Angels and Ghosts

Every day I walk or drive through historic Black neighborhoods in Atlanta, Georgia where upwards of 50% of residential properties are vacant, abandoned and sometimes burned down (but not demolished).  I see empty buildings that used to be schools, recreation centers, community centers, and businesses.  I see extraordinary flooding each time it rains; rushing water […]

I Been On (Ratchet): Conceptualizing a Sonic Ratchet Aesthetic in Beyonce’s “Bow Down”

Guest Post by Regina N. Bradley at Red Clay Scholar     While listening to Beyonce’s latest single “Bow Down/I Been On” an eyebrow raised in amusement along with a low “woooooord?” I couldn’t believe that Beyonce, Mrs. “Girls-Run-the-World” was talking to bitches and – gasp! – demanding they bow down. But it wasn’t Bey’s emphatic […]

Beyonce’ In the Hands of Jesus Freaks

So apparently, Christendom is “uncomfortable” with Beyonce’s performance at this past Sunday’s Superbowl Show. Well I’m “uncomfortable” with their discomfort. This post from  David Henson over at Patheos.com, who called out his friends and acquaintances for their thinly veiled racism during the show inspired this FB rant from me:  “Let me say as a Christian how […]

Popular representations of Black and Latina women

Culo, Coffee and Crime: More on Disrespectability Politics

From an Australian researcher claiming Beyoncé’s name and her celebrity bum with a horse fly, a pissed Wisconsin congressman attacking the national obesity campaign by deriding the First Lady’s derriere, to Diddy riding on somebody else’s butt for more fame in his new book called Culo, across the academic, political, and the popular, our booty […]