Year of Award
2018
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Type
Master of Arts (MA)
Degree Name
English (Literature)
Department or School/College
English
Committee Chair
Katie Kane
Commitee Members
Brady Harrison, Marton Marko
Keywords
Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, white supremacy, critical race theory, prison abolition, mass incarceration, intersectional feminism, The New Jim Crow
Subject Categories
African American Studies | American Literature | American Popular Culture | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | Visual Studies | Women's Studies
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the ways in which white supremacy created mass incarceration, specifically mass incarceration of black individuals, and how this continues to perpetuate a racial caste system in the United States. First, I examine contemporary novelist Colson Whitehead‘s The Underground Railroad to provide a historical background of white supremacy and slavery. Then, I argue that pop culture is one area in which artists are focused on the abolition of the prison-industrial complex and ending mass incarceration. Finally, I focus on JAY-Z‘s music video “The Story of O.J.“ and Beyoncé‘s visual album Lemonade and her 2018 Coachella performance to exemplify exactly how popular culture fights to end both mass incarceration and the racial caste system in the United States.
Recommended Citation
Ambrose, Corina Sacajawea, "Breaking Chains of Oppression: Popular Culture and the Plundering of Blackness" (2018). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11173.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11173
Included in
African American Studies Commons, American Literature Commons, American Popular Culture Commons, Visual Studies Commons, Women's Studies Commons
© Copyright 2018 Corina Sacajawea Ambrose