CFP: Its Bigger Than the Government: Literature, Politics and Pedagogy in the Age of Hip Hop

Its Bigger Than the Government: Literature, Politics and Pedagogy in the Age of Hip Hop

Call for Papers Date: 2009-08-07

This call for papers seeks social scientists with a special interest in political scientists, sociologists and interdisciplinary scholars. This project seeks to assess hip-hop culture’s impact on contemporary American politics and political participation. In addition the project will assess the pedagogical implications of hip hop studies, how and why the culture has revived early twentieth century debates on African American political culture and its impact on the framing of resistant political identities nationally and globally. Additional topics that would be of interest include hip hop culture and rap music’s impact on identity formation with regard to gender (though there have been some book-length studies published in this area recently) and/or race, ethnicity, geography in the era of globalization, as well as hip hop’s function within contemporary African American religion and spirituality. There is also a desire to analyze themes within hip hop political discourse such as discussions of the Southern region and critiques of societal institutions.

Veronica Womack
Georgia College & State University
CBX 018
Milledgeville GA 31061
Email: veronica.womack@gcsu.edu

Call for Papers: The Law of the Land: Virginia and America

Call for Papers: The Law of the Land: Virginia and America

The Supreme Court of Virginia Historical Commission and the Library of Virginia invite proposals for a needs-and-opportunities symposium on the legal history and culture of Virginia and the United States to be held at the Library of Virginia on Friday and Saturday, 12 and 13 March 2010. The symposium will be the first event in The Law of the Land: Virginia and America, which will feature a major exhibition and other public programs beginning in 2012.

The Program Committee welcomes submissions for individual papers or for session proposals emphasizing needs-and-opportunities and new scholarship that treat large and important topics such as (but not limited to) the origins of American legal culture, the influence of Virginia on American legal culture, the common law, state constitutional law, federalism and state’s rights, courts and jurisprudence, criminal law, commercial law, labor law, environmental law, legal education, law and gender, and the law and slavery, segregation, and race. Attendance is limited to 250.

Please send proposals and a brief CV by e-mail to the Program Committee before 1 May 2009, addressed to brent.tarter@lva.virginia.gov.

John Brown’s raid lives on

From the Martinsburg Journal
April 9, 2009

This year marks the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s raid on the federal arsenal at Harper’s Ferry. The raid has taken on epic proportions and is just as relevant to today’s racial consciousness as it was when it happened.

As the United States continues to grapple with the craggy fissures of racial equality, we must wonder how we can embrace the lessons of Brown’s raid. How do we remember John Brown? Memory is an important political tool that can help us practice powerful politics of the present.

John Brown was a fiery abolitionist who whipped up a religious fervor everywhere he went. His bright eyes and long beard struck quite the image, foreshadowing his powerful sermons. He was equal parts radical revolutionary as he was fire-and-brimstone evangelical preacher.

Brown was a firebrand, a fanatic, but one of the most important revolutionaries in this country’s history. Today, depending on who recounts his story, Brown tends to falls into one of two categories: freedom fighter or domestic terrorist. These labels only get us so far. Appreciating the middle ground, that of a passionate individual with a seemingly singular focus, determined to make a change offers a much better space for dialogue.

What makes Brown particularly important to U.S. history is that he sparked the revolutionary consciousness of a people. Would slavery have ended on the same trajectory or remained for decades to come without John Brown? Would the civil rights movement have progressed at such an astonishing rate if it weren’t for John Brown? Whatever failings we ascribe to Brown or to these movements, there seems little doubt that Brown’s revolutionary thinking and actions helped move this country forward for the better.

Condemned by many, Brown galvanized the radical thoughts upon which others were afraid to act. He saw a social injustice and wanted to use whatever means necessary to rid the country of slavery. Today, some of us confront social injustice with equivalent fervor, but might we do more? No matter what the issue, we can learn from Brown’s determination and focus.

Today, we must not be afraid to be radical. Extremism does not work and is often counterproductive, sure enough, but being able to spark the spirit of the masses is an important step toward progress. The alternative to extremism is not the status quo, but progressive politics. We must keep change constant. Movements need energy and need galvanizing forces.

One cannot go it alone. We need more than rabble rousing, we need direction and passion. Brown taught us that desperate times call for desperate measures. This does not mean we ought to engage in violence like Brown did, but that we ought to step out of our comfort zones and realize the revolution we want to see. The power for change is in us. It only takes a few tiny steps of organized people to move society.

This theory applies across the political spectrum. Change is not a Republican or Democratic issue, it is society’s prerogative. To demand change is different than changing. To forget the lessons of our great leaders, wars, disgraces and successes is to deny the politics of our remembered past. We can choose how to remember and in doing so let us take the good with the bad in order to remake our world into the world we want.

We can demand change or we can change. We can polarize politically or we can unite to move away from the poles. If we remember the passion that ignited this country’s leaders, perhaps we can find a passion that motivates our political choices to better the future. John Brown tried to do it. Don’t we owe it to ourselves to try as well?

- Nick J. Sciullo writes on critical race theory, politics, and public policy. He received his B.A. from the University of Richmond and J.D. from the West Virginia University College of Law. His writing has appeared in the Toledo Blade, Richmond Times Dispatch, Alexandria Packet-Gazette, and Charleston Gazette. He has been published in numerous law reviews, newspapers and newsletters. He lives in Alexandria, Va.

- The views of columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Journal.

Obama Chia Pet…Really?

Is anyone at all concerned with this?  I know it’s caused a national uproar, but I think we need a larger one.  This is absolutely ridiculous and reeks of the  racism popular in toys and home accessories from the early 1900’s.  This sort of representational political action (yes toys and chia pets can be political) strikes at the very heart of essentialism.  I’m sure Don Imus purchased ten of them. 

If we position this toy against the historical backdrop or racist representational politics, the symbolic killing of the individual, then it appears not as a funny joke or a cute toy, but as the coninuation of a legacy that robbed Blacks of their identity some 100 years ago.  Have we not come farther than that? 

The original Chicago Tribune story may be found here. 

Meeting Cornel West and Notes on His Speech

I was fortunate enough to speak at a symposium where Cornel West was the keynote speaker. At a book signing, I had a brief moment to chat with him and the experience was incredible. I’ve never felt more thoroughly embraced by another scholar. Dr. West was engaging, eloquent, and accepting. He gave a talk to hundreds where he spoke for an hour and a half without so much as one sheet of notes. He tied together issues of hip-hop, evolution, President Obama’s election, and ideas of christian love.

West demonstrated not only the characteristics of a well-rounded humyn being and an excellent scholar, but also that of a great speaker. What scholars try to do at conferences and the like is to sound as intelligent as they write. That rarely happens. It is difficult to vocalize, in a coherent manner, the often complex ideas we trap on paper. To speak to a crowd made up of students, professors and community members alike, adds difficulty to the task.

It is relatively easy to talk to scholars about postmodernism, natural law, racial stereotypes, etc. But it is profoundly more difficult to do that with the community when one’s thoughts are tightly wrapped in the language of the academy. Dr. West was both scholarly and personable. He present his ideas using the diction and tone of a learned man, but was able to connect with the diverse audience all the same. Many have proclaimed that Dr. West is the most prominent public intellectual of our generation and it is not difficult to see why.

I was even more convinced that it was necessary at all costs to be personable to desire the connection that makes our writing and speaking actionable. All the talk in the world means little if people are unable or unwilling to act on it. West clearly desires enabling listeners. He recognizes the connection between scholarship and activism. He knows that people solve problems. It is no coincidence that both words start with “p.”

We should all take these lessons to heart. Sound speaking leads to sound advocacy. Sound advocacy is enforced by a sound connection amongst people. Perhaps that is why Dr. West is indeed one of the most important intellectuals of our time. He understands his responsibility to the community. He simply gets it.

The Evolution of Street Knowledge: Hip Hop’s Influence on Law and Culture

The West Virginia University College of Law proudly presents a progressive exploration into the real and burgeoning impact that hip hop music and culture is having on U.S. law and on global culture. The Sports and Entertainment Law Society, together with the West Virginia University Festival of Ideas, the WVU Center for Black Culture and Research, the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy, the WVU Office of Social Justice, the WVU Black Law Student Association and Wolters Kluwer/Aspen Publishers join with the College of Law in assembling and presenting one of the most accomplished and diverse groups of academics and thinkers ever assembled to debate the profound global impact that hip hop culture is demonstrating for both good and ill. We are proud to present: The Evolution of Street Knowledge: Hip Hop’s Influence on Law and Culture. Keynote addresses for this event will be provided by Cornel West and Talib Kweli. We invite you to join us on February 12th and 13th, 2009, in beautiful Morgantown, WV, in the Marlyn E. Lugar Courtroom on the campus of the West Virginia University Law Center. We look forward to providing and stimulating, insightful, forward-looking discussion and debate.

If you need information or have questions or comments about the conference, please feel free to contact one of the conference organizers at West Virginia University:

Conference Chairperson:
andré douglas pond cummings
Professor of Law
West Virginia University College of Law

Conference Directors:
Bethany Swaton
Symposium Director
President, Sports and Entertainment Law Society
3L, West Virginia University College of Law

Robert Dixon
Executive Vice-President, Sports and Entertainment Law Society
3L, West Virginia University College of Law

Where’s Black or Arab Jesus?

This question comes up every winter and never seems to be answered.  No matter your opinion on Jesus, or if you even acknowledge that he existed, Jesus is centrally important to the celebration of Christmas.  Of course, Santa Claus and his friends Tickle-Me Elmo, Wii, and Hannah Montana are becoming for better or worse just as important.  This is not so much a discussion of religion as it is a discussion of ethnicity and geography. 

The proceeding discussion utilizes an important assumption–that Jesus was an historical person.  Jesus came from the Middle East.  The Middle East’s original residents were darker skinned and even today the majority of Middle Easterners have darker skin.  He traveled extensively, wearing ,little more than a flowing robe.  He was a carpenter by trade, and although the meaning of “carpenter” has been challenged and may in fact have meant “shipwright” or any number of ofther manual laborers, he would have worked for long hours outside in dirt, dust, and sun. 

Why is Jesus so White in the vast majority of his representations?  Every winter I see a few representations of Jesus as being darker in complexion, but this year I saw none and that did not sit well. 

I understand that Jesus’s pasty-white complexion denotes purity, because of course everything white is pure (sarcasm).  I understand that purity is an important part of many religions and that such purity is particularly important for leaders, the revered, of various religions.  But would Jesus be less credible to Christians if he were to be represented with a darker pigmentation? 

Does it matter what skin color Jesus had?  No.  But it matters when we fail to accurately represent history.  The rejoinder to the “Jesus was not White” argument is usually that to make him any other color, other than White, is to engage in revisionist history.  I’m inclined to believe that the revision was already made.

Stereotypes are true?

I was travelling in suburban Philadelphia this past week and was amusing myself with conservative talk radio.  Everytime I listen to conservative talk radio, it convinces me more and more to not be conservative.  I’m guessing that those radio personalities would find that appaling.  I don’t remember who’s program was on so I’ll avoid misattributing the quote, but it went something like this…

“People are too sensitive.  Stereotypes are true.  People need to accept reality.  Well some stereotypes are true.  Some stereotypes are true most of the time.  Stereotypes can be good.  It’s good that Asians have children that do well in school…”

This argument is flawed for a number of reasons, but most glaringly it is wrong because if a stereotype is not true all of the time, then it’s not really a stereotype.  Then we probably need to discuss if a stereotype has to be true in some sort of Big T truth way or if it must only be true subjectively.  But even if the stereotypes is true on a subjective basis, that is the speaker and the speaker alone believes it to be true, then how is it true if the speaker admits that it is sometimes not true?  This calls into questions meanings of truth, which I’m sure I’ll talk about more than several times in upcoming posts, but I’ll leave that discussion alone for now. 

It’s not uncommon to see folks who argue for stereotypes make these sort of arguments, but they seem to rest on dubious ground.  Stereotypes are both true and not true at the same time.  Maybe if we all stopped using them, then we could get to know each other a little better and understand the many differences that make us interesting.  In difference lies majesty.  Even “good stereotypes” are a shabby cloth in which to dress difference.

Tony Yayo and the Obama Presidency

Tony Yayo of G-Unit released the mixtape Black Friday shortly after Barack Obama was elected President of the United States of America.  On this mixtape he includes a number of snippets concerning Obama, including Obama talking of smoking marijuana, Obama’s victory speech, and most poignantly several people describing their fear of an Obama presidency.  You can find the track list here and download the mixtape here. 

The fears described by people exemplify the White fear of Black power.  Despite a growing Black middle class and an increasing number of Blacks on the national political stage, many White’s still harbor deep anxiety about Black power.  The psychological burden on White’s who are fearful of Black power will be tremendous.  President-elect Obama has coalesced racism that was previously directed at local mayors, state legislators, and other elected officials. 

Will Obama erase White fear?  It is not likely.  Unfortunately, White fear is permanently ingrained in society by a number of cultural factors.  Portrayals of the Black community on television, in our newspapers, and our music reinforce White fear by reifying Black stereotypes.  Obama will not erase these stereotypes even if he stands in stark contrast to them.  Stereotypes do not fade away into the night.  He will help to undermine them, but he will not erase the racism of the media that continues to perpetuate Black stereotypes.

A look back at the NYT

I was combing through information on critical race theory recently when I stumbled upon a New York Times article, “For Black Scholars Wedded to Prism of Race, New and Seperate Goals.”  This article came out over ten years ago and describes the critical race theory movement as a “growing academic movement among minority scholars.” 

Today critical race theorists are found across racial lines and as we all attempt to make sense of the intersections of politics, law, and race, critical race theory is increasingly important.  The NYT notes:

“Critical race theorists, who are on the faculty at almost every major law school and are producing an ever-growing body of scholarly work, have drawn from an idea made popular by postmodernist scholars of all races, that there is no objective reality. Instead, the critical race theorists say, there are competing racial versions of reality that may never be reconciled.”

Postmodernism and critical race theory do not necessarily go hand in hand.  Many race scholars have decried postmodernism’s lack of a focal point.  Others have argued that postmodenism is a series of thoughts supported by a White intellectual elite and therefore offers little hope for Black scholars and communities.  It seems to me that postmodernism’s decentralized approach to society affords countless opportunities for reconfiguring power structures and reassessing notions of space and place.  Here I echo bell hooks in her article, “Postmodern Blackness,” featured in the first issue of Postmodern Culture.  hooks wrote:

“Postmodern culture with its decentered subject can be the space where ties are severed or it can provide the occasion for new and varied forms of bonding. To some extent ruptures, surfaces, contextuality and a host of other happenings create gaps that make space for oppositional practices which no longer require intellectuals to be confined to narrow, separate spheres with no meaningful connection to the world of every day. Much postmodern engagement with culture emerges from the yearning to do intellectual work that connects with habits of being, forms of artistic expression and aesthetics, that inform the daily life of a mass population as well as writers and scholars. On the terrain of culture, one can participate in critical dialogue with the uneducated poor, the black underclass who are thinking about aesthetics. One can talk about what we are seeing, thinking, or listening to; a space is there for critical exchange. It’s exciting to think, write, talk about, and create art that reflects passionate engagement with popular culture, because this may very well be ‘the’ central future location of resistance struggle, a meeting place where new and radical happenings can occur. “

Race is not simply skin color, but is a category constructed by society through law and culture.  Understanding the way race is constructed, like understanding how gender is constructed, is integral to an appreciation of the law’s impact on traditionally maligned peoples.  Postmodernism attempts to debase these constructs across society where as critical race theory focuses this deconstruction on the specific issue of race.  Postmodernism affords the opportunity to re-conceptualize space so that dispossessed peoples may find room from which to advance their interests and tell their stories.  The NYT article does an excellent job of highlighting the importance of narrative to critical race theory.  Narratives and storytelling have taken on an expanded role in legal academia, surpassing their use for marginalized groups.  Now even dominate groups are utilizing narratives to better describe their experienced with the law.  I’ve argued before that we too often remove the people from the law and part of my attraction to critical race theory is that it seeks to make people players in the game.  It attempts to restore the voices of the masses and understands that everyone comes to the law in a different way. 

The article is a great read for critical race scholars and students.  If you haven’t had the opportunity to look it up or forgot about it, take a gander.