In Media Res

James Braxton Peterson is associate professor of English and director of Africana studies at Lehigh University.

In Media Res is a manifold collection that reflects the intersectional qualities of university programming in the twenty-first century. Taking race, gender, and popular culture as its central thematic subjects, the volume collects academic essays, speeches, poems, and creative works that critically engage a wide range of issues, including American imperialism, racial and gender discrimination, the globalization of culture, and the limitations of our new multimedia world. This diverse assortment of works by scholars, activists, and artists models the complex ways that we must engage university students, faculty, staff, and administration in a moment where so many of us are confounded by the "in medias res" nature of our interface with the world in the current moment. Featuring contributions from Imani Perry, Michael Eric Dyson, Suheir Hammad, John Jennings, and Adam Mansbach, In Media Res is a primer for academic inquiry into popular culture; American studies; critical media literacy; women, gender, and sexuality studies; and Africana studies.

ContentsList of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Into the Midst of ThingsJames Braxton PetersonPart I: Head Matter: The Mind and the MaskChapter 1: An Empire State of MindImani PerryChapter 2: Consolidating a Hip Hop Nation: Revisiting the Videotaped Police Beating of Rodney King, 20 Years LaterTanji GilliamChapter 3: Head on Straight, Mask on Crooked: MF DOOM and the Trope of the MaskNicholas JamesChapter 4: The Superhero Aesthetics in Hip Hop CultureWill BoonePart II: Visual MatterChapter 5: I Have a Meme: Photography, Memory, and Digital Commemorations of the March on WashingtonPaul M. FarberChapter 6: How Deep? Skin Deep? A Case Study on Shameful National OrientationsEmily ChurillaChapter 7: Faggoty/White/Uniform: Gays in the Military and A Few Good MenScott St. PierrePart III: Global FlowsChapter 8: Selected PoemsSuheir HammadChapter 9: The Communal Womb in Haile Gerima's SankofaBelinda Monique Waller-PetersonChapter 10: South Asian Hip Hop Wannabes and the Chavs Who Love Them: The Blackening of British Culture in Gautam Malkani's LondonstaniDelores B. PhillipsChapter 11: "A True and Faithful Account of Mr. Ota Benga the Pygmy," written by M. Berman, Zookeeper, a short storyAdam MansbachPart IV: Culture of PersonalityChapter 12: Richard Pryor's Pain: From Stand-Up Comedy to Hollywood FilmSean SpringerChapter 13: You Are Now Tuned Into the ... Greatest: Jay-Z and the Spectacle of the CoolWilfredo GomezChapter 14: Disassembling the "Matrix of Domination": Janelle Monae's Transformative VisionCarrie WalkerChapter 15: "Dreams of the Drum": A Keynote AddressMichael Eric DysonBibliographySound RecordingsAbout the ContributorsIndex