Hypermasculinity in Pop Culture

Skye Boutte

Sociology 4150

Prof. Sara Herndon       

8 October 2018

Unapologetic Blackness in Its Prime

            “Unapologetically black” is the refusal to conform or care about what the dominant race thinks, which, in our case, is white people. In my opinion, it completely abandons the idea “double consciousness” that W.E.B. Dubois wrote about and allows for only blackness in whatever form one wants it to be.  Many African American people, myself included, have spent their lives making sure they didn’t fit the negative stereotypes that people assumed about black people. The recent rise of Unapologetic Blackness has changed this narrative completely. People are now doing what they want including wearing their natural hair, creating black shows that do include the stereotypes and making music for black people that is created for the purpose of empowering black people regardless of the black lash from other consumers. This phenomenon has empowered the black community, black women especially, to accept that they can be themselves, that it’s not our job to conform; it’s the world’s job to learn to see us as human and to see that, like everyone else, we have culture; it may not be the dominant one or fit the mold that the dominant culture wants us to, but it’s ours to express nonetheless.

1.      Angela Rye on CNN- https://youtu.be/4q9TcaEZwJs?t=377

2.      Four Women by Nina Simone- https://youtu.be/ABNK1K-6-fA

3.      The story of OJ by Jay- Z - https://youtu.be/RM7lw0Ovzq0

4.      Craig of the Creek; Season 1 Episode 9 - https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/craig-of-the-creek/monster-in-the-garden-episode.html

5.      Black by Buddy ft. A$AP Ferg - https://youtu.be/tAOGX9AhoxI

1.       Angela Rye on CNN- In this clip we see Angela Rye with braids to her scalp making her point to another political commentator. She mentions at the very end of her statement that she would never claim a bigot president. She further explains that the bigotry of the administration and their politics are the same types of rhetoric that were used to justify slavery. This is unapologetically black in two ways. First because she is on national television as a commentator on one of the biggest new stations in America with scalp braids or cornrows; there are very few black women that are political commentators on CNN. This wouldn’t have been acceptable even five years ago. However, in a time of positivity towards the black image and acceptance within our own communities of our styles and trends, the world is forced to accept us in whatever form we present. In the time of respectability politics we would see a black woman with bone straight hair and never a woman with braids, particularly not cornrows. The second reason why this is an unapologetically black clip is because she addressed bigotry head on and made the other commentator realize the similarity in the rhetoric in the current admiration and the rhetoric that promoted slavery and keep people of African descent in such a disadvantaged place here in America.  I have never seen a black woman on CNN with braids before; this was particular empowering for me.

2.      Four Women by Nina Simone – In this song Nina Simone describes four different women of four different skin tones with different experiences of blackness. She addresses the stereotypes that the dominant race would assume about the women; it seems almost as if she’s making a point that so what if I am the stereo type. For example, she describes a yellow colored woman whose father raped her mother and because of it she has to survive between the two worlds of black and white. This is what the life was believed to be like for most fair skinned black women. This is unapologetically black because it forces the listener to reckon with stereotypes and the fact that yes they are real, but yes the women also have names. The women have identity no matter what stereotype they fit. This is something that I believe has come to be now. Women, black women especially, are protecting each other no matter what stereotypes we fit.

3.      The story of OJ by Jay- Z - In this song Jay- Z addresses the flaws of the African American community head on while using the N-word throughout the entire song.  Not only does he address colorism by equating all n-words to each other, he addresses the over equalization of black women in the video by doing a character of a black woman in a burlesque club. He addressed his own climb to wealth by speaking on how he used drug money buy property and then legitimized himself. I believe this video is unapologetically black because it speaks directly to black people about how to accumulate wealth. Even people who have illegal means of making money could learn how to accumulate wealth from the song. He didn’t make the song for people who already have wealth or have easy access to education on how to accumulate wealth. In addition, the amount of times he uses the n- word says to me that it’s not a song for anyone else, but people who culturally are entitled to the n-word. Jay- Z made this song and the video for black people and no one else. He uses phrasing and wording that are easy for a lay man to understand and put it in a song to make it entertaining while still teaching a lesson where even people who can’t read can get the message.

4.      Craig of the Creek; Season 1 Episode 9 – In this episode of Craig of the Creek, there are a lot of small details that lend themselves to the movement towards unapologetic blackness. I am particular fond of this part of my playlist because the creators of the show are not black, but they managed to make a great show with great representation of black people and the black family. In the episode Craig’s parents, his mother with her natural hair in a “pineapple” his father with his slightly grown out afrow, bring him to his grandparents’ house for the weekend. In the very beginning of the show Craig asks his mom “When will we get to grandparent’s house?” his mother responds with a slight attitude, “When you get your behind back in that seat o-clock.” I have never heard a more accurate representation of how black mothers answer their children on a cartoon in my life. This show brings authentic blackness to each character even down to the details of how they speak, their style, their hair and their personalities. This is the epitome of unapologetic blackness. This is made for black children to have something that they can relate to. The type of images in this show are extremely nurturing for children of color.

5.      Black by Buddy ft. A$AP Ferg – Let’s begin with the fact that the name of the song is black. This song is a song about pride in blackness. The video shows images of black heroes and places that are either black owned or black neighborhoods. He mentions “with this black hoodie on I feels like Trayvon [Martin]” and continues to speak on Huey Newton, who fought for equality as a leader of the Black Panther party. He moves on to talk about oppression and much more. This song is only a song that black people can relate to. This type of music could be considered protest music, but it’s an affirmation, in my opinion. The song normalizes blackness, buy addressing the writers own blackness. This song did not make the Billboard’s top 100. I think it’s because it was too black, so black that the dominant culture couldn’t enjoy it even if they tried.