Picture this: a white 17 year old student rolling up to Jenks High School at 9 am, blasting a bass heavy trap song about a Black rapper selling cocaine to make ends meet in the projects, the booms beating against the frame of their brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee… Continue reading “I, I-I, I-I-I won’t forget it:” Resistance and Pleasure in Greenwood’s Black Music
Country music has gained a large following since its inception in the 1920s and is now a staple in American culture. From city folk in the American South to rural white communities across the nation, country music entertains listeners with songs featuring stories about heartbreak, religious devotion, substance abuse, the struggles of the working class, and the stereotypical pick-up trucks. .. Continue reading From Blues to Country Music: “The White Man’s Blues”
The very first line of the 1st Amendment of the Constitution allows US citizens to practice any religion they please by separating the Church and State into two separate entities. Yet even with this highly praised provision in the highest law of the land, all religions are still not created equal… Continue reading The Unworthy Citizen: An Examination of how the Racialization of Islam Hinders the Citizenship of Muslim Americans and Arab Americans
Most of us are familiar with the famous Dracula, the best-known character among the earliest popular vampiric characters in literature, who even now reigns as the poster-boy for vampires of all sorts. … Continue reading Fangs and Femininity: Victorian Values and the Vampiress
Like many other girls I knew, I grew up with a bucket of bright blonde Barbie dolls, all with individualized outfits that went with their different occupations. There was a pilot, a race car driver, a doctor, and many other tasks that, at one point, would have been considered to be “a man’s job”… Continue reading A Barbie World: Pretty Little Lie in Pink
I was driving home after a late day in my chemistry lab back in January, when the new song called “Song 31” by my favorite rapper Noname came on. It began like the universe did; in an instant, there was an explosion of existence.. Continue reading Selling Pain for Profit: The Spectre That’s Haunting Hip-Hop and America
I am fortunate to have grown up in the jazz community. My godfather and brother played trumpet, and now I play saxophone at the college level in the University of Oklahoma’s jazz band. The jazz community is vibrant, loving, and supportive, but has a deep hidden problem… Continue reading Crazy Geniuses: The Mental Illness Epidemic in Jazz Artists
Queer people do not wear their identity on their skin. Even though queer identity can be both a core dimension of one’s person and a uniting force for an entire community, people are not born with queerness stamped on their body…. Continue reading To Queer and To Be Queer: Presentism, Labels, and Identity in Gertrude Stein
Evil forces besiege an Edenic paradise inhabited by innocent, honest people. Then an outsider with the courage to fight back appears, dispels the attackers, and restores peace. By taking the law into his own hands to save others, our self-compelled hero earns the respect of the populace and rides off into the sunset. Continue reading Defending or Defying a Democracy