User:Beatrine Smithy/sandbox

1) In the article "Dialectically Down with the Critical Program" in the book Black Popular Culture, bell hook states that along with being more receptive to criticism, it is important to engage in conversation, both in and outside institutions, among both African American scholars and intellectuals and those who are neither. I agree with this sentiment because the exchange of knowledge and ideology, as well as acquiring an understanding of the overall feel a particular group of individuals may have on an issue, can only come from actively conversing with said group of individuals, to understand and respectfully challenge their views and ideologies, as well as the basis for such views and ideologies.

2) In the article "The Accusatory space" in the book Black Popular Culture, Jacquie Jones, discusses the social and cinematic representation of the African American woman, and how they are often portrayed as morally loose, unfit, or aggressive. She notes that these views had, at one point in time, dominated the overall social views of the African American woman, posing that she was the source of the dysfunction of the black community. Jones goes on to say that it is necessary to use the "nontraditional cinema" space to "develop transformative ideas" and I agree with her assessment, because like any other individual those in the African American community are susceptible to what they see in the media, and it is important to use such outlets to portray positive images because they have have just as much affect as the negative ones.

3) In the article "The Body in Question" in the book Black Popular Culture, Lisa Kennedy states that the black community does not have a "cohesive identity." I agree with her position to an extent, because while I do believe, the black community has a sense and understanding of their "blackness" as defined by American terms, which denotes a categorization of being Other, I also see a great divide in the community on what it means to be culturally black within the black community. There is debate on the effects and presence of colorism, nationalism, whether it is appropriate to tie oneself to African culture without knowing their specific roots, and the backlash many face when they choose not to, rather positioning themselves as fully american, and denouncing all ties to Africa. There is no uniform way to identify or identify with the black community, because, there is no uniform way define what being black means, or what it entails.

4) In the article "Boyz in the Hood and Jungle Fever" in the book Black Popular Culture, Michele Wallace examines these two "black" films and saw that there was a recurring theme being reproduced among black cinema, which spoke to the cultural climate of the black community. It loosely proposed that black children were subjected to broken homes and as a result disadvantaged and prone to failure. Her examination also revealed the propensity for black films to demonize the black mother or "whiten her." While I agree with her analysis, in that black films have historically misrepresented black women and stereotyped black motherhood, I wonder why and how such stereotypes have been allowed to persist and be recirculated, by both black and non-black film makers