DOCSLIB.ORG

The Only Exception

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Only Exception The Only Exception Even when Griff was his happiest, laughing and playing the dozens on the corner with the other knuckleheads in the neighborhood, there was a sadness, thinly veiled over his big brown eyes. Likely from his momma leaving him when he was only a baby. Something about that wasn’t natural. At least that’s what the old women on the block would say when Griff walked by their porches hand in hand with his dad Malcolm. My own momma said something must have really been eating her up inside for her to leave her two boys like that. Malcolm did his best but all he knew was the streets. He loved his boys but didn’t seem to know how to provide for them in a legal way. But he did provide for them. More so than my momma and daddy who did things in a so-called righteous way. There was nothing Griff and Vince wanted for except the affection of a mother. And what we lacked in money, we made up for in love. That’s how Griff ended up at my place all the time. My daddy worked shift work at a plumbing company and my mom was an English teacher but took a leave of absence because it was more cost-effective to stay at home with my sister Kim and me than to pay for daycare. We grew up on the same block since we were babies, but it wasn’t until about sixth grade when we had the same homeroom teacher that me and the sad-eyed boy connected in a real way. My dad would chat about ominous things with his dad Malcolm from time to time over the years; the latest sports game or the troubled teens running around smashing in windows but not much of great significance. Griff and I would just stand by their sides, tugging and hoping that they would stop talking so we could go about our way. Then during line up one morning to go to homeroom Rhonda Tulley decided that I was her arch-nemesis and tried to pound me into the concrete on the playground, Griff came to my rescue. Didn’t say much except, “Rhonda, quit it.” It’s like those eyes had a power over Rhonda who lowered her fist and instead of bashing my face in, kicked my book bag into the gravel underneath the swings. I got up slowly and he walked over to retrieve my checkered Jansport book bag. When I asked why he helped me, his response was “My dad says we look out for our block.” It would be the first of many lessons from the street that Griff regurgitated from Malcolm, but they were honestly rooted in loyalty and respect. The game had rules it seemed. That summer, Griff taught me how to fight. Said I was too pretty and our neighborhood too gritty for me to be “getting my ass kicked all the time,” his words not mine. Rhonda was not the first and definitely wouldn’t be the last to threaten me for no apparent reason. He had a manliness about him even though we were in middle school. Maybe it came with living in a house with all men. I’d imagined Vince making him tough as he was four years our senior. We would go down to the gym on Lehigh where his dad and brother boxed and he would give me lessons ignoring the stares from the other men there. He’d seemingly broke some kind of rule by bringing a girl, but he didn’t care. That was Griff. By high school, we were pretty much inseparable. Griff would pick me up in the mornings in the Galant that his dad bought him when he turned sixteen. He would drive us to the mall where we both had after school jobs, him at Footlocker, me at Auntie Annie’s. We were both saving up for college. He was thinking about FAMU, I was hoping to get into Penn. He’d drive me and momma around on weekends when daddy picked up extra shifts. We’d run from store to store and Griff didn’t seem to mind the company. By then Vince was following in Malcolm’s footsteps and it felt like Griff needed an escape. A way not to fall victim to the family business. I was seventeen when I watched the cops knock on Griff’s door. The flashing lights in the middle of our one-way street blocked traffic and a small crowd of spectators was gathering. Whispers of “I knew it was only a matter of time,” traveled through the crowd. Once the door creaked open, the cops pushed whoever was behind it inside and multiple cops ran in after with their guns drawn. I hoped Griff wasn’t inside to see this happen to his father. But twenty minutes later, I saw him, caught a glimpse of his sad eyes, one of them blacked and multiple bruises on his red skin that always seemed like it was made from clay. He was in handcuffs walking out of his olive-colored door with Malcolm walking quickly behind him cussing and fussing at the cops as they ignored him. “Why the fuck would you put your hands on my son? You got the wrong one. My son ain’t did shit to no one!” After they threatened to take his “black ass in too,” their words, not mine, Malcolm calmed himself. My momma held me back as I tried to reach Griff. I tried to protect him like he did for me that day in sixth grade and honestly so many times after that. From fights to breakups with dumb teenage boys trying to take advantage, Griff was always there for me. And the one time he needed me, I was powerless. I felt the salty tears running down my face as Griff mouthed, “it’s okay,” before they pushed his head into the backseat of the police cruiser and drove away with Malcolm in his Q45 Infiniti following close behind them. Vince was a part of a deal gone bad on the other side of town that fateful night when we were seventeen and a witness couldn’t seem to tell him and Vince apart. Griff was still a minor, he ended up taking the wrap for it so that he wouldn’t serve as much time as Vince. A sick and twisted plan, but he, Vince, and Malcolm all agreed before I could tell him that was the dumbest thing that he could have done with his life. He mortgaged his future to a life that he was never a part of. I was twenty-five having lunch with my girls when I couldn’t believe I was staring back into those sad eyes that had undoubtedly seen much more trouble than a negligent mother at that point. My friends looked on in disbelief from our sidewalk table at Rouge in Rittenhouse as Griff pulled me into his now strong, manly arms. He held onto me tight and then pushed me back to look at me. The years had hardened him, but he was still Griff. He would always be Griff with red skin that looked like it was made of clay. “I saved every letter,” he said to me as he looked over to my bougie ass friends who in no way showed discretion in trying to figure out who this miscreant was that seemed so familiar to me. I gave them a look that said I was okay as I turned my attention back to Griff. His clothes hung a little loosely and felt a bit outdated in comparison to today’s style. Seemingly fresh out, I felt like it would only be a matter of time until he found his stride again. He was always fly. Through the grey cloud that felt like it was hovering over him, I could still see what I’d seen all those years ago. Someone kind, someone yearning for love, someone I loved. I couldn’t bring myself to go to visit him in prison all those years, but I wrote to him. I wrote letters every month for the last eight years. Through college, serious boyfriends, and transitions from internships to full-time positions, Griff was always a part of the old neighborhood that I could never let go. Nothing else could be traced back to Molehill Street except my devotion to him. Not the way I talked or the way I wore my hair. Not my parents who since moved to Delaware. He was the only exception. The Truth Remains, She’s Gone Will woke up in the morning to turn off the alarm and noticed the engagement ring on his pinky finger. Reaching out to the other side of the bed, Samantha was gone. The sun was creeping through the windows ever so slightly through the darkness of the fall morning. He sat up and looked around to ensure that she was nowhere to be found and not playing some type of sick joke on him. Was he wrong to think that somehow the ring would patch up the leaky holes of their relationship? That was the prize, right? What women wanted men to do? To tell them that it was them they wanted to spend their life with, to make honest women out of them? Sam left all these hints before she flew home to Atlanta over the summer. When she came back though, things were different.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Traditional Funk: an Ethnographic, Historical, and Practical Study of Funk Music in Dayton, Ohio
    University of Dayton eCommons Honors Theses University Honors Program 4-26-2020 Traditional Funk: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Practical Study of Funk Music in Dayton, Ohio Caleb G. Vanden Eynden University of Dayton Follow this and additional works at: https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_theses eCommons Citation Vanden Eynden, Caleb G., "Traditional Funk: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Practical Study of Funk Music in Dayton, Ohio" (2020). Honors Theses. 289. https://ecommons.udayton.edu/uhp_theses/289 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the University Honors Program at eCommons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of eCommons. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Traditional Funk: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Practical Study of Funk Music in Dayton, Ohio Honors Thesis Caleb G. Vanden Eynden Department: Music Advisor: Samuel N. Dorf, Ph.D. April 2020 Traditional Funk: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Practical Study of Funk Music in Dayton, Ohio Honors Thesis Caleb G. Vanden Eynden Department: Music Advisor: Samuel N. Dorf, Ph.D. April 2020 Abstract Recognized nationally as the funk capital of the world, Dayton, Ohio takes credit for birthing important funk groups (i.e. Ohio Players, Zapp, Heatwave, and Lakeside) during the 1970s and 80s. Through a combination of ethnographic and archival research, this paper offers a pedagogical approach to Dayton funk, rooted in the styles and works of the city’s funk legacy. Drawing from fieldwork with Dayton funk musicians completed over the summer of 2019 and pedagogical theories of including black music in the school curriculum, this paper presents a pedagogical model for funk instruction that introduces the ingredients of funk (instrumentation, form, groove, and vocals) in order to enable secondary school music programs to create their own funk rooted in local history.
    [Show full text]
  • Songs by Artist 08/29/21
    Songs by Artist 09/24/21 As Sung By Song Title Track # Alexander’s Ragtime Band DK−M02−244 All Of Me PM−XK−10−08 Aloha ’Oe SC−2419−04 Alphabet Song KV−354−96 Amazing Grace DK−M02−722 KV−354−80 America (My Country, ’Tis Of Thee) ASK−PAT−01 America The Beautiful ASK−PAT−02 Anchors Aweigh ASK−PAT−03 Angelitos Negros {Spanish} MM−6166−13 Au Clair De La Lune {French} KV−355−68 Auld Lang Syne SC−2430−07 LP−203−A−01 DK−M02−260 THMX−01−03 Auprès De Ma Blonde {French} KV−355−79 Autumn Leaves SBI−G208−41 Baby Face LP−203−B−07 Beer Barrel Polka (Roll Out The Barrel) DK−3070−13 MM−6189−07 Beyond The Sunset DK−77−16 Bill Bailey, Won’t You Please Come Home? DK−M02−240 CB−5039−3−13 B−I−N−G−O CB−DEMO−12 Caisson Song ASK−PAT−05 Clementine DK−M02−234 Come Rain Or Come Shine SAVP−37−06 Cotton Fields DK−2034−04 Cry Like A Baby LAS−06−B−06 Crying In The Rain LAS−06−B−09 Danny Boy DK−M02−704 DK−70−16 CB−5039−2−15 Day By Day DK−77−13 Deep In The Heart Of Texas DK−M02−245 Dixie DK−2034−05 ASK−PAT−06 Do Your Ears Hang Low PM−XK−04−07 Down By The Riverside DK−3070−11 Down In My Heart CB−5039−2−06 Down In The Valley CB−5039−2−01 For He’s A Jolly Good Fellow CB−5039−2−07 Frère Jacques {English−French} CB−E9−30−01 Girl From Ipanema PM−XK−10−04 God Save The Queen KV−355−72 Green Grass Grows PM−XK−04−06 − 1 − Songs by Artist 09/24/21 As Sung By Song Title Track # Greensleeves DK−M02−235 KV−355−67 Happy Birthday To You DK−M02−706 CB−5039−2−03 SAVP−01−19 Happy Days Are Here Again CB−5039−1−01 Hava Nagilah {Hebrew−English} MM−6110−06 He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands
    [Show full text]
  • Song & Music in the Movement
    Transcript: Song & Music in the Movement A Conversation with Candie Carawan, Charles Cobb, Bettie Mae Fikes, Worth Long, Charles Neblett, and Hollis Watkins, September 19 – 20, 2017. Tuesday, September 19, 2017 Song_2017.09.19_01TASCAM Charlie Cobb: [00:41] So the recorders are on and the levels are okay. Okay. This is a fairly simple process here and informal. What I want to get, as you all know, is conversation about music and the Movement. And what I'm going to do—I'm not giving elaborate introductions. I'm going to go around the table and name who's here for the record, for the recorded record. Beyond that, I will depend on each one of you in your first, in this first round of comments to introduce yourselves however you wish. To the extent that I feel it necessary, I will prod you if I feel you've left something out that I think is important, which is one of the prerogatives of the moderator. [Laughs] Other than that, it's pretty loose going around the table—and this will be the order in which we'll also speak—Chuck Neblett, Hollis Watkins, Worth Long, Candie Carawan, Bettie Mae Fikes. I could say things like, from Carbondale, Illinois and Mississippi and Worth Long: Atlanta. Cobb: Durham, North Carolina. Tennessee and Alabama, I'm not gonna do all of that. You all can give whatever geographical description of yourself within the context of discussing the music. What I do want in this first round is, since all of you are important voices in terms of music and culture in the Movement—to talk about how you made your way to the Freedom Singers and freedom singing.
    [Show full text]
  • Nr Kat Artysta Tytuł Title Supplement Nośnik Liczba Nośników Data
    nr kat artysta tytuł title nośnik liczba data supplement nośników premiery 9985841 '77 Nothing's Gonna Stop Us black LP+CD LP / Longplay 2 2015-10-30 9985848 '77 Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Ltd. Edition CD / Longplay 1 2015-10-30 88697636262 *NSYNC The Collection CD / Longplay 1 2010-02-01 88875025882 *NSYNC The Essential *NSYNC Essential Rebrand CD / Longplay 2 2014-11-11 88875143462 12 Cellisten der Hora Cero CD / Longplay 1 2016-06-10 88697919802 2CELLOSBerliner Phil 2CELLOS Three Language CD / Longplay 1 2011-07-04 88843087812 2CELLOS Celloverse Booklet Version CD / Longplay 1 2015-01-27 88875052342 2CELLOS Celloverse Deluxe Version CD / Longplay 2 2015-01-27 88725409442 2CELLOS In2ition CD / Longplay 1 2013-01-08 88883745419 2CELLOS Live at Arena Zagreb DVD-V / Video 1 2013-11-05 88985349122 2CELLOS Score CD / Longplay 1 2017-03-17 0506582 65daysofstatic Wild Light CD / Longplay 1 2013-09-13 0506588 65daysofstatic Wild Light Ltd. Edition CD / Longplay 1 2013-09-13 88985330932 9ELECTRIC The Damaged Ones CD Digipak CD / Longplay 1 2016-07-15 82876535732 A Flock Of Seagulls The Best Of CD / Longplay 1 2003-08-18 88883770552 A Great Big World Is There Anybody Out There? CD / Longplay 1 2014-01-28 88875138782 A Great Big World When the Morning Comes CD / Longplay 1 2015-11-13 82876535502 A Tribe Called Quest Midnight Marauders CD / Longplay 1 2003-08-18 82876535512 A Tribe Called Quest People's Instinctive Travels And CD / Longplay 1 2003-08-18 88875157852 A Tribe Called Quest People'sThe Paths Instinctive Of Rhythm Travels and the CD / Longplay 1 2015-11-20 82876535492 A Tribe Called Quest ThePaths Low of RhythmEnd Theory (25th Anniversary CD / Longplay 1 2003-08-18 88985377872 A Tribe Called Quest We got it from Here..
    [Show full text]
  • Hundreds of Country Artists Have Graced the New Faces Stage. Some
    314 performers, new face book 39 years, 1 stage undreds of country artists have graced the New Faces stage. Some of them twice. An accounting of every one sounds like an enormous Requests Htask...until you actually do it and realize the word “enormous” doesn’t quite measure up. 3 friend requests Still, the Country Aircheck team dug in and tracked down as many as possible. We asked a few for their memories of the experience. For others, we were barely able to find biographical information. And we skipped the from his home in Nashville. for Nestea, Miller Beer, Pizza Hut and “The New Faces Show had Union 76, among others. details on artists who are still active. (If you need us to explain George Strait, all those radio people, and for instance, you’re probably reading the wrong publication.) Enjoy. I made a lot of friends. I do Jeanne Pruett: Alabama native Pruett remember they had me use enjoyed a solid string of hits from the early the staff band, and I was ’70s right into the ’80s including the No. resides in Nashville, still tours and will suffering some anxiety over not being able 1 smash, “Satin Sheets.” Pruett is based receive a star in the Hollywood Walk of to use my band.” outside of Nashville and is still active as a 1970 Fame in October, 2009. performer and as a member of the Grand Jack Barlow: He charted with Ole Opry. hits like “Baby, Ain’t That Love” Bobby Harden: Starting out with his two 1972 and “Birmingham Blues,” but by sisters as the pop-singing Harden Trio, Connie Eaton: The Nashville native started Mel Street: West Virginian Street racked the mid-’70s Barlow had become the nationally Harden cracked the country Top 50 back her country career as a teenager and hit the up a long string of hits throughout the ’70s, famous voice of Big Red chewing gum.
    [Show full text]
  • Erykah Badu – New Amerykah Pt.2 (Return of the Ankh) Mariah Carey
    Great New Releases Inside!! Erykah Badu –– New Amerykah Pt.2 (Return Of The Ankh) Mariah Carey –– Angels Advocate Easton Corbin –– Easton Corbin And more… UNI10-11 “““OOOuuurrr aaasssssseeetttsss ooonnn---llliiinnneee””” UNIVERSAL MUSIC 2450 Victoria Park Ave., Suite 1, Willowdale, Ontario M2J 5H3 Phone: (416) 718.4000 Artwork shown may not be final II N TT EE RR SS CC O PP EE // UU N II VV EE RR SS AA L II SS LL AA N D DD EE FF JJ AA M NEW RELEASE Artist/Title: Various / Today’s Best Music 2010 Artist/Title: The Canadian Tenors / The Canadian Tenors (International version) Cat. #: 0075324519 Price Code: SPSP Cat. #: B001350902 Price Code: SPSP Bar Code: Bar Code: Order Due: March 11, 2010 Release Date: March 30, 2010 66 02527 20514 44 File: Pop / Genre Code: Box Lot: 25 Order Due: ASAP Release Date: Mar 9, 2010 Compilation 33 / 14 File: Pop / Vocal Genre Code: 33/42 Box Lot: 2525 Key Tracks: Black Eyed Peas – – Meet Me Halfway AS SEEN ON OPRAH, DR. PHIL and NBA GAME!!!!Their Down With Webster – – Rich Girl$ debut CD - International version now with 2 extra tracks OneRepublic – – All The Right Moves “Hallelujah” and “The Prayer”. The Canadian Tenors have been winning over audiences with THE ULTIMATE HITS COLLECTION! their heartfelt melodies and compelling live performances since the release of their self-titled debut. Hailed by 15-time- Grammy-winning producer David Foster as “following in the TODAY’S BEST MUSIC 2010 features the hottest footsteps of Josh Groban and Andrea Bocelli,” The Canadian collection of “Today’s Best Music” featuring hits from Lady GaGa, Black Eyed Peas, Faber Drive, Marianas Trench Tenors - in the midst of an 80-city North American tour.
    [Show full text]
  • The Jazz Gene: Examining the Use of Jazz Aesthetics in Hip-Hop Music P
    The Jazz Gene: Examining the use of Jazz Aesthetics in Hip-Hop Music P. Thomas Francis A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN MUSIC YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO JUNE 2017 P. Thomas Francis, 2017 ii ABSTRACT This thesis is made up of 7 original compositions that aid in exploring the common cultural traits and practices of African-American music — referred to using the metaphor of the Jazz ‘Gene’. These conventions are historically contextualized and analyzed through two categories of rhythm and harmony from a post-Jazz perspective. The compositions in this thesis also highlight influences and artists from various African-American genres whose active compositional styles create unique frameworks in their genres — such as James Brown, Joshua Redman, Roy Hargrove, Robert Glasper, and Dr. Dre. I surmise that without these common traits and practices found through these unique frameworks, Hip-Hop music would not persevere or evolve. These aesthetics exist in Hip-Hop just as much as they exist in Funk, Soul, R&B, Gospel, and Jazz music. iii DEDICATION This paper is dedicated to my family. Mom, Dad, Shelkah, and Sherma, thank you for your continued support and I hope this paper does you all proud. Catherine, you are reason the house is a home, the little volcanoes, and the dream that came to life to which my life becomes a dream. Thank you for ALWAYS being available and constantly reading, re-reading, and staring at these pages until I couldn’t take it anymore! You’re brilliant and wonderful.
    [Show full text]
  • The Moving Power of Parliament Funkadelic
    Funk Is Its Own Reward: The Moving Power of Parliament Funkadelic An Honors Thesis by Vladimir Gutkovich Contents Introduction: Make my Funk the P-Funk! 3 I. The Birth and Rise of the P-Funk Empire: A Discography Synopsis 11 II. Everything is on the ONE: The Music of the Funk Mob 22 1. Musical Beginnings: “Free Your Mind, And Your Ass Will Follow” 24 2. Everything is on the ONE! 28 3. Controlled Chaos: P-Funk’s Anti-Formula 33 4. Funk as a Way of Life 35 III. Funkentelechy: The P-Funk Vision 38 1. Funk Used to Be a Bad Word 39 2. The Politics of P-Funk 41 i. P-Funk Vs. American Wrongs 41 ii. P-Funk and Black America 44 iii. One Nation Under a Groove 47 3. Transcefunkadentalism: The Church of Funk 50 iv. The Dogma of P-Funk 50 v. Funk is its Own Reward: The Prescriptive Philosophy of P-Funk 53 IV. Parliament Funkadelic Live: No Ordinary Funk Show 60 1. Learning to Play LIVE 63 2. Larger than Life: Costumes, Characters and Charisma 64 3. Visualizing the Myth: Props at P-Funk Shows 66 4. P-Funk and Dancing: Salvation by Way of (Communal) Booty-Shaking 68 V. “Mothership Connection” Live 72 Conclusion: “Ain’t No Party Like a P-Funk Party, ‘Cause a P-Funk Party Don’t Stop!” 82 1 1. George Clinton and P-Funk’s Careers Since the 1980’s 82 2. Parliament Funkadelic and Hip-Hop 86 3. Rising Above it All: P-Funk and Trancing 90 Appendix A: A Partial Discography of Parliament, Funkadelic, George Clinton, and the P-Funk All-Stars 95 Works Cited 98 Albums Cited 101 Appendix B: Vladimir Gutkovich’s Thesis Recital 103 2 Introduction: Make My Funk the P-Funk! “While most critics want to put the holy trinity [Beatles, Stones, Zeppelin] on a pedestal, with the world domination of hip-hop culture and the large role that P-Funk has played in the sound of hip-hop music, I dare say that P-Funk’s impact can be felt much more strongly thirty years later than of those three bands.
    [Show full text]
  • Sexy Songs: a Study of Gender Construction in Contemporary Music Genres Lea Tessitore Union College - Schenectady, NY
    Union College Union | Digital Works Honors Theses Student Work 6-2012 Sexy Songs: A Study of Gender Construction in Contemporary Music Genres Lea Tessitore Union College - Schenectady, NY Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses Part of the Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Commons, and the Musicology Commons Recommended Citation Tessitore, Lea, "Sexy Songs: A Study of Gender Construction in Contemporary Music Genres" (2012). Honors Theses. 910. https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/910 This Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Work at Union | Digital Works. It has been accepted for inclusion in Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of Union | Digital Works. For more information, please contact [email protected]. i “Sexy” Songs: A Study of Gender Construction in Contemporary Music Genres By Lea M. Tessitore * * * * * * * * * * Senior Thesis Submitted to the Political Science Department in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for Graduation UNION COLLEGE March 2012 ii Acknowledgements I would like to extend a heartfelt Thank You To my Mom Your complete support made everything possible To all of my Professors at Union For helping me to grow intellectually and as a person To my Friends For being wonderful colleagues and for being true friends iii Table of Contents Preface……………………………………………………………………………………v Introduction………………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter I………………………………………………………………………………….5 Rap/Hip-Hop Music Chapter II….…………………………………………………………………………….33 Country Music Chapter III…………….…………………………………………………………………67 Punk Rock Music Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………...99 Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………..113 iv “One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” - Simone de Beauvoir “Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” - Victor Hugo v Preface This study focuses on gender construction in contemporary music genres, including Rap/Hip-hop, Country, and Punk Rock.
    [Show full text]
  • Browngirl Narratives Final Draft Reddy 8.15.13
    ABSTRACT: Title of Dissertation: BROWNGIRL NARRATIVES: EXPLORING COMING OF AGE IN THE GOLDEN ERA OF HIP HOP (1986-1996) Melissa Kim Chae Reddy, Doctor of Philosophy, 2013 Dissertation Directed By: Associate Professor Psyche Williams-Forson Department of American Studies “Browngirl Narratives” seeks to gain a clearer understanding of what we can learn from the textual evidence about the experiences of browngirls who came of age during the post-civil rights Golden Age of Hip Hop (1986-1996) by examining the contemporary literature, film, social media and music produced by and about these black women. It is an inquiry into the ways in which browngirls who came of age in the United States1 negotiate the dominant scripts that exist in their lives––literature, music, film, television and the Internet––to create and craft their own stories. The aim here is to utilize an interdisciplinary, black female-centered framework to fully problematize phenomena such as self-creation, empowerment, and sexual exploration in the lives of black women who came of age during the approximate ten year period of 1986-196. This study is an examination of black female bidungsromane–– black female cultural texts which illustrate the coming of age and/or development processes. Additionally it is an investigation into what we can learn about the ongoing 1! The United States and its territories such as Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, U.S. Minor Outlying Islands. individuation processes for post-civil rights browngirls by engaging texts produced by and about these women. “Browngirl Narratives,” examines various literary, visual and aural texts by and/or about women of African descent that explore coming of age in the lives of browngirls who came of age in Golden Era.
    [Show full text]
  • The Beautiful Struggle: an Analysis of Hip-Hop Icons, Archetypes and Aesthetics
    THE BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE: AN ANALYSIS OF HIP-HOP ICONS, ARCHETYPES AND AESTHETICS ________________________________________________________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Temple University Graduate Board ________________________________________________________________________ in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ________________________________________________________________________ by William Edward Boone August, 2008 ii © William Edward Boone 2008 All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT The Beautiful Struggle: an Analysis of Hip-Hop Icons, Archetypes and Aesthetics William Edward Boone Doctor of Philosophy Temple University, 2008 Doctoral Advisory Committee Chair: Nathaniel Norment, Ph.D. Hip hop reached its thirty-fifth year of existence in 2008. Hip hop has indeed evolved into a global phenomenon. This dissertation is grounded in Afro-modern, Afrocentric and African-centered theory and utilizes textual and content analysis. This dissertation offers a panoramic view of pre-hip hop era and hip hop era icons, iconology, archetypes and aesthetics and teases out their influence on hip hop aesthetics. I identify specific figures, movements and events within the context of African American and American folk and popular culture traditions and link them to developments within hip hop culture, iconography, and aesthetics. Chapter 1 provides an introduction, which includes a definition of terms, statement of the problem and literature review. It also offers a perfunctory discussion of hip hop
    [Show full text]
  • Songs by Artist
    Songs by Artist Title DiscID Title DiscID 10 Years 2 Pac & Eric Will Wasteland SC8966-13 Do For Love MM6299-09 10,000 Maniacs 2 Pac & Notorious Big Because The Night SC8113-05 Runnin' SC8858-11 Candy Everybody Wants DK082-04 2 Unlimited Like The Weather MM6066-07 No Limits SF006-05 More Than This SC8390-06 20 Fingers These Are The Days SC8466-14 Short Dick Man SC8746-14 Trouble Me SC8439-03 3 am 100 Proof Aged In Soul Busted MRH10-07 Somebody's Been Sleeping SC8333-09 3 Colours Red 10Cc Beautiful Day SF130-13 Donna SF090-15 3 Days Grace Dreadlock Holiday SF023-12 Home SIN0001-04 I'm Mandy SF079-03 Just Like You SIN0012-08 I'm Not In Love SC8417-13 3 Doors Down Rubber Bullets SF071-01 Away From The Sun SC8865-07 Things We Do For Love SFMW832-11 Be Like That MM6345-09 Wall Street Shuffle SFMW814-01 Behind Those Eyes SC8924-02 We Do For Love SC8456-15 Citizen Soldier CB30069-14 112 Duck & Run SC3244-03 Come See Me SC8357-10 Here By Me SD4510-02 Cupid SC3015-05 Here Without You SC8905-09 Dance With Me SC8726-09 It's Not My Time (I Won't Go) CB30070-01 It's Over Now SC8672-15 Kryptonite SC8765-03 Only You SC8295-04 Landing In London CB30056-13 Peaches & Cream SC3258-02 Let Me Be Myself CB30083-01 Right Here For You PHU0403-04 Let Me Go SC2496-04 U Already Know PHM0505U-07 Live For Today SC3450-06 112 & Ludacris Loser SC8622-03 Hot & Wet PHU0401-02 Road I'm On SC8817-10 12 Gauge Train CB30075-01 Dunkie Butt SC8892-04 When I'm Gone SC8852-11 12 Stones 3 Doors Down & Bob Seger Crash TU200-04 Landing In London CB30056-13 Far Away THR0411-16 3 Of A Kind We Are One PHMP1008-08 Baby Cakes EZH038-01 1910 Fruitgum Co.
    [Show full text]