#postbymesk

[lcrhms-blog]

The above graphic (source) illustrates the difference in ticket sales between an average weekend and Black Panther’s opening weekend in cities with a large black population.

The authors write:

“The numbers are especially remarkable considering that people of color also probably traveled farther to see the film -- many more than once -- because historically, there are fewer theaters in predominantly African American neighborhoods.”

Also worth noting:

“We want to make sure that African-American themed films and blockbuster films that have a predominantly black cast do well,” said [Mia] Mask [a professor of theater at Vassar College]. “However, that argument relies so much on these individual blockbuster films, these rare opportunities, to carry the significance of black film and confirm the commercial viability of black films to studios.”

[rhmsdm-blog]

And we’re back! That was an exciting 24hrs.

[rhmsdm-blog]

Tim Berners-Lee weighs in on Facebook’s latest privacy scandal in a short Twitter thread (I had no idea he was on Twitter!).

This thread by Zeynep Tufekci could also be potentially helpful to understand the wide-ranging implications of FB’s data collection habits, but I have not had enough time to sift through it in detail.

[lcrhms-blog]

Here is G. Willow Wilson, the writer of Ms. Marvel, talking about the creation of the comic and what it means for contemporary American culture.

[rhmsdm-blog]

Here’s a video of Safiya Noble discussing her research on algorithms and race.

Abstract of her talk:

“The landscape of information is rapidly shifting as new imperatives and demands push to the fore increasing investment in digital technologies. Yet, critical information scholars continue to demonstrate how digital technology and its narratives are shaped by and infused with values that are not impartial, disembodied, or lacking positionality. Technologies consist of a set of social practices, situated within the dynamics of race, gender, class, and politics, and in the service of something -- a position, a profit motive, a means to an end. In this talk, Safiya Umoja Noble, Assistant Professor in the Annenberg School of Communication at USC, will examine the power struggles over representation on the web, and the consequences of marginalization and misrepresentation in commercial information platforms like Google search.”

[rhmsdm-blog]

The latest issue (Vol 12, 2018) of the International Journal of Communication as a special section on “Privacy on the Margins,” which addresses, among other things, surveillance and tracking. One of the editors of this section is danah boyd, whose book It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens we will read next week. The other editor is Alice Marwick, who wrote a great book called Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity, and Branding in the Social Media Age.

[lcrhms-blog]

A brief video introducing Image Comics.

[lcrhms-blog]

In Media Res, which promotes short-form multimedia scholarly work, is hosting a week on the cultural significance of black hair. In the introduction, Kimberly R. Moffitt and Tunisia Lumpkin write,

“In a society fraught with exploring identity politics, the value that Black hair has in the African-American community makes it a worthy topic for examination through popular culture and media. Black hair and by extension the Black body has historically embodied material consequences for the Black community and provided us with rich capital about understanding one’s ethnic identity, economics/class, sexuality, ability, power and politics.”

The short IMR essays relate to Kristen Warner’s article on Scandal fans. Warner discusses how black women who are fans of Scandal often comment on the state of Olivia Pope’s hair.