Copyright by Krishnan Vasudevan 2017
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Copyright by Krishnan Vasudevan 2017 The Dissertation Committee for Krishnan Vasudevan Certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: Black Media Producers of Austin, Texas: Critical Media Production and Design as Citizenship Committee: Mary Angela Bock, Supervisor Wenhong Chen Donna DeCesare Robert Jensen S. Craig Watkins Black Media Producers of Austin, Texas: Critical Media Production and Design as Active Citizenship by Krishnan Vasudevan Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Texas at Austin August 2017 Dedication This is dedicated to all of the storytellers, social workers and teachers who fight for equality. Please never stop. Acknowledgements Throughout my life, strong women have guided my path and this process was no different. I could not have completed this process without the enduring support of my brilliant and beautiful wife, Mairead, who always believes in me. I am tremendously grateful to my dissertation chair Professor Mary Angela Bock for seeing value in the hodgepodge of disparate ideas I originally presented to her. My selfless and wise sisters, Lalitha and Veena, not only laid out the road map for me to base my own journey but also were always there to listen. I am so thankful for the unconditional love of my mother and father. I want to acknowledge my supportive dissertation committee who allowed and encouraged me to think differently. Finally but perhaps most importantly, this project could not have existed had it not been for the participation of nine tremendously talented visual artists. I learned so much from them and cannot thank them enough for sharing their time and stories with me. v Black Media Producers of Austin, Texas: Critical Media Production and Design as Citizenship Krishnan Vasudevan, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2017 Supervisor: Mary Angela Bock The latest epoch of Black activism in the United States has emerged in response to the brutal treatment of Black citizens at the hands of law enforcement. Digital production software and networks have allowed Black citizen media producers to circumvent traditional authorities of knowledge production such as news media and have also engendered pathways to develop new and counter knowledge about racial and social inequality. This three part immersive study based on nearly 900 hours of field research examines the lives and work of nine Black activist media makers in Austin, Texas and develops thick description through ethnography, critical discourse analysis and methods of visual anthropology. Austin provides a unique context for this study given its historical segregation of Black residents and recent gentrification during its rise as a cultural and economic juggernaut. This study makes theoretical contributions to critical race theory and political voice along with developing nuanced ideas about citizenship, journalism and design. vi Table of Contents List of Illustrations ................................................................................................. ix Chapter One: Introduction ....................................................................................... 1 Austin: America’s Third coast ........................................................................ 4 Independent Black Media Producers of Austin .............................................. 7 Chapter Two: Foundation ..................................................................................... 10 Documentary film history ............................................................................. 11 User-generated content & Voice .................................................................. 17 Intersections of Design and Media Production ................................... 23 Voice .................................................................................................... 26 New Media and activism .............................................................................. 27 Race and Media ............................................................................................ 32 Literature Summary ...................................................................................... 38 Problem Statement ........................................................................................ 39 Chapter Three: Methodology and Methods ........................................................... 44 Ethnography ................................................................................................. 45 Critical Discourse Analysis .......................................................................... 47 Visual Anthropology and Documentary ....................................................... 48 Grounded Analysis ....................................................................................... 49 Self-Reflexivity ............................................................................................ 52 IRB and Participants ..................................................................................... 54 Data Collection .................................................................................... 58 Chapter Four: Cultural Production from the Margins .......................................... 61 Cultural production from the margins .......................................................... 62 Creativist Impulse ................................................................................ 63 Spatial Margins .................................................................................... 65 Re-contextualization and Encoding Counter-Narratives .............................. 67 Re-contextualization Model ................................................................ 67 vii Re-contextualizing Visual Representation of Black Identity .............. 68 Re-contextualizing Space .................................................................... 71 Re-contextualizing Under Accessed Margins ..................................... 76 Political voice ............................................................................................... 81 Chapter Five: How Digital Affordances Support Material Voice and Hybrid Race Assemblage ................................................................................................... 85 Interactive Affordances ................................................................................ 86 Voice as a Social Process .................................................................... 86 Cultivating Hybrid Space .................................................................... 90 Self-Publishing and Branding .............................................................. 92 Witnessing .................................................................................................... 96 Digital Racism .............................................................................................. 98 Hybrid Race assemblage and material voice ................................................ 99 Chapter Six: Critical Media Production as Critical Race Design ...................... 108 Media production as human centered design ............................................. 109 Design as a Critical Response .................................................................... 112 Micah’s Racial Project ...................................................................... 113 Critical race design and Metonymy ............................................................ 116 Trayvon’s 21st Birthday ..................................................................... 120 Critical Race Design and Citizenship ......................................................... 121 Activism ............................................................................................ 122 Community ........................................................................................ 125 Chapter Seven: Conclusion ................................................................................. 129 Participant Feedback .................................................................................. 133 Strengths and Limitations ........................................................................... 134 Implications for future research .................................................................. 138 viii Appendix A: Participant Table ........................................................................... 142 Appendix B: Interview protocol .......................................................................... 144 Appendix C: Sample Field Note .......................................................................... 147 References ........................................................................................................... 149 ix List of Illustrations Illustration 1: Diane’s creative process ................................................................. 70 Illustration 2: A photo from Simon’s gallery show ............................................... 73 Illustration 3: The third painting in Epiphany’s Creation series. .......................... 78 Illustration 4: Pablo’s sketch of a politician posing for a “selfie.” ........................ 89 Illustration 5: A photo Laila published on her Instagram account ...................... 104 Illustration 6: Micah’s interactive installation piece ........................................... 115 Illustration