Date of Award

Spring 5-23-2021

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Communication and Rhetorical Studies

Advisor(s)

Kiewe, Amos

Second Advisor

Phillips, Kendall

Keywords

Afrofuturism, Black, Imagination, Invention, Liberation, Utopia

Subject Categories

African American Studies | Arts and Humanities | Communication | Philosophy | Race, Ethnicity and Post-Colonial Studies | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Speech and Rhetorical Studies

Abstract

Inspired by recent events following the deaths of unarmed Black bodies killed at the hands of police officers and white vigilante citizens (Griffith, 2020; Oppel, 2020; BBC, 2020) this thesis seeks to validate the seemingly impossible aspirations of Black struggle and liberation in attempt to dismantle white supremacist ideology and oppression. Grounded in rhetorical theory emphasizing the imagination and canon of invention alongside critical perspectives of Afrofuturism and Black utopian thought, this thesis demonstrates the liberatory power of the Black American imagination within the United States in the 21st century through an analysis of A Black Lady Sketch Show (2019).

Access

Open Access

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