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Framing White Nationalism in Spike Lee's 'BlacKkKlansman'

Spike Lee's BlacKkKlansman most dramatically reveals how race is a performance, not a biological essence, as it focuses on the importance of language in structuring racial representations.

Film

'May We Forever Stand' Explains Why "Lift Every Voice and Sing" Is an Immortal Song

"Lift Every Voice and Sing" has been embedded in black America's DNA for more than 100 years. We've sung it every February ever since Black History Month was a thing, and every December since Kwanzaa was a thing.

Books

On a Turning Point for Martin Luther King, Jr.

Biographer Patrick Parr takes readers through a vital and decisive phase of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life virtually unexplored by other biographers.

Books

Civil Rights Document, 'A More Beautiful and Terrible History', Is Revelatory, Sobering and Relevant

Theoharis's work is deeply (and sadly) relevant to our current condition. Many of the same issues Theoharis decries -- media inattention, liberal passivity on racial justice issues, government harassment of activists -- are still in play.

Books

The Rationality of Violence: The Kerner Commission and the Riots of 1967

Separate and Unequal provides a riveting account of a crucial moment in US history. It offers a penetrating insight into the manner in which good intentions and just causes necessarily confront the mechanisms of governmental bureaucracy.

Books

Is This the Death of Democracy in America?

The United States has pulled back from the brink of authoritarianism before. But a new study reveals the daunting challenges the country faces in preserving its democracy.

Culture

'Bunk' Joins the Dots Between Barnum and Trump

Kevin Young painstakingly presents the history of hoaxes and why we keep falling for the same old shtick.

Books

'A Pictographic History of the Oglala Sioux, 50th Anniversary Edition' Is a Treasure

There's really nothing quite like this in other collections of "primitive" art, or even in the grand narrative painting from the European tradition.

Books

'Chocolate Cities' Draws New Maps of Black American Life

A classic Parliament track inspires a new look at how black Americans moved, made connections, and created a nation-within-a-nation.

Books

'Cartoon County' Life in Post-WWII America

Cartoon County reminds that beneath a post-WWII decade of seeming complacency and prosperity, comics strips were clear reflections of a society in transition.

Books

'Soul of a Nation' and 'The Wall of Respect' Prompt New Looks at Cutting-edge Black Art

No matter where you are on the wokeness spectrum, the Black Power era has yet to stop informing.

Books

A Weak Case for the Important Issue of 'Muslims and the Making of America'

A book like Muslims and the Making of America is necessary in these times, and it's for that very reason that Hussain's effort is so disappointing.

Books

Nobody Won the 'War for the Soul of America'

Andrew Hartman’s engaging exploration of the culture wars confirms that the conflicts will never be resolved because both sides are too extreme for America's moderate middle-ground.

Reviews

The Love of Light: Gore Vidal, 1925 - 2012

We must approach any consideration of Gore Vidal's vast body of work with fear and trembling, because if we do not properly understand and absorb his wisdom, we will have missed yet another opportunity to truly grasp American history and identity.

Politics

'The President is a Sick Man': Delightfully Underhanded Stories of Deception and Manipulation

Matthew Algeo's engaging book takes an obscure piece of history and crafts it into an engrossing narrative.

Reviews

Art and the American Evolution: The Arts of the Americas Wing at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts

In America, art tells the story of an early predominance of classical European ideals, the emergence of a national identity amidst civil war, and the melting-pot existentialism that dominated a media-obsessed 20th century.

Culture

Pop Ten

The 25 Best Electronic Albums of 2018

The Best Jazz of 2018

The Best Pop Albums of 2018

The Best Metal of 2018

The Best Indie Pop of 2018

The 20 Best Folk Albums of 2018

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The Best World Music of 2018

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