“Haters gonna hate while I sit in my blue box and sip my Lemonade”-

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Two things happened this weekend that made me pause and reevaluate my life. These two were finding out whom the new Doctor Who companion was going to be, and second,  watching Beyoncé’s newest album, Lemonade, not once not twice but three times and then proceeded to listen to the album all Sunday and then while at the gym Monday morning.

This quick post that I am writing while I am supposed to be finishing a collections management policy is not about Lemonade although references to that will be mentioned.   This  post is in part about my elation at the announcement of the new Doctor Who companion and  then my frustration at the people (you know who you are) who don’t want to let #BlackGirlMagic be and let women of color have anything nice and shiny before they try and tear it down.

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Sleepy Hollow and the case of the Black Sacrifice

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A few weeks ago saw the killing off of major female characters from popular mainstream popular shows. Like Arrow, Sleepy Hollow, Empire, Viking just to name a few.  The issues with using and killing off female characters as a plot device is something that should be addressed, and it will be but for now, we will talk about the issue of using Black characters as a sacrifice. Specifically in the genre of science fiction and fantasy, it is clear the sacrifice is a well-established trope. Lord of the Rings did it, Star Wars did it (twice), and Harry Potter had a whole battalion die for the cause. However, it seems that within this trope is another trope.

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“Thoughts on Our Regular, Degular, Schmegular Girl from the Bronx Cardi B”

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I used to run three to four miles a day. Yes, plump girls get their run in too. However, I fell off –way off in the past six months. I blame school, work and the genuine disinterest in doing things that did not involve wine, whiskey, carbs and streaming T.V.

But I digress. This past month with no lent resolution set I decided to get back into it, but I needed a playlist. I needed something that would get me going and inspire me. I need something to keep me moving, make me forget about my haters and encourage me so that one day when the zombie apocalypse comes I can out run my haters.

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Creating a Dialogue: The Public Historian and Alternative Material Culture

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Creating Dialogue

chp1984's avatarSouthern Rambles

By Marquita Reed, CHP Graduate Research Assistant

While sitting with a group of colleagues recently, I was asked, “How can comic books function as material culture?” At first, I was aghast because the answer was so simple to me. Yet no matter how many times I explained, the inquisitor did not seem convinced. As a historian who examines popular culture, I realize that my methods may seem “outside of the box,” but this injection of new study into both academic and public history is also exhilarating. I realize that as I continue on my academic and professional paths, the question of how a public historian uses popular culture to teach history will present itself again and again.

First, I answer the query by saying that I am not just trying to teach history. As a public historian, I use popular culture as a form of material culture in order to…

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