During the sixth week of my introductory poetry analysis class, I was tasked with reading excerpts from Christian Bӧk’s Eunoia. The topic for that week was sound: ways in which poets manipulate rhyme, assonance, alliteration, consonance, and a host of other sonic phenomena to evoke attentive response from readers. The…
Posts published in “Arts & Culture”
On Friday, March 11th, RISD hosted its first Black Biennial showcase. I was lulled to the Moore terrace by the sounds of Afro Beats. Jerk chicken (well seasoned, may I add), live music performances, laughing, celebrating, I was immediately thrown into the event’s energy. With a tradition of white supremacist…
After nearly 50 years since its original publication, activist, scholar, philosopher, and author Angela Davis’ 1974 autobiography, Angela Davis: An Autobiography, has been reissued. Written at the young age of 28, Davis’ account of her formative years provides a framework for the development of her famously revolutionary, and distinctly intersectional,…
In 2018, writer, director, and actor Jordan Peele made history at the 90th Academy Awards when he became the first Black screenwriter to win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the film Get Out. It was also named the greatest script of the 21st century by The Writers Guild…
British Vogue’s attempt at Revolutionary Representation On January 13th, 2022, British Vogue released a historic February 2022 cover photo. The composition showcased nine dark skin supermodels dressed head to toe in black designer suits. They sit in front of a neutral background on a Tiffany blue bench; Vogue superimposed in…
2021 marked a pivotal year for Afro-Latinx representation in Hollywood in both animation and live-action media following a long history of Afro-Latinidad exclusion from American media. The releases of Encanto, In the Heights, and West Side Story, have made undoubtedly large strides in Afro-Latinx representation warranting applause while also prompting…
“The Bach and Beethoven stuff? I don’t know…I just don’t really see the need to listen to it. Isn’t that kind of music for white folks?” This is a common response when asking Black students on campus if they (unironically) listen to classical music. To many, it seems as though…
Portraitures have been foundational in making a person visible and recognizable. In creating portraits, Black artists are able to make their experiences legible, to enforce into the viewer’s imagination aspects of who they are, who they want to be, and what they desire. However, this Black legibility in artwork is…