A number of thought provoking studies on race and performance in American culture have demonstrated that class identities in America have been constructed through the symbolic use of African American bodies. The bulk of these studies have looked at minstrelsy in 19th century America. David Roediger (1991) has shown that minstrelsy, a popular form of Vaudeville-type entertainment wherein White performers (usually male) blackened their faces with burnt cork in order to impersonate African Americans, played a key role in White working class formation before t read more »
Zine Magubane's blog
The Mammy and the Panopticon: African American Women in the Self-Help Movement
Oprah in South Africa: The Politics of Coevalness and the Creation of a Black Public Sphere
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In a recent article, Tarisha L. Stanley asked the question: ‘‘Can a mammy be a mammy if she builds girls' schools in Africa?'' This simple question captures the complex range of issues raised by Oprah's philanthropy. read more »
Africa Script Needs Rewrite
Africa scripts need rewrite
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Celebrity efforts may send wrong message about Africans
By Zine Magubane
June 13, 2007 read more »
Africa and the New Cult of Celebrity
When Africa appears in the venerated pages of the New York Times, it is generally in the “world news” or op-ed pages. It is noteworthy, therefore, that a lead article about Africa recently appeared in the Sunday New York Times “Style Section,”—a section that is usually devoted to debating the merits of Birkin bags and Jimmy Choo shoes. read more »
Why 'nappy' is offensive
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WHEN DON IMUS called the Rutgers University basketball team a bunch of "nappy-headed ho ' s" he brought to the fore the degree to which black women's hair has served as a visible marker of our political and social marginalization.
