Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: Using Afrofuturist Theory To Examine Themes Of Black Visibility

Kiara Bell
Dr. Maleda Belilgne, Africana Studies

How are black lives today still affected by America’s deep roots in chattel slavery? Christina Sharpe’s book, In the Wake: On Blackness and Being (Duke University Press 2016), studies theories of Blackness as it relates to visibility and aspiration. Sharpe examines cross-cultural representations of Black life to build her theme of “the wake,” which she defines as the climate of anti-Blackness that shapes post-slavery America. I will use the Afrofuturist theory from two chapters of Sharpe’s book, “The Hold” and “The Weather,” to examine elements of Black visibility in Claudia Rankine’s experimental book, Citizen (Graywolf Press 2014). A central tool used by Sharpe is the use of ‘Black annotation’ and ‘Black redaction’ to offer an alternative reading of how information is presented, past “the logics of the administered plantation.” The definitions she presents of ‘Black annotation and reaction’ can be used to analyze scenarios of Black aspiration in Citizen. Both authors use the aforementioned tools in their writings to address Black visibility. Using Sharpe’s theoretical work on ‘anagrammatical Blackness,’ ‘Black annotation,’ and ‘Black redaction,’ I will explore how Citizen promotes themes of Black visibility in “the wake.”

Come see Kiara's research presentation and other undergraduate research and creative work, April 22-29th at URCAD.umbc.edu!

Categories:

• Best Overall Selfie: Take a photo with a UMBC notable… (President Hrabowski, Provost Rous, Dean Cole…) or ??! … get creative!
• Best with Mentor
• Best “making of” VT presentation
• Best with Presentation

Post your photos by 12pm on Monday, May 4, 2020 for a chance to win a gift card to the UMBC Bookstore!

UMBC kinetic sculpture team members will present an overview of their redesign efforts during the Fall semester of 2019: adding water propulsion, creating a more durable sharkskin out of recycled materials, and transforming pontoons into functional artwork. These design efforts were part of an interdisciplinary course, INDS 430 Kinetic Sculpture Project, which drew upon methods from sustainable design, project management, and biomimicry to build a new 20 foot shark sculpture named “MC Hammerhead.”

Mentor: Steven McAlpine, Individualized Study

This work was funded, in part, by the Alex Brown Center for Entrepreneurship URA Award.

Zachary Banham | Geography and Environmental Systems

Analysis of Forest Structure in the Context of Land Ownership in Metropolitan Areas

Mentor: Matthew Baker

Guido Frega | Geography and Environmental Systems

Using GIS Tools to Classify Urban Forests in DC and Baltimore

Mentor: Matthew Baker

Gabriel Wilkins| Geography and Environmental Systems

Forest Fires and the Bahama Oriole: Describing Burn History Within Caribbean Pine Forests

Mentor: Kevin Omland

• Kelly McVicker | Food Web Dynamics: How Urbanization Of Riparian Systems Affects Prey Availability in Aquatic And Terrestrial Systems | Dr. Chris Hawn | Geography and Environmental Systems | 

Children Raising Children: A Qualitative Study Of The Social Determinants Of Adolescent Pregnancy In Rural Ecuador

According to Ecuador’s most recent census, 1/5 of pregnancies are from adolescent mothers — elevating rates of poverty, maternal and child mortality, and birth complications. Hence, our research question: how do social determinants of health (SDOH) cause adolescent pregnancy in rural Ecuador?

Our research team analyzed 3 focus groups composed of 5-7 adolescent (14-21 years old) mothers who had recently (within two years) given birth in El Quinche, Lumbisi, and Pifo. In depth interviews with 10 key informants (health officials, providers, and policy-makers) were also organized to explore perceptions regarding interventions and causes of adolescent pregnancy. Our team interviewed until reaching saturation of information, validating collected data through triangulation. We applied grounded theory for analysis via open, axial, and selective coding using NVivo software.

Our data revealed that the root SDOH causing adolescent pregnancy includes compromised sexual education, shame in discussing the topic, and troubled households. Therefore, we recommend that Ecuador focus on improving the quality of sexual education in schools, creating a positive sexual environment, and encouraging female empowerment. Ultimately, gaining a better understanding of the causes of adolescent pregnancy can inform the formulation of more effective interventions in Ecuador and beyond.