Spring 2022 Meeting Schedule
Week 1 Say Our Name
Jan 25 Introductions
Jan 27 Community Agreements & Read bell hooks, “Theory as Liberatory Practice.”‘
Week 2 Say Our Name
Feb 1 Community Building Exercises
Feb 3 Community Building Exercises, Read Patricia Hill Collins, “The Politics of Black Feminist Thought”
Week 3 Say Our Name
Feb 8 NC
Feb 10 Black Feminist Theoretical Frameworks
Read:
Melissa Harris Perry, “Crooked Room” (canvas)
Kimberle Williams Crenshaw, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and Antiracist Politics” (canvas)
Week 4 “If You Cant Be Free, Be a Mystery”: The Art of Billie Holliday
February 15 Billie (2019, Dir. James Erskine, Documentary 1 hour 36 minutes) (In Class)
February 17 Required Reading:
David, Margolick Strange Fruit: Billie Holiday and the Biography of a Song
Dorian Lynskey “Strange Fruit: the first great protest song”
In-Class Listening Session: “Strange Fruit” “God Bless The Child”
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal and discussion questions due on canvas on night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings. 800 word minimum.
Week 5 “I Put A Spell on You”: Nina Simone’s Sonic Protest
What Happened, Miss Simone – Official Trailer – YouTube
February 24 Required Reading:
“DON’T LET ME BE MISUNDERSTOOD”: Nina Simone’s Theater of Invisibility
Callaloo, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Fall, 2012), pp. 1056-1084
Callaloo, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Winter, 2011), pp. 176-197 *
In-Class Listening Session: “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” “Feeling Good,” “Young, Gifted and Black,” “I Put A Spell On You”
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal and discussion questions due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
Week 6 The Literary Art of Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am Trailer #1 (2019) | Movieclips Indie – YouTube
March 1 In Class: The Pieces I AM (2019)
March 3 Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye *
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal and discussion questions due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
Week 7 Black Sonic Ingenue: Whitney Houston, “Crossover” Rhythm & Blues, & the Politics of Black Popular Music
March 8 Whitney (2018, Dir. Kevin Macdonald) (In Class)
March 10 Required Reading:
Robert Patterson, “Didn’t We Almost Have it All”: Reading Whitney Houston in Destructive Desires, Page Range: 125–164 *
“Anthem of Freedom: How Whitney Houston Remade “The Star-Spangled Banner”
By Cinque Henderson *
In-Class Listening:
Whitney Houston, “The Star Spangled Banner” (1990 Superbowl Recording), “I Will Always Love You,” “How Will I Know?” Whitney (Selections)
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal and discussion questions due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
Week 8 The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House: Audre Lorde’s Black Feminist Poetics March 22 Audre Documentary (Watch Before Class)
March 24 Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tools Will Not Dismantle the Master’s House”
Audre Lorde, “Poetry Is Not a Luxury”
Audre Lorde, “The Uses of Anger
Audre Lorde, “The Uses of the Erotic” Audre Lorde, “The Transformation of Silence Into Action”
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal and discussion questions due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
*all essays available in The Selected Works of Audre Lorde, Edited By Roxanne Gay, 2020.
Week 9 The Art of Black Feminism
March 29 Nikki Kendall, Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women A Movement Left Behind (1st Half) and continuation of discussion on Audre Lorde.
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal and discussion questions due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
March 31 Nikki Kendall, Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women a Movement Left Behind (2nd Half)
Week 10 “Ok, Ladies Now Lets Get in Formation”: Theorizing With and Alongside Beyonce Knowles
April 5 Watch: Lemonade
beyonce lemonade trailer – YouTube
April 7 Critical essays on Beyonce Knowles (on canvas, specifics to be announced)
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal and discussion questions due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
In-Class Listening:
Beyonce Knowles, Lemonade
Beyonce Knowles, “Black Parade”
Week 10 Cardi B, Meghan the Stallion & Nicki: Black Women Rappers and the Sexual Politics of Hip Hop
April 12 Read: Erotic Revolutionaries, pt 1.
April 14 Read: Erotic Revolutionaries, pt 2.
In-Class Listening:
Cardi B & Meghan the Stallion, “WAP”
Meghan the Stallion, “Body Ody Ody”
Week 11 Lorraine Hansberry and the Responsibility of the Black Artist
April 19 Sighted Eyes Lorraine Hansberry Documentary
April 21 Discussion of Lorraine Hansberry Documentary
Come to class with 2 quotes from the documentary that you would like for us to sit with and discuss.
Week 12 For Colored Girls
April 26 Span of the Rainbow (Documentary, Dir. By Peter Ventrella, 2011)
April 28 For Colored Girls
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
Week 13 Anna Deavere Smith
Official Trailer | Notes From The Field | HBO – YouTube
May 3 Watch: Notes from the Field
May 5 Read: Notes from the Field
1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
Week 14 Open Session
May 3 Readings TBA in conjunction with student input.
Readings TBA 1 or 1.5 page (single spaced, Times New Roman 11 font) journal and discussion questions due on canvas the night before class by 8pm on this week’s readings.
Week 15
May 10 Reflections
May 12 Reflections
