A few weeks ago, colleges across the United States exploded with discussions about race on campus. Major movements at Mizzou and Yale made the headlines of all the major news outlets, but journalists didn’t fail to mention similar protests at Claremont McKenna, Southern Methodist, Colgate, Bowdoin, and my own Ithaca College. It’s a little strange to read…
Diversity in media is an issue that’s really important to me. Racial/ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, LGBTQ people, and people with lower socioeconomic status appear far less often in books, especially those assigned in school (unless part of a curriculum unit surrounding that topic). Here are a few of my favorite books that celebrate diversity: 1.…
What it is: Blues People by Amiri Baraka (Leroi Jones) details the history of blues, jazz, and other African-derived musical genres. He describes how culture and music affect each other, and the history of race relations in the United States via the interaction between African-influenced and European-influenced music. What I liked about it: Baraka does an excellent job of…
What it is: Gang Leader for a Day by Sudhir Venkatesh is an inside look at gang life in the Chicago housing projects, particularly the activity of the Black Kings at the Robert Taylor Homes during the early 1990s. Venkatesh spent years in and around the complex, collecting data and anecdotes for his graduate work in sociology. He…
Last week I wrote about the Bechdel test, which asks a few basic questions about any given movie to begin evaluating feminine roles in film. Women, however, aren’t the only underrepresented and compartmentalized group in the mainstream American film industry. While modern laws prevent discrimination in workplaces and schools based on age, race/national origin/ethnic background, religion,…
I have a lot of day-to-day expectations. Some are basic, like having adequate food and water and a place to sleep. Others are higher-level, like that I can communicate with people around me and they will understand and respect me. I rarely consciously think about these day-to-day expectations, and that’s because they stem from various…
Victim to Charm 