In this Multimedia Tumblr Journal, I explored how visual culture shapes narratives about race, power, privilege, and identity in America. By analyzing the portrayal of race and family dynamics in Season 2 of Empire, I examined how popular television addresses complex issues, including systemic racism, privilege, sexuality, and intersectional identities, ultimately influencing mainstream cultural perceptions.
Additionally, the stark realities of racism and injustice depicted in the film Just Mercy underscore the concept of intersectionality. They highlight how race and socioeconomic status profoundly affect individuals' experiences within the justice system. Furthermore, the powerful exhibit on blackface at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) prompted me to critically reflect on America’s historical construction of harmful racial stereotypes, revealing their lasting impacts today.
These selections reinforced key insights from my coursework, including Ronald Takaki’s exploration of marginalization, Chela Sandoval’s digital artivism, and Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s confrontational approach. Overall, this project deepened my awareness of these issues and strengthened my commitment to actively engage in advocacy and social justice in multicultural America.
National Museum of African American History and Culture: America and Blackface
Subject and Summary:
For my third multimedia journal entry, I explored the online exhibition America and Blackface by the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC). This comprehensive digital resource critically examines the historical roots, widespread popularity, and ongoing implications of blackface in American culture. Blackface began in early 19th-century minstrel shows, where white performers painted their faces black and performed exaggerated, derogatory caricatures of African Americans. These stereotypes portrayed Black individuals as lazy, unintelligent, inherently subservient, and comically inept. The practice became a cornerstone of American entertainment, shaping deeply ingrained societal views that perpetuate racial inequality to this day.
This exhibition aligns closely with our course topics addressing racial representation, privilege, and systemic discrimination. Ronald Takaki's A Different Mirror underscores how racial identities have historically been constructed through harmful stereotypes. Likewise, the NMAAHC exhibit vividly demonstrates how blackface imagery systematically created and reinforced racist attitudes, profoundly shaping public perceptions of Black Americans and institutionalizing white supremacy.
Representation, Identity, and Intersectionality:
Blackface minstrelsy's deliberate exaggerations profoundly affected perceptions of racial identity. The practice did not merely ridicule African Americans—it systematically dehumanized them, justifying racial violence, segregation, and discrimination. These portrayals penetrated American culture through advertisements, stage performances, films, television shows, and even children's entertainment, embedding racist attitudes deeply into national consciousness.
Intersectionality is also a critical component of the exhibit’s narrative. It emphasizes that blackface reinforced not only racial stereotypes but also gendered depictions. Black women were reduced to negative tropes such as the sexually aggressive Jezebel, the nurturing but submissive Mammy, or the hostile and argumentative Sapphire. Black men, meanwhile, were portrayed either as dangerously violent or childishly dependent—caricatures still visible in contemporary media portrayals today.
This resource closely aligns with the digital artivism discussed by Chela Sandoval, as the NMAAHC utilizes digital media to reclaim historical narratives and foster a critical examination of racism. Judy Baca's murals similarly employ visual media to challenge harmful stereotypes and empower communities; the museum's exhibition achieves similar empowerment through education and consciousness-raising.
Additionally, Guillermo Gómez-Peña's "Temple of Confessions" highlights how performance art can confront and challenge deeply held racial biases. The NMAAHC's blackface exhibit likewise creates a confrontational yet educational space that challenges viewers to acknowledge America's complex racial history and critically reflect on how racism persists today.
The inclusion of Dwan Reece's TED Talk, "The Origins of Blackface and Black Stereotypes," further deepens the conversation around racial representation. Reece emphasizes the enduring influence of these harmful depictions and their continuous reinforcement in American popular culture, underscoring the importance of understanding their historical context to dismantle modern racist stereotypes.
Ultimately, the America and Blackface digital exhibit engages essential conversations around race, representation, and cultural diversity, highlighting how historical injustices continue to shape contemporary racial relations.
Media Elements:
Website Link:
NMAAHC Exhibition: America and Blackface
TED Talk:
Dwan Reece: "The Origins of Blackface and Black Stereotypes" | TEDx Talks
Pilgrim, David. “The Painful Legacy of Blackface.” TEDxFSU, YouTube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, 17 May 2020
Educational Video:
Michel Martin sits down with Davarian Baldwin, author and professor of American studies at Trinity College in Connecticut, to discuss why ra
Images:
(National Museum of African American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution)
(Smithsonian National Museum of American History)
Additional Video Resource:
"Blackface: A Cultural History of a Racist Art Form" – CBS Sunday Morning
Citations:
National Museum of African American History and Culture. “Blackface: The Birth of an American Stereotype.” Smithsonian Institution, n.d.
https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/blackface-birth-american-stereotype.
Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Back Bay Books, 2008.
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo, and Roberto Sifuentes. "The Temple of Confessions." NYU Libraries, 1996.
Sandoval, Chela. “Chicana/o Artivism: Judy Baca’s Digital Work with Youth of Color.” UWM Canvas, 2008.
Reece, Dwan. “The Origins of Blackface and Black Stereotypes.” TEDx Talks, YouTube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, 11 February 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLgQqKKrpXk.
Pilgrim, David. “The Painful Legacy of Blackface.” TEDxFSU, YouTube, uploaded by TEDx Talks, 17 May 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbMKKqRBbLI.
Smithsonian Institution. “Understanding Blackface | National Museum of African American History and Culture.” YouTube, 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqlD-eZm1ck.
CBS Sunday Morning. “Blackface: A cultural history of a racist art form,” YouTube, 2020,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqlD-eZm1ck.
Just Mercy (2019), directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, is a powerful film adaptation of Bryan Stevenson’s memoir, which chronicles his early career as a young African American lawyer fighting against systemic racism and wrongful convictions. Stevenson, portrayed by Michael B. Jordan, moves to Alabama in the late 1980s to defend inmates wrongfully sentenced to death row, specifically Walter McMillian (Jamie Foxx), who was convicted of murdering a white woman despite overwhelming evidence of his innocence. The film closely examines racial prejudice, socioeconomic inequality, and the pervasive injustices embedded within America’s criminal justice system.
This film strongly relates to our course topics on privilege, power, and racial inequality in multicultural America. Stevenson’s relentless pursuit of justice amid systemic racism aligns with Ronald Takaki’s analysis of institutionalized discrimination against minority groups. As Takaki describes in A Different Mirror, racial minorities historically faced barriers constructed by deeply entrenched prejudice and systemic exclusion. Similarly, Walter McMillian’s case embodies the broader societal struggles that minorities encounter within the judicial system.
Representation and Intersectionality:
Just Mercy explicitly explores racial and ethnic identities through its narrative, challenging viewers to confront institutional racism. The film poignantly represents intersectionality by revealing how race, poverty, education, and geographical location compound to intensify marginalization. McMillian’s wrongful conviction was heavily influenced by his racial identity, socioeconomic class, and the rural South's prejudiced justice system. Intersectionality is further illustrated through the character Eva Ansley (Brie Larson), a white advocate who leverages her privilege to support Stevenson, highlighting the potential for cross-racial solidarity in the face of systemic injustice.
In connection to Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s performance piece, "Temple of Confessions," the film also forces audiences to confront their assumptions and biases. Just as Gómez-Peña compelled viewers to face their prejudices about immigrants, Just Mercy challenges viewers to acknowledge implicit biases surrounding race, crime, and punishment in America. Chela Sandoval’s writing on digital artivism highlights similar themes of community voice and representation, paralleling how Stevenson’s activism amplifies the silenced voices of marginalized communities.
Additionally, the film engages with Judy Baca’s concept of artivism by employing storytelling as a powerful tool for social change. Bryan Stevenson, like Baca, leverages narrative to inspire empathy, education, and activism among diverse audiences. Both Stevenson’s advocacy and Baca’s murals aim to empower communities by bringing societal injustices to broader public awareness.
Media Elements:
Film Trailer:
Key Scene:
A clip illustrating Bryan Stevenson’s powerful courtroom speech advocating justice.
Images:
(Warner Bros. Pictures, 2019)
(Equal Justice Initiative, eji.org)
Citations:
Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Back Bay Books, 2008.
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo, and Roberto Sifuentes. "The Temple of Confessions," NYU Libraries, 1996.
Sandoval, Chela. "Chicana/o Artivism: Judy Baca’s Digital Work with Youth of Color," UWM Canvas, 2008.
Just Mercy. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, with performances by Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Foxx, and Brie Larson, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2019.
Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). "Bryan Stevenson and Walter McMillian." eji.org. https://eji.org.
Season 2 of the hit show Empire is widely recognized for its gripping drama, chart-topping music, and dynamic characters. However, beyond the glamour and conflict, the show delves deeply into multicultural issues, using its platform to engage with themes of race, gender, sexuality, and systemic inequality—issues that connect directly to concepts we've explored in class.
1. The #BlackLivesMatter Movement and Mass Incarceration:
From the opening episode, Empire aligns itself with contemporary social justice movements. The #FreeLucious campaign mirrors the real-world activism of #BlackLivesMatter, addressing the racial disparities embedded within the U.S. criminal justice system. This directly connects to concepts discussed in Takaki’s A Different Mirror, where systemic racism and historical patterns of incarceration are examined in the broader context of racial oppression in America (Takaki, pp. 416–417). Cookie Lyon’s bold protest, dressed symbolically as a gorilla, visually critiques racial stereotypes and echoes Sandoval’s idea of oppositional consciousness—using performance and identity as tools for resistance.
"Empire" Confronted Racism With An Homage To Classic Hollywood"
2. Diversity in the Hip-Hop World:
Season 2 expands cultural representation by introducing Latina characters such as Valentina, portrayed by Becky G. This inclusion challenges the underrepresentation of Latinx individuals in mainstream media, a concern addressed in the “Temple of Confessions” performance art, where cultural invisibility and identity erasure are brought to light. Hakeem’s collaboration with Valentina underscores the real-world multicultural dynamics within the music industry and reflects the intersectionality Sandoval discusses—where identities coexist and shape each other within power structures.
Jamila Velazquez. (n.d.). IMDb.
3. LGBTQ+ Representation:
Jamal Lyon’s character continues to break ground as a Black gay man navigating a heteronormative and often homophobic music industry. His struggles align with Sandoval’s framework of differential consciousness, which explains how marginalized individuals must constantly shift identities to survive oppressive systems (Sandoval, “U.S. Third World Feminism”). Jamal’s story encourages viewers to consider how race, gender, and sexuality intersect in the lives of LGBTQ+ people of color.
4. Navigating Stereotypes and Nuance:
Empire season two raises essential questions about colorism, gender roles, and the representation of Black masculinity and femininity. This reflects Takaki’s call to recognize the “complexity within” racial groups rather than relying on monolithic depictions (Takaki, pp. 441–443). The show’s multidimensional characters challenge harmful tropes and reflect the lived realities of people navigating systems of privilege and power.
Empire
Conclusion:
Empire’s second season goes beyond entertainment; it engages in powerful multicultural storytelling that aligns with course concepts on race, identity, representation, and resistance. By incorporating themes from Takaki, Sandoval, and the “Temple of Confessions,” Empire becomes not only a cultural product but a political one—provoking discussion and deepening our understanding of difference in America.
Empire
Citation:
Madison, I., III. (2015, September 24). “Empire” confronted racism with an homage to classic Hollywood. BuzzFeed. https://www.buzzfeed.com/iramadison/as-i-told-boo-boo-kitty-when-i-pulled-her-plug
BET International. (2024, November 8). You’ll never be one of us! | Empire S2 #BETEmpire [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVNMewISKUc
Jamila Velazquez. (n.d.). IMDb.
Empire Clips. (2020a, September 10). Jamal makes his coming out while his performance of «You’re So Beautiful » | Season 1 Ep. 8 | EMPIRE [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-q5FA-NfQY
Takaki, Ronald. A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America.
Sandoval, Chela. “U.S. Third World Feminism: The Theory and Method of Oppositional Consciousness in the Postmodern World.”
Gómez-Peña and Fusco, “The Temple of Confessions.”
