Cinema of Black Protest

Catalog description

Considers Black histories of protest in conjunction with the history of Black representation in film. We analyze historical documents, scholarly articles, legal cases and historical accounts of the major moments in Black resistance in the US. We begin with the protests against lynching in the early twentieth century and the Civil Rights and Black power era of the 1970s Blaxploitation film genre through contemporary independent films. Discusses issues of race and gender, racism, sexuality and homophobia as well as misogyny and sexism in Black representation. Students are expected to watch and discuss films as well as read scholarly articles on race theory, queer theory, feminist theory and cultural criticism.