“Sesame Street had had originally been conceived as a novel way of bringing remedial education into the homes of disadvantaged children, especially children of color. [Dr. Chester Pierce], though, saw a different kind of potential for a show like this: one that could directly counter and counteract the […]
At the LA Review of Books, Sarah Weinman writes about one of the finest–and most unfortunately overlooked–noir writers, Dorothy B. Hughes. “In a Lonely Place, which had then been re-released by The Feminist Press, blasted my mind open to new ways of reading. I wasn’t only enjoying the […]
At the New Yorker, Christine Smallwood looks at Dorothy B. Hughes’ “forgotten Noir,” The Expendable Man (1963). “The creation of difference itself was her subject. Her books were widely praised for their atmospheres of fear and suspense, and criticized when they reached, as the New York Times said […]
At BFM, Kimberly Nichele Brown consider Octavia Spencer’s role in Tate Taylor’s Ma (2019). “Ma offers viewers a new archetype of black womanhood–the black female suburbanite. Unlike earlier representations of middle-class black women that can be readily subsumed under the archetype of the ‘black lady,’ instead of respectability […]
At the Public Medievalist, Asa Mittman writes about race, racism and the medieval narrative that inform The Last Jedi. “In the final act of the film, the Resistance (our heroes) have fled the First Order’s mighty army. They hole up in a cave, behind a massive wall, with […]
Lois Becket writes about race, racism, romance and “relatability” in romance, the Romance Writers of America and the Rita awards. “People say: ‘Well, I can’t relate,’” [Beverly] Jenkins told NPR a few years ago, after watching white readers simply walk past her table at a book signing. “You […]
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The Cultural Gutter 