A Contradiction of Fame: Misogyny in J. Cole’s “No Role Modelz”

In light of his thoughtfulness about his impact, J. Cole’s continued denigration of women in his songs is worth exploring. In his 2015 hit “No Role Modelz,” Cole raps about his lack of role models growing up and his disgust with the insincerity around him, for he wants young people today to have better role…

We Won’t Go Lightly: Science Fiction and “Space Traders”

Derrick Bell’s short story “Space Traders,” even the outlandish science fiction strikingly mirrored reality. Even though the story began in the realm of science fiction, with aliens arriving on the shores of the East Coast, it quickly turned to conversations among business and political leaders of the United States that I can legitimately imagine happening….

Dr. Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard: A Humble Man

W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the leading 20th century advocates for African-American rights, was born in 1885 in a mostly white Massachusetts town. His father, a Haitian-born immigrant, deserted his family when Du Bois was only two (Holt). Under the care of his mother, Du Bois, who identified himself as mulatto, attended school with whites…

“A Mother-Like Form,” Not a Mother

“A form hovering dark and mother-like, her awful face black with the mists of centuries, had aforetime quailed at that white master’s command, had bent in love over the cradles of his sons and daughters, and closed in death the sunken eyes of his wife – aye, too, at his behest had laid herself low…