Cultural appropriation is not the sincerest form of flattery! On today's episode, Alyssa and Brendane tackle the slippery concept that is cultural appropriation. In What's The Word? they tackle the age old anthropological question of what is "culture," and explain what cultural appropriation most certainly is not. What We're Reading for this episode is bell hooks' "Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance" to unpack how cultural appropriation serves a double duty, simultaneously reinforcing the power and dominance of the appropriator and it diminishing the value of the appropriated by objectifying and exoticizing elements of their way of life. In the What in the World?! segment, we discuss some reader questions and talk about Kahlil Greene's TikTok series “How everything Gen Z does originated with Black people,” white women twerking and saying 'gang gang,' and the new film In The Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
Also, the book Alyssa mentions about red beans is actually Rice and Beans: A Unique Dish in a Hundred Places edited by Richard Wilk and Livia Barbosa. Oops!
Thank you all for an incredible year of the podcast! We'll be back in September with a new semester. In the meantime, take care of yourself and each other. Asé
P.S. Our episode art this week was inspired by Sha'Carri Richardson, future Olympian!
Liked what you heard? Donate here!
Discussed this week:
Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance (bell hooks, 1992)
The Ethics of Cultural Appropriation (James O. Young and Conrad G. Brunk, 2012)
"Kim K" (K. Michelle, 2017)
Hide your Shea Butter (Crystal Valentine and Aaliyah Jihad, 2016)
White Negroes: When Cornrows Were in Vogue ... and Other Thoughts on Cultural Appropriation (Lauren Michele Jackson, 2019)
Other Readings:
Consuming the Caribbean: From Arawaks to Zombies (Mimi Sheller, 2003)
Eating their Words: The Consumption of French Caribbean Literature (Celia Britton, 2014)
Slavery and the Culture of Taste (Simon Gikandi, 2014)
Black Matters (Toni Morrison, 1992)
ZD merch available here and the syllabus for ZD 102 is here!
Let us know what you thought of the episode @zorasdaughters on Instagram and @zoras_daughters on Twitter!
Transcript will be available on our website here.
S3, E14 Reimagining Zora
Bonus Episode: Hot Takes
ICONversations, Pt. 4: Dr. Yolanda T. Moses
ICONversations, Pt. 3: Tracy Heather Strain
ICONversations, Pt. 2: Dr. Johnnetta B. Cole
ICONversations, Pt. 1: Dr. Irma McClaurin
S3, E9 You Asked, We Answered!
S3, E8 The Crown Chronicles
S3, E7 We Call Her Zora
S3, E6 Diary of Mad Black Women
S3, E5 It's Not You, It's Them: Tips for Academic Conferences
S3, E4 All Skinfolk Ain't Kinfolk
S3, E3 Looting the Womb: Black Birthing People and Reproductive Unfreedom
S3, E2 The Death of Sovereignty
S3, E1 Dangerously in Love with Celebrity
S2, E16 Practicing Zora
S2, E15 What In The World?!
S2, E14 Defund the Non-Profit Industrial Complex
S2, E13 No Body is Normal
S2, E12 Villain Origin Story
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL