Entries categorized as ‘pop culture and the law’
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.
Categories: call for papers · critical legal studies · critical race theory · feminist jurisprudence · history · pop culture and the law · postcolonial jurisprudence · postmodern jurisprudence
Tagged: call for papers, legal history, Virginia, Supreme Court, critical legal studies, legal theory, jurisprudence
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
Categories: critical race theory · hip-hop · hip-hop and pop culture · law school · pop culture and the law
Tagged: conference, critical race theory, hip-hop, WVU
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.
Categories: critical race theory · essentialism · hip-hop · new music · pop culture and the law
Tagged: hip-hop, Obama, politics, president, stereotypes, Tony Yayo, White fear
