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Title: And still I rise Rating: 2.4 out of 4 Reference: Director, Ngozi Onwurah; producers, Kanaya
Onwurah and Sarah Library of Congress subjects: Women, Black--Interviews Women, Black--Europe--History Stereotype (Psychology) Stereotype (Psychology) in mass media Sociology subjects: The body Diasporas & immigration Identity Media/text analyses (in part) Racism, sociologically analysed Reviews and Numerical Ratings 2 Well-paced, with a mix of interviews, dramatizations, historical & contemporary images. Most of the dramatizations work, though a rape scene is contrived. The video opens with a stRong analysis of the interconnections of racism, science, colonialism, and current media, but it moves into a segment in which Black women narrators give essentialising characterisations of Black culture. This would need a lot of attention in discussion. It feels like two videos. Lecture topics: racialising ideologies, essentialism. Kathy Bischoping & Riley Olstead 3.5 This film is excellent in its critical examination
of dominant representations of Black women. By examining how these representations
(i.e. sexualized Other, house mammy) developed in the context of slavery
and colonialism, it does a great job of linking racist ideology to the
exigencies of racial domination; the approach is very much materialist.
And in the course of showing how scientific discourse and popular culture
perpetuate myths about Black women's sexuality, the analytic strength
of the video is well complimented by stunning visuals, which are, at
times, very disturbing (i.e. the rape scene). Having said this, the
main drawback of this video is the inclusion of comments by women who
have some stereotypical and essentialist views on race that flow directly
from the realm of the absurd (for example, the notion that white people
cannot dance due to the nature of their spirits). Nevertheless, I highly
recommend this video for upper-level undergraduates. It's almost guaranteed
to generate some interesting (and perhaps heated) discussions. Chris
Williams 2.5 This is a good video which touches on several topics – history, culture, race, power, oppression, sexuality, stereotyping, & the body. Sometimes we got lost, as the video jumped around, but generally the video has a good interplay of various elements. The video shows pride in being Black, the theme of resistance, and features Black women speakers who essentialize both themselves and white people. Karine Côté-Boucher, Erkan Ercel, Katherine King, Madona Mokbel, Catherine Tuey, & Suzanne Zerger 2 The video provides a good account of white anxiety about Black power/subjectivity, but there may be better resources. We felt that the first half of the video was stronger than the 2nd, which reiterates differences. Does the video end up promoting the stereotypes that it seeks to unsettle? Is this essentialism or reclaiming? Steve Bosanac, Sarah Hornstein, Riva Soucie, Andrew Thompson, Yota Vassou, & Patricia Williams 2 A dated video that omits more recent representations. It is too long and could provide more varied perspectives than essentialism (and, at some points, determinism), more critical analysis of what empowerment means, as well as more varied representations of both Black and white people. At some points it is contradictory. Yet the video is a good example of identity affirmation and would be suitable for upper-level classes, provide that it was followed by discussion. Elena Chou, Mike Follert, Sabina Heilman, Julia Hemphill, Diego Llovet, & Shannon Thomson
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