy (2017) Like a lot of P.O.S.’s work, “Gravedigger” calls upon us as listeners to act and think about what we are actually doing with “this little flash” that we have on this earth. Are we spending time in club? Are we falling in line? Are we questioning the systems we exist within? What are we, ultimately, doing with our time. In … Read More P.O.S. Top Five: Part II
+ audition, craig finn, doomtree, drumroll, get down, hip hop, mike mictlan, never better, p.o.s., rap, rhymesayers, safety in speed, we don't even live here
I don’t remember, for sure, how I originally came across P.O.S. (Stefan Alexander). I think I first heard about him in 2006, around the time he released Audition. At that time, I read Alternative Press almost every month, and P.O.S. was in one of the “Artists to Look Out For Issues.” I picked up Audition, and its mixture of punk and hip hop struck … Read More P.O.S. Top Five
+ alan moore, comics, dc comics, grindhouse, p.o.s., Qiana J. Whitted, southern gothic, southern history, southern literature, swamp thing
Last post, I wrote about some of the Gothic elements in issues #41 and #42 of Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing and the repetition of the “unsuccessfully repressed.” Today, I want to continue that discussion some by looking at the conclusion of issue #42, “Strange Fruit.” Rather than breaking with the past by burning the roots of hate and prejudice, the space shifts from Robertaland … Read More The Master Narrative in Alan Moore’s “Swamp Thing”
Interminable Rambling 