BlackExpressionT/TH

Sieuna Smith This project looks at how Black expression shows up through humor on social media, especially how creators use tone, storytelling, and everyday relatability to connect with people. The visual is set up like a social media feed because that’s where a lot of this humor actually lives and spreads. Instead of just showing random images, the collage is organized to show a flow from the creator, to the audience reaction, and then to the bigger meaning behind it. The main focus is on black creators like Quen Blackwell and Rakai, who use exaggerated reactions, strong facial expressions, and situations from their life to make their content funny. Their humor isn’t just random or over the top, it comes from real experiences that a lot of people in our community recognize. The captions, expressions, and post style visuals in the collage are meant to show how this type of humor is actually built and presented online. On the audience side, I included comment reactions to show how peop...

Colin Hawkins The visual I constructed was a graphic artwork inspired by one of the excerpts from, " The People Could Fly: American Black Folktales," by Virginia Hamilton. This artwork was specifically influenced by the excerpt of the same name, " The People Could Fly," which contains the myth of the Flying Africans. The myth flying Africans is a powerful African American folklore legend about how enslaved people, refusing to be reduced as product and longing for freedom, gained the ability of flight to fly over the waters back to Africa. This myth specifically originates from anecdotes of resisting such as Igbo Landing, where in 1803 in Dunbar Creek, Georgia, the enslaved Igbo people revolted, taking over the ship they were on and drowning their captors then themselves, refusing to be brutalized in America as slaves. Through this profound act of resistance, many oral folktales were formed that the Igbo people were able to sprout wings, able to fly back to Africa...

Enthograpahic interview Me: Before we get started, I just want to ask, do I have your consent to record this conversation for academic purposes? Your responses may be used in a paper, but your identity can remain anonymous if you prefer. Participant: Yeah, that’s cool. You can record. Me: Thank you, I appreciate that. To start off, can you tell me a little about your relationship with music? Like what role it plays in your everyday life? Participant: Music is a big part of my day, like I’m always listening to something. If I’m driving or just by myself, I got music on. I feel like certain artists really speak for how I’m feeling at the time. Like when I listen to YoungBoy Never Broke Again, it be feeling raw and emotional, like he just saying whatever he going through without holding back. Me: That’s real. Would you say the music you listen to reflects your identity or experiences in any way? Participant: Yeah for sure. Like with Rod Wave, the way he talks about pain, family, a...

Logan Buum This powerpoint examines a case of black representation/imitation in video game media by focusing on the character Sam B from the video game series Dead Island. It features a short summary of the characters background and lore while focusing on the cultural influence and aspects of the character, particularly in concerns of his music, gangsta rap, voodoo, and southern hip hop. Notably the creation of the character and his music had very little if any influence from any Black person, contextualizing the character as more negative than it otherwise would be. Ignoring the nature of the characters creation, Sam B exemplifies stereotypes, especially those related to gangsta rap and the popular culture related to it. In addition to the stereotypical representation of gangsta rap, the voodoo aspects of the character are also a pop culture interpretation, depicting it as dark magic to better fit the zombie infested theme of the game while removing it from its actual meanings. I u...

Lesson Plan/Community Engagement Ava Brown Grades 10th-12th Children Ranging from the 10th-12th Grade are approaching adulthood and are about to enter into the Real world, whether that be the work force, higher education, or even parenthood. Your health is one of the most important things you will have to maintain throughout your life and it is something you should be aware of at a young age ! There is a silent but deadly problem within the Black Community surrounding healthcare. Black People Don’t Trust the American Healthcare System. Black Americans, more specifically Black Men are among the least likely of all demographics to seek medical care despite reportedly having higher rates of chronic conditions, this, however, is due to a number of socioeconomic, pathological and historical reasons that will be explored within this lesson Plan. Course Description : Teaching Students the History of Black Health Care and Medical Practice within America. Objective : Read, un...

Tymira Lewis Lewis 1 April 23, 2026 ENGL2017-65125 Major Project The Struggles of African American Women in Arts The history of African American involvement in the arts includes both remarkable cultural innovation and ongoing structural inequality. African American art is rooted in resilience, storytelling, and resistance, reflecting the lived experiences of a community that navigates both oppression and creativity. Despite their significant impact on global culture, African American artists still face systemic barriers that hinder their recognition and independence in the arts. For African American women, these obstacles are heightened by the combined effects of racism and sexism, which often distort how they are represented and valued. In Dirty South Feminism: The Girlies Got Somethin’ to Say Too! Southern Hip-Hop Women, Fighting Respectability, Talking Mess, and Twerking Up the Dirty South, Adeerya Johnson looks at how Southern hip-hop women deal with these pressures by ...