A Hidden Figure in North American Archaeology
As a historian of science, I am interested in determining who gets credit for scientific discoveries and why. Sadly, credit often goes to the powerful and connected, not…
Tag: race
Phantoms within and beyond the Frame: Stirrings of Justice amidst Specters of Rural Capitalism
By Rebecca Witter and Dana E. Powell [1] § Structural racism combines with the toxic wastes from industrialized capitalism to haunt the rural lowland landscapes of eastern North…
The Emotional Logic of a Black Poetics: Truth, Metaphor, Beauty, Joy
In this free live event, Poetry Editor Christine Weeber and SAPIENS Public Anthropology Fellow Eshe Lewis will speak with Justin D. Wright, a doctoral student in sociocultural anthropology…
Automating the Beast: Modern Police Power and the (Digi)Dog
As an undergraduate, I worked multiple jobs to make ends meet. For one of those jobs, I was a kennel attendant at a veterinary clinic and earned $7.75…
Surfing in Color
“Surfing in Color” is part of the collection Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora. Read the introduction to the collection here. Floating, my gaze and…
Riot
“The Voice of Diaspora” is part of the collection Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora. Read the introduction to the collection here. Her arm is…
The Voice of Diaspora
“The Voice of Diaspora” is part of the collection Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora. Read the introduction to the collection here. I wake…
The Shitty Affairs of British Colonialism in Malaya: Manicuring “Native” Agriculture through Race-Specific Livestock Interbreeding
In January 2020, I accidentally came across a series of photographs at the UK National Archives documenting agricultural and livestock experimentation in 1930-1940s British Malaya. The peculiarity of…
Window
“Window” is part of the collection Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora. Read the introduction to the collection here. I. Finding myself lost in…
Preserving Black Women’s Stories as a Labor of Love
Irma McClaurin holds up her first book, Women of Belize: Gender and Change in Central America. Ray Carson/University of Florida Photographic Services, 1996. Used with permission of University…
Middle Ground
[no caption] Clelia Michelini/Getty Images “Middle Ground” is part of the collection Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora. Read the introduction to the collection h…
Are We So Different?
“Are We So Different?” is part of the collection Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora. Read the introduction to the collection here. Her piece was…
Did Aliens Build the Pyramids? And Other Racist Theories
The Egyptian pyramids are a focal point for conspiracy theories about alien intervention. Sheilapic76/Flickr One afternoon in June, I found an email in my inbox from Atlantis Rising:…
They’ll Steal Your Eyes, They’ll Steal Your Teeth
[no-caption] Attila Haag/EyeEm/Getty Images “They’ll Steal Your Eyes, They’ll Steal Your Teeth” is part of the collection Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora. Read the…
Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora
“Lead Me to Life” Carla Keaton In 2020, George Floyd’s murder by Derek Chauvin, a White police officer in Minneapolis, flared a global nerve. Black Lives Matter protestors…
Elder
[no-caption] Pixabay/Pexels “Elder” is part of the collection Lead Me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora. Read the introduction to the collection here. We don’t talk…
Lessons From Mars—and Jamaica—on Sovereignty
Maroons of the Sovereign State of Accompong make their home in mountainous Cockpit Country in Jamaica. Ted Eubanks On February 15, in the darkness and silence of outer…
5 Questions About Writing the African Diaspora
In this free live event, Yoli Ngandali, SAPIENS Media & Public Outreach Fellow, asks Justin Wright five questions about Lead me to Life: Voices of the African Diaspora, a…
These Unheralded Workers Are Helping Prevent the Next Wildfire
The author’s late father, Juan Zárate (left), leads a weed abatement crew in Orange County, California. Jon Anderson/Orange County Weed Abatement Program A few months after the wildfire…
Confronting Anti-Blackness in “Colorblind” Cuba
A man holds his grandson inside the doorway of a fruit and vegetable shop in Havana, Cuba. Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images I sat waiting for Yudell* to finish his shift…
The Resistance and Ingenuity of the Cooks Who Lived in Slavery
This plate features a traditional meal of fish and provisions (tubers and vegetables) served on the Caribbean island of Dominica. Diane Wallman Garlic sizzles in a big Dutch…
Brotherhood and Anti-Blackness in College Football
Clemson Tigers teammates celebrate a successful play against the Boston College Eagles in 2020. David Grooms/TigerNet.com/Flickr This article was originally published at Black Perspective…
Haunted by My Teaching Skeleton
Museum storage facilities, such as this one in Germany, often hold the remains of human beings. Jens Büttner/Picture Alliance/Getty Images There is something unsettling about being alone …
Archaeologists Should Be Activists Too
Archaeologists are well-suited to help organize protests such as this “Count the Vote” rally in 2020. Jon Irons When Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, paused counting votes for one night…