Beauty is the Beast
This three-part mini course explores the politics of Black beauty. It draws explicit connections between anti-Blackness and the systems, standards, and symbols of beauty and privilege. We’ll explore how and why conventional beauty ideals and practices function as agents of White supremacy culture.
Topics will include White supremacy culture, anti-Blackness, Black hair and texturism, colorism and skin color politics, and such beauty practices as hair straightening and skin lightening.
Over the course of three weeks, we’ll meet for live sessions—part lecture, part open dialogue. Then, as a bonus gathering, I’ll host a screening of The Whites of Our Eyes, my short documentary that follows my return to Ghana to explore how beauty and Blackness intertwine with the ghosts of colonialism and the gods of whiteness.
This condensed, high-impact series includes three 90-minute sessions that draw from my many years of research, teaching, and storytelling.
FORMAT: 3 Live Sessions + 1 Bonus Film Screening
DURATION: 3 Weeks
LOCATION: Virtual (link provided upon registration)
DATES: Thursdays, November 6, 13 & 20
TIME: 6:30–8:00 p.m. ET
We’ll plan for 90 minutes, but we may go as long as two hours if the conversation calls for it.
BONUS FILM SCREENING: Tuesday, November 25 (so I don’t mess with your turkey day)
RECORDINGS: Sessions will be recorded and shared privately with registered participants, so you can revisit the conversation or catch up if you miss one.
This three-part mini course explores the politics of Black beauty. It draws explicit connections between anti-Blackness and the systems, standards, and symbols of beauty and privilege. We’ll explore how and why conventional beauty ideals and practices function as agents of White supremacy culture.
Topics will include White supremacy culture, anti-Blackness, Black hair and texturism, colorism and skin color politics, and such beauty practices as hair straightening and skin lightening.
Over the course of three weeks, we’ll meet for live sessions—part lecture, part open dialogue. Then, as a bonus gathering, I’ll host a screening of The Whites of Our Eyes, my short documentary that follows my return to Ghana to explore how beauty and Blackness intertwine with the ghosts of colonialism and the gods of whiteness.
This condensed, high-impact series includes three 90-minute sessions that draw from my many years of research, teaching, and storytelling.
FORMAT: 3 Live Sessions + 1 Bonus Film Screening
DURATION: 3 Weeks
LOCATION: Virtual (link provided upon registration)
DATES: Thursdays, November 6, 13 & 20
TIME: 6:30–8:00 p.m. ET
We’ll plan for 90 minutes, but we may go as long as two hours if the conversation calls for it.
BONUS FILM SCREENING: Tuesday, November 25 (so I don’t mess with your turkey day)
RECORDINGS: Sessions will be recorded and shared privately with registered participants, so you can revisit the conversation or catch up if you miss one.