Left of Black Presents: Small Talk with Hip-Hop Feminist Dr. Joan Morgan

“Black joy is crucial to our survival.” (Morgan 2017: 248)

This motto guided celebrated culture critic and author Dr. Joan Morgan to innovate Black feminism by shedding its esoteric elements, making it more accessible to the Black women she knew. Enter: Hip-Hop Feminism––a term she created through the writing of her trailblazing book, , which celebrates it 25th anniversary this year. The book looks at the complex gray areas that modern Black women navigate in both upholding feminist values while still loving problematic men.

“…how come no one ever admits that part of the reason women love hip-hop – as sexist as it is – is ‘cuz all that in-yo-face testosterone makes our nipples hard?” (Morgan, 2017: 58)

On Thursday, September 19th, from 6:30 to 8pm, Dr. Morgan will join Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, the creator and host of the , to discuss hip-hop feminism, her writing career, and a slew of other topics.

Dr. Joan Morgan is the Program Director of the Center for Black Visual Culture at New York University. She is also a Grammy-nominated songwriter and a pioneering hip-hop journalist. Regarded internationally as an expert on the topics of hip-hop, race and gender, Morgan has made numerous television, radio and film appearances, including “On the Record”, “Ladies First”, “Surviving R. Kelly” and “Hair Tales”. She has written for numerous publications including The New York Times, Allure and British Vogue. She is also the author of .

This public event will take place in the Pink Parlor located at the East Duke Building on 1304 East Campus Drive. Copies of both of Morgan’s books will be distributed to the first 25 attendees of the event.

NOTE: The event will be recorded and edited for an episode of Left of Black on YouTube. Attendees may be filmed.

“Left of Black Presents: Small Talk at FHI,” is a new event sub-series inspired by the legendary jazz poet Gil Scott-Heron’s first album, Small Talk at 125th and Lenox. It is an attempt to recreate the same type of intimacy ever present in Scott-Heron’s groundbreaking work. Named after famed African American historian John Hope Franklin, the FHI became the institutional home of the web series in 2019 during its 10th season.

Host or Publisher Franklin Humanities Institute at Duke University