By Chidima Anekwe ’24 Editor-in-Chief A spectre is haunting Spotify… The woman, the myth, the legend, Mitsuki Miyawaki (more commonly known as Mitski) has recently blessed us all with her sixth studio album, Laurel Hell. The lead single, “Working for the Knife,” marks Mitski’s grand return from her two-year hiatus, a period in which, seemingly,…
Category: Criticism
Lessons from the Mother of Love
Why do Black people die early? Last year, the Marshall Project reported that Black Americans—at nearly every age—die at higher rates than their white counterparts. Lorraine Hansberry, 34. Martin Luther King Jr., 39. James Baldwin, 63. Google their names and so many of their pictures appear in black-and-white. Much of Blackness is prematurely historicized, but these…
The Black Monolith: A Critique of Beyonce’s Black is King
Recently, Beyoncé, a multi-platinum winning artist with billions of fans worldwide released a visual album titled Black is King. While the intentions were to bring pride to Blackness and Black people around the world, the film, which millions of people will now digest, is saturated with stereotypes about the African monolith that continues to bring…
Araby, Arabesque, and the Aesthetics of Arab-ness
In his collection of short stories “Dubliners,” James Joyce writes about a young boy infatuated with his friend’s older sister, Mangan. The boy spends his time curating happenstance such that he sees her nearly as often as he thinks of her. Their conversations are few and far between – rushed and inconsistent – until one…
Pero aquí estamos: A Review of El Huracán
“La sangre nos trata destrozar…El gobierno nos trata destrozar…Las tormentas nos tratan destrozar…Pero aquí estamos.” | “Our blood tries to destroy us…The government tries to destroy us…The storms try to destroy us…But here we are.” A storm is brewing in Miami, Florida in 1992. As a small Cuban family prepares to brace the storm, loyalty…