Blackness, Performance, Freedom
Consider the two scenes in The Fits that take place in the empty swimming pool when Toni and Maia speak to each other (52:11) and the parade dancing (1:07:11). What is the significance of the empty swimming pool? How might this connect to Beyonce’s performance in the empty swimming pool in her “Formation” music video?
For the last four weeks of the journal assignment, the prompts will be generated by you and your fellow classmates. Each week, half the class will post one prompt, providing everyone (including those who posted a prompt) with a total of five prompts to choose from that week. Everyone will be responsible for posting two…
Reflection on Content Describe a few of the connections you see between your different entries? As you reflect on your entries, do you find any contradictions between one entry and another? Or even within one entry? Compare your first entry and your latest entry. Are their similarities to the types of questions and topics you’re…
Listen to first minute and a half AND from 5:40 on. “Max Roach & Abbey Lincoln perform Tears for Johannesburg & Tryptic (Prayer, Protest).” Posted by thepostarchive. YouTube.com. October 20, 2018 (Accessed 9/30/20).
After brainstorming for each of the prompt questions, I felt the most interested and engaged in prompt number 2. I was absolutely blown away by Guava Island—the message, the music, the performances, the magic—and feel compelled to write about it, to think about it, and to encourage discussion of it in class. I think before…
For my post, I have decided to tackle prompt 3: does the difference in setting affect how we understand the dancing and lyrical performances in the music video “This is America” versus Guava Island? I want to think through this question because I find it intriguing that the exact same song and dancing can be…
The question that was most interesting to me was what kind of work does child-like wonder, imagination, and magic do in/for the film Guava Island? And specifically what kind of work does it do around the way the text imagine race, blackness, and freedom? I think that this question is interesting and could inspire a lot of…