In this lecture, we will discuss the noise over which black women who rap must contend in order to make their voices heard. We will discuss the ways that black women who rap work within and outside the boundaries of what is understood to be “appropriate” for black women within and outside of hip-hop culture to do and say. We’ll focus on the meteoric of Cardi B asking how she has consistently disturbed the boundaries around norms of racialized gender and sexuality.

We’ll discuss how black women who rap have consistently managed to overstep these boundaries using the language of hip-hop, which is typically a domain where men and masculinity reign supreme, to question hip-hop’s patriarchy and heteronormativity and exposing its fault lines. We’ll end by thinking about how black women who rap dare us to listen to what Black women have to say about their experiences of race, gender, and sexuality.

Important quotes, reading list, and discussion questions

Black LGBT Pride Celebrations (hereinafter referred to as Black Pride) in the United States is different from “general” LGBT Pride Celebrations. Black Pride Celebrations are a special collection of events meant to celebrate and address the specific issues of local Black LGBT people and highlight Black LGBT and allied businesses and creatives. They are organized by a diverse group of Black local stakeholders.

In this lecture, I discuss the history of Black Pride Celebrations, the first of which was held right here in Washington, DC. I also discuss the Black queer communities which gave birth to it. I’ll share bits about my current research project that is actively working to collect and preserve archival material related to Black Pride Celebrations. Got old photos, posters, pamphlets, or other material from Black Pride? Bring them!