Race – The Pop Culture Philosopher

Die, or Get Better?

June 6, 2020 Chris SunamiIdentity

In these days of pandemic, American democracy lies sick, burning not with fever but with fire. Every illness must come to one end or the other. Will she die, or will she get better? The[…]

Long Division

April 4, 2019March 30, 2019 Chris SunamiLiterature

I first encountered author Kiese Laymon when I read his essay “You are the Second Person,” an unapologetically bridge-burning reckoning of his encounter with a assimilationist editor who tried to deracinate his work. What stuck[…]

Image by Nishant Goswami

Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man’s Chest

March 28, 2019March 29, 2019 Chris SunamiCompetition

The second Pirates movie was an entertaining romp, with some great action sequences, featuring the always-compelling Johnny Depp. However, the film also featured a disturbing racial subtext.   Most blatantly, the film trafficked in broad racial[…]

We Invented the Remix, Part II

November 8, 2018November 7, 2018 Chris SunamiHip Hop

Last time, we looked at hip-hop sampling as a outgrowth of African polyphony, a way of creating something new by placing a different and contrasting line over the original. But there is more to it[…]

Black Music As Philosophy: We Invented the Remix, Part I

November 1, 2018October 31, 2018 Chris SunamiHip Hop

Hip-hop music is unique. It has been multiracial from the start, and it has been embraced and naturalized all over the globe, and yet it still retains a basic, unbreakable connection with its natal black[…]

image by Natilles

Not Playing the Background

October 18, 2018October 18, 2018 Chris SunamiMusic

Out of all the great black American talents, the ones who have arguably fared the best are the singers and musicians. While it may only be a fraction of what they deserve, they have at[…]

Image by Allison Adams

Zora Neale Hurston and the Problem of Audience

July 26, 2018February 11, 2019 Chris SunamiArt

My first real understanding of the power of affinity on attention came in 9th grade. When my teacher assigned a project called “The African-European Connection,” I was enthralled by history for the first time, as[…]

"Octavia Butler" by Sandy Oppenheimer

Kindred

June 28, 2018June 27, 2018 Chris SunamiIdentity

Repost in honor of Butler’s birthday, and her selection for a Google Doodle: The late, great Octavia Butler was best-known as a rare black female superstar in a genre –science-fiction –largely dominated by white men.[…]

Image by Leo and Diane Dillon

Wokepedia: Justice Trilogy

June 7, 2018May 26, 2018 Chris SunamiLiterature

Fourth in my “Wokepedia” series of case studies of consciousness-raising Wikipedia edits. The Justice Trilogy: This week’s entry, the “Justice Trilogy,” is a little more involved, because it included not only creating a brand-new page[…]

The Pop Culture Philosopher

Books, Music, Movies and Philosophy (Updates Thursdays)

Category: Race

Long Division

Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man’s Chest

We Invented the Remix, Part II

Black Music As Philosophy: We Invented the Remix, Part I

Not Playing the Background

Zora Neale Hurston and the Problem of Audience

Kindred

Wokepedia: Justice Trilogy