Virtual Program on Black Pop Culture

NCW Libraries will host the virtual Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau Program  “They Want Our Rhythm, but Not Our Blues: African American Innovation through Pop Culture” on February 12 at 6 p.m.

LaToya Brackett, an associate professor of African American studies at the University of Puget Sound, will share how the freedom often denied to African Americans to move and express themselves has meant that they have had to be especially creative in building their culture. The innovations created under oppression are often appropriated by the oppressor. And such culture and creativity has been forged from their everyday struggles.

Reflecting on music, sports, language, food, and even hair, this talk calls audiences in beyond the rhythm to recognize the blues that made African American popular culture. It serves as a guide to appreciating the art of Black pop culture by understanding how and why African American culture was created, and when and where it appears across multiple platforms of popular culture—never without a unique artisan style.

Brackett is a scholar with two degrees in Black studies, one from Cornell University and the other from Michigan State. She also serves as a member of the leadership team for the Race & Pedagogy Institute at the University of Puget Sound.