This research presentation situates the concept of homoertoic racism within the sports documentary genre in order to demonstrate its impact in the representation of the black male athlete. The increase in sports documentaries on streaming platforms, such as Netflix, demonstrates the seemingly unlimited access to consume this spectacle of blackness. The award-winning docuseries Last Chance U, first premiering as a Netflix Original in 2016, documents student-athletes at a community college who have dreams of playing at Division I schools and ultimately going into the NFL. The docuseries reveals how the concept of homoerotic racism within sports documentaries domesticates blacks by positioning them as objects of the male gaze, under the control of white supremacy. Using Season 1 of Last Chance U as a test case to investigate the larger presence of homoerotic racism in sports documentaries, this presentation employs media theorist John Fiske’s conception of television codes alongside feminist theorist Laura Mulvey’s concept of the male gaze. Ultimately this presentation advocates for more black filmmakers to make sports documentaries in order to reconstruct the way black male athletes are represented.

Data collection, literacy and application has become increasingly prevalent in our society. The submitted work is the first installation of the D.O.P.E Arts (Data Obstructions of Physical Environments) collective. This interdisciplinary group is a collective whose purpose is to interject art and technology into spaces that can create awareness, discourse, and visualization of issues that impact our community from the perspectives of both quantitative and qualitative data points. The ‘Our Community Values…’ installation is an interactive data collection sculpture that serves to survey the Spelman community on topics of interest and issues of personal, communal and societal impact. It speaks to determining and celebrating what our community values as important as well as the values of our diverse members. The installation will consist of an interactive mural that will host a parallel coordinate plane to serve as the foundation for participants to interact and engage as they share their values and perspectives while generating a beautiful data visualization.

From minstrelsy to jazz music, white Americans have always had a fascination with the culture of urban Black Americans. My research seeks to dissect this fascination of black culture through the careers of Jean Michel Basquiat and Virgil Abloh. Jean Michel Basquiat gained acclaim in the arts scene using his graffiti and a style deemed “primitive”, which allowed him to become a staple in American art history. Similarly, Virgil Abloh used streetwear clothing and pushed them into a luxury fashion space where they were traditionally denied. Through this project, I plan to further research the American tradition of urban black culture exploration as a means of monetary gain and cultural appropriation. This project is in no way to belittle or undermine the success of these two artists but, intends to further question why white art patrons only endorse certain styles of artwork from the black community? Although Virgil Abloh’s career started twenty-three years after the death of Jean Michel Basquiat, the parallels between these two artists of completely different disciplines is astounding and are worth further exploration. It is my hope that through the completion of this project I will understand white patronage and its relationship to the synthesizing of black urban culture into (white)mainstream society.

This paper seeks explore what happens when the activity of sewing is infused with a love for painting and design. Through fashion design, with a concentration in tailor-made bodysuits, I invite the investigation and exploration of self-expression, materialistic ingenuity and perception as it relates to: the body, gender fluidity, and self-consciousness.    Thematically, I intend to utilize this work as a way of addressing masculinity, sexual fluidity, and how the Black man begins to find sanctuary within his mind, body, and soul, so that his entry into manhood is less traumatic and more organic. Black Masculinity should be tailored to black men as individuals and to just generalizations and stereotypes.    Additionally, I intend to examine the terror situated within the Black male experience across the United States, specifically as it relates to males who identify as homosexual. This will speak directly through my own personal experiences and the utilization of materials such as: paint, photography, and fashion.