” Considering Linda’s means of escape from slavery by hiding in the garret in Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs, think of a technology today that allows you to run away without going anywhere.” Today, almost all forms of technology allow the user to hide away from society without having to physically…
Author: nb1998787
Girlhood, Womanhood, And The Space Between
In the opening pages of the novel, the reader is introduced to Indigo and her love of her hand-made dolls. This love of dolls, a child-like attachment, can be contrasted with Indigo’s first mensuration, which is seen as a girl’s entrance into womanhood. However, Indigo still remains in “limbo” between girlhood and womanhood, and is…
The “Pet Negro” and Valuation of Blackness
In part II of The “Pet Negro” System, Hurston exposes how white society views Black worth at both an individual and general level, associating these with the South and the North, respectively. At the beginning of part II, Hurston writes “The North has no interest in the particular Negro, but talks of justice for the…
Madam CJ Walker, Dr. Crookman, and Profiting on Skin Alteration
Madam CJ Walker Skin Brightener (Photo below) Firstly, Madam CJ Walker’s use of the word “Sallow” I find disturbing, as one of the implicit connections this word makes is that having darker skin is “unhealthy.” This product shows a real-world relation to the Black No More company’s desire to create a product that feeds into…
Political Cartoon Imagery and Satire in The Souls of Black Folk by DuBois
On the bottom of p.15 of The Souls of Black Folk, DuBois makes reference to “the long-headed man with care-chiselled [sic] face who sat in the White House.” Here, DuBois avoids referencing President Lincoln by name (which he only does three times throughout the entirety of the text), but instead uses Lincoln’s unique physical characteristics…
Familial Differences and Growing Intra-National Tension
The first passage of Chapter III relates how Charles, Henry Box Brown’s master’s son, although having been raised with his father’s owning of slaves and having owned slaves himself, “became impressed with the evils of slavery.” Charles emancipated his slaves and sent them to free states, paying for their trip. However, this seemingly gracious act…
Juxtaposition of Imagery to Portray “Unabashed Badness.”
In Beyonce’s Formation, there is a stark juxtaposition between the flooded cityscape (in which Beyonce is position on a police car poking above the water level) and the empty swimming pool in which she dances along with her backup dancers. This creates a feeling of trickery, as the water is all-too present in a location…
Black Matter 