An Evening with Rhae Lynn Barnes: Darkology

Dr. Rhae Lynn Barnes is an award-winning historian and Assistant Professor of American Cultural History at Princeton University. Dr. Barnes' new book, Darkology: Blackface and the American Way of Entertainment, offers a searing and definitive examination of how racism is woven into the fabric of American political life. Hailed for its narrative power and rigorous research, Darkology earned a Kirkus Star for exceptional literary merit, and received a starred review from Library Journal, which called it a "landmark piece of history."

A leading expert on the globalization of American popular culture, Dr. Barnes explores the intersections of music, film, and material culture. Her work is deeply rooted in the local history of Vermont; for over a decade, she studied and conducted extensive oral histories related to Kake Walk and Burlington's cultural history.

By tracing minstrelsy’s evolution through oral histories, material culture, and a wide range of multimedia sources, Barnes forces us to reckon with the myriad ways the American Dream wore blackface. Recasting this American story with “vivid and engaging storytelling” (Howard French), Darkology is a landmark work that peers beneath the boulders deliberately obscuring our past—illuminating a path toward a more just and equal society in America’s future.

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