From the Catalogue: Ballers and Shawtys
During this class period students discussed the brutal treatment and sexual abuse of Black men during slavery. Students noted how many of the texts they are reading repeatedly refer to the men as “stock” or “animals.” In small groups students discussed their thoughts of the treatment and how it manifests today. Join the class in their course work by reading the article, “The Sexual Abuse of Black Men” by Thomas Foster.
In Fall 2021, Dr. Andia Augustin-Billy (Dr. AB, to her students) was the first Black professor to be granted tenure at Centenary. During Dr. AB’s tenure convocation, she challenged herself and her colleagues to think about who they were letting into their classrooms and onto their syllabi and whose perspective was being excluded. She is leading the charge with the introduction of the new May term course, Ballers and Shawtys: Deconstructing Black Manhood and Womanhood in America.
Ballers and Shawtys will examine how Black identity, gender, and sexuality are constructed and contested in literary texts and popular culture. It asks students questions such as, what makes a Black person a man or a woman? In what way do societal forces shape such construction? What role do music, organized religion, and family play in validating Black identity? How do Black men and women yearn and seek citizenship? How do they explore their sexuality?
The course is divided into eight themes: theoretical concepts, masculine lineage, shame and identity, the body, hip-hop, bruised bodies, the Black church, and Black love and sexuality. Dr. AB has thoughtfully curated a unique and diverse group of texts and media to explore. Students will look at James Baldwin’s, A Letter to My Nephew, read Marquita Smith’s, “Beyoncé: Hip hop feminism and the embodiment of black femininity,” and discuss contemporary films such as The Help and music by Kanye West. The course will also incorporate recent events, “The Slap,” between Will Smith and Chris Rock, and Meghan Markle’s and Rhianna’s pregnancies. Students will go beyond the classroom for a project that introduces them to a perspective potentially different from their own. They will investigate one of the course topics from a Black American’s perspective by interviewing a Black man and woman and formulating a report.
Ballers and Shawtys is providing students with a framework to analyze and look at how media and history shapes the Black man and woman’s perspective and how to dissect and evaluate it.