American Studies Journal

06/17/2024

“Handicapped Win Demands: End H.E.W. Occupation,” The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service," May 7, 1977, Disability Social History Project. Thirty. Five. Seconds. It took 35 seconds to set into motion events that killed Elijah McClain in 2019. In what started as a quick trip to a local convenience store in Colorado, ended in tragedy. On a crisp August evening an onlooker, when observing the face covering McClain used to regulate his temperature due to a blood circulation disorder, decided that McClain looked “sketchy.” The caller’s decision to weaponize the phrase “looks sketchy” and “put his hands up” in that fateful…...

“Handicapped Win Demands: End H.E.W. Occupation,” The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service,” May 7, 1977, Disability Social History Project. Thirty. Five. Seconds. It took 35 seconds to s…

10/20/2023

On Thursday May 26, 1859, law enforcers in Newberry, South Carolina arrested an unnamed woman described as a mulatto from the Stuart household.[1] Four members of Robert Stuart’s family had been seized with violent spasms, retching, and vomiting. As news spread, a crowd gathered and began to suspect poisoning. Bystanders confiscated one particular food item, which was found to contain arsenic....

On Thursday May 26, 1859, law enforcers in Newberry, South Carolina arrested an unnamed woman described as a mulatto from the Stuart household.[1] Four members of Robert Stuart’s family had been se…

10/12/2023

Over the past few years, there have been a multitude of calls for better access to mental health care. While these services are valuable, how often do we consider all that operates under this service? Western therapeutic and psychiatric services descend from an extensive lineage of racism, colonialism, classism, heterosexism, cisgenderism, and ableism. These -isms shape what passes for “care” in our culture....

Over the past few years, there have been a multitude of calls for better access to mental health care. While these services are valuable, how often do we consider all that operates under this servi…

05/29/2023

As a millennial q***r and trans person, I grew up with a measurably different vocabulary for gender non-normativity than that of young people today. I had hardly even met an openly q***r or trans person until I left home for college. For this reason, finding language — the words q***r and trans, especially — to describe my felt-sense of difference resonated intensely. These words tethered me to shared histories and communities of gender/sexuality non-normativity, generating new, life-affirming relations between myself and others across time and space. Rather than satiating my drive to struggle for q***r and trans liberation, however, these words marked an energizing beginning....

As a millennial q***r and trans person, I grew up with a measurably different vocabulary for gender non-normativity than that of young people today. I had hardly even met an openly q***r or trans p…

04/20/2023

In her 1998 oral history interview, a Black transgender woman known as “Major” recounted her experience of 1950s “queen” culture in Chicago. The word “transgender” was not in common use until the 1970s, but Major’s testimony demonstrates that q***r people have long known that we do not conform to societal norms. (A note on positionality: I say “we” because I identify as q***r; I am a White, cisgender, pansexual, polyromantic person.) Major’s testimony demonstrates a broader set of issues in the q***r community: what do we call ourselves, what should others call us, and who decides which, if any, terms are authoritative? How do we as a society respond to changes in what terminology is acceptable? Many people are surprised to learn that the information profession also has a contentious history when it comes to what to call q***r people. Continue reading →...

In her 1998 oral history interview, a Black transgender woman known as “Major” recounted her experience of 1950s “queen” culture in Chicago. The word “transgender” was not in common use until the 1…

04/07/2023

I was not born to this

03/29/2023

Accessibility to knowledge can change lives, literally. It did for me. I write and tell stories because I am hopeful that my stories can change the lives of others, too, especially la gente de Oxnard. Once I gained the knowledge of how systems of oppression like white supremacy, colorism, toxic masculinity, anti-Blackness, homophobia, ableism, and capitalism negatively impact my daily life, I challenged myself to become a better person and to disrupt those ideologies and practices. That was only possible through the CRT counterstories I read that were assigned to me as research articles in courses I took with Faculty of Color who are committed to challenging the idea that only some styles of writing “count” as research. Don’t ever get it twisted: Our experiences produce knowledge, and our stories are research....

Accessibility to knowledge can change lives, literally. It did for me. I write and tell stories because I am hopeful that my stories can change the lives of others, too, especially la gente de Oxna…

02/24/2023

It has been over fifty years since I entered AP English at South Shore High School in Chicago. My teacher, Gladys Woods, a tall stately Black woman, incorporated into our AP prep, which was strictly an Anglo-Eurocentric curriculum, the likes of Chinua Achebe, James Baldwin, Gwendolyn Brooks, Margare...

11/22/2022

The November Midterm elections—namely, the spread of misinformation and rise in election tampering allegations—provide a timely opportunity for observing the relationship between culture and white supremacy in the United States. This piece situates this in context of “incel” culture online alongside fictional imaginaries of masculinity in Fight Club as vessels for understanding how patterns of violent behavior, motivated by misogyny and white supremacy, are reinforced and cultivated in the imagined world and subsequently externalized through violence in the real world....

The November Midterm elections—namely, the spread of misinformation and rise in election tampering allegations—provide a timely opportunity for observing the relationship between culture and w…

11/11/2022

The danger of stereotypes are always a danger in cinema

The sequel to the 2018 Marvel blockbuster features a Maya-inspired antihero played by Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta

11/10/2022

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: Langston Hughes's Dream-Deferral Motif in Remembrance of George Floyd: A Virtual Program. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar.

11/10/2022

Frantz Fanon is a rock star of the American academy 60 years after his death. Here’s why it’s critical that we recognize the influence of the Algerian Revolution on his thought....