Racism and feminism have long been popular topics of discussion in American history. However, the intersection of the two is not always spoken about with the same level of acknowledgment. Black women could not vote in the U.S. until 45 years after white women could, and still today, black women experience equality discrepancies such as having three times the maternal mortality rate that white women do. Therefore, conversations about the specific discrimination that black women face are of particular importance.
In our group project, we will create a podcast in which we will analyze the music theory, lyrical meaning, and historical impact of several songs that address the topic of the mistreatment of black women. Each group member will individually analyze and present one of our song choices, and then we will all have a discussion together about the overall meaning and impact of these songs. More specifically, Deanna will focus on sound mixing and music theory; Shania will focus on lyric dissection, analyzing, and cover art; Rosa will focus on music theory and argument organization, and Kristina will focus on historical research and lyric dissection. While working on these tasks, our members will need assistance from our professor and T.A. through periodic check-ins to ensure that we are all contributing to the overall process. We may also need some help with the technology that we use for recording our podcast. We will be using Adobe Illustrator, a recording platform, and a sound editor.
Because the focus of our project is raising awareness on this issue and helping listeners to better understand the meaning behind these song lyrics, our intended audience is mostly everyone, but especially men and non-black women who have not experienced the same racialized misogyny that black women have. We will increase the impact of our project by sharing it within the Northeastern community, as well as on social media in general, through resharing and streaming platforms, such as YouTube and Spotify.