Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

1-1-2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.A. in Southern Studies

First Advisor

Zaire Love

Second Advisor

Melanie Ho

Third Advisor

Xavier Sivels

School

University of Mississippi

Relational Format

dissertation/thesis

Abstract

BLACKNE$$: To Whom Does it Profit? is a short documentary of remixed archival sights and sounds that create a call-and-response between mediums from different eras to explain how money has been and still is generated from black bodies, creativity, and culture. The narrative timeline takes viewers from chattel slavery to present-day cultural appropriation to show how the institution of the former bred the latter. Candid voices of Black academics and young adults from different walks of life provide the foundation for this film. They share their knowledge, opinions, and frustrations on how cultural appropriation affects them. They also consider varying definitions of blackness and how those definitions can confound, confine, or liberate. In the hope of a future that gives black people more agency over their identities and cultural contributions, BLACKNE$$ explores possible avenues for resistance and reclamation.

Available for download on Friday, July 30, 2027

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