“the point of underlying over determination—black cultural repertoires constituted from two directions at once—is perhaps more subversive than you think. It is to insist that in black popular culture, strictly speaking, ethnographically speaking, there are no pure forms at all. Always these forms are the product of partial synchronization, of engagement across cultural boundaries, of the confluence of more than one cultural”

This quote just means that there is no specific way, shape or form, that is exact to black popular culture. It is unique in every way, and every wway has its uniqueness to blend in and just adjust to society. To adjust or accommodate and altering your space, and that is what makes it different .



The ongoing battle of black people trying to over come the effects of slavery, discrimination, and growing comfortable in the conditions that are the results of those things. It's the process of working towards change where people are treated equally and not second class citizens.

how you have to act while you're oppressed and what you have to do to be accepted (by public sphere?? commercial realm??) to be relevant as a person. Pan American post nationalism - Dent, p. 281 (quote).


“To be black we must understand doesn’t just mean to do the right thing but also to do it.” With this being said, something I take away is just the way black people are oppressed and must always be in check and ahead of everything that comes their way. They must be educated enough to know the difference and not be left behind. They have no room for mess ups because they are expected to do so already, which is why they need to live up to higher expectations for themselves, and especially to fit it in some kind of manner with those who think less highly of them. In summary the importance of how we marginalize ourselves to be accepted.

This threat is not simply a matter of relative economic deprivation and political powerlessness-though economic well being and political clout are requisites for meaningful black progress. It is primarily a question of speaking to the profound sense of psychological depression, personal worthlessness, and social despair so widespread in black america. pg38

This is just saying that it has more to do that just the way the government or economy views or affects them but also the power withing how they are viewed and how they view themselves. How the black community doesnt value themselves, because they have been told "black is not beautiful" since day 1.

“Sadly, the combination of the market way of life, poverty-ridden conditions, black existential angst, and the lessening of fear toward white authorities has directed most of the anger, rage, and despair toward fellow black citizens, especially black women. Only recently nihilistic threat-and its ugly inhumane outlook and actions-surfaced in the larger American society.

Pg (43) 44

This quote is talking about the frustration that blacks experience from being belittled, and just the way everything worked against their favor , but rather in the better way of the white hierarchy .