Sujatha Fernandes
Sujatha Fernandes is associate professor of sociology at Queens College and City University of New York’s Graduate Center. She is author of the books Cuba Represent!, Who Can Stop the Drums? and Close to the Edge: In Search of the Global Hip Hop Generation.
By Sujatha Fernandes
Breathing Lessons for Black Girls
It is strange; I am more scared after speaking than before. My stomach twists tighter as thoughts whirl. Will they revoke my scholarship for speaking out? Will I be targeted? Will I keep my job? My leadership position? Is it activism yet?
Underneath the Melting Pot
Melting under conditions of extreme heat is only undertaken with considerable suffering and loss, but generations of white Americans have felt the loss of forgetting to be worth it, if not a little bit because they would rather be what is melted than the pot.
Black in the Time of Quarantine
There is no mourning for my grandfather left inside me. There is only guilt as I look into my father’s tired face, guilt as I scroll quickly past a COVID headline.
The Good Seed
When it comes to seed selection, a million heads are better than one. The process of farmer plant improvement is general right across the rice-growing region in West Africa, and keeping planting material in play through constant use and selection allows for a myriad of adaptation decisions.
The Rhythms of Dissent
As global audiences deepened their involvement with hip-hop culture and created local rap scenes of their own, the language of rap came to play an important role as they developed their own hybrid vernaculars.