ARTS & SOUL Archives – Page 3 of 13 – Scalawag

An abolitionist review of the Barbie movie's imaginative universe serves as a reminder that systemic oppression can indeed be destroyed.

Barbie: Pretty Police

by Eteng Ettah July 27, 2023July 27, 2023

Dark Matter, a sestina poem by Kelsey Smoot, is a complicating and uncompromising ode to Black womxn, exploring reflexes and returns of gender.

"Dark Matter": A poem for grief & other loves

by Kelsey Smoot July 25, 2023July 25, 2023

Mausoleums: The Art of Necromancy

by Jaiden Butler July 25, 2023November 13, 2023

"What Things Cost: An anthology for the people." Edited by Rebecca Gayle Howell, Ashley M. Jones and Emily J. Jalloul. Published by The University Press of Kentucky.

An anthology for people over capitalism

by Katherine Webb-Hehn July 19, 2023July 19, 2023

A lifelong musician on the unbearable silence of prison.

Out of my hands: A musician in prison pines for his bass

by David Annarelli June 22, 2023September 27, 2023

Rapper Alim Braxton, aka Rrome Alone, released his music video 'Prisoner of War' from Death Row.

Prisoner of War

by Alim Braxton June 22, 2023September 27, 2023

An artist's tribute to painter Duniyana Al-Amoor, killed in her room in Gaza at age 22.

Art Under Aggression

by Malak Mattar June 22, 2023November 14, 2023

Palestinian prison arts and crafts reflect the realities of life and love under Israeli occupation

Diaries of Blood: The secret artists within Israeli detention facilities

by Eman Al-Astal June 22, 2023November 14, 2023

Solitary confinement in maximum security prison

Nightmares & Daydreams: Welcome to maximum security

by Zakaria Amara June 20, 2023September 27, 2023

Scalawag's 2023 Abolition Week theme: The Bars We Can't See.

SCALAWAG UPDATES

Introducing Abolition Week 2023: The Bars We Can't See

by Scalawag Editors June 19, 2023November 14, 2023

Kelsey Smoot poetry

'Some girlhoods end in manhood'

by Kelsey Smoot June 14, 2023June 14, 2023

Producing music from prison.

Young Tali is making music by any means necessary

by Zeb Larson June 13, 2023June 12, 2023

How prisons shaped the South's music history

The Blues Behind Bars: How Southern prisons shaped American music

by Zeb Larson June 8, 2023June 7, 2023

The headquarters of New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation, the nonprofit that operates the Musicians' Clinic. Every month, the Foundation pays Bethany Bultman and her husband Johann $4,094 in rent for its use of the building for its offices. Photo by Trenity Thomas for Scalawag.

POLITICS & THE PEOPLE

Plantation Politics: The New Orleans Musicians' Clinic's crisis of credibility

by Drew Hawkins June 1, 2023September 27, 2023

Tina Turner performs onstage at the United Center, October 1, 2000. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images) How Tina Turner's abuse and trauma remains a hip-hop trope.

How Tina Turner's trauma remains a hip-hop trope—and why we need to abolish it

by Justin A. Davis May 25, 2023November 13, 2023

The cover of Destiny Hemphill's latest poetry collection, "motherworld: a devotional for the alter-life."

Altars for the alter-life

by mónica teresa ortiz May 16, 2023November 13, 2023

'We apologize for the inconvenience': The unsightliness of labor at the Blanton's 'Day Jobs'

by Julie Poole May 11, 2023May 16, 2023

Is abolition a love language? On Black love as a form of resistance in the case of the first Black Bachelor Matt James. Revolutionary Love challenges the erotic logic of racial fetishism. An examination of romance and the politics of Black masculinity.

Oshun's Suicide, Part II: Eros, Repetition, and Reprieve in Black Popular Culture

by Jordan Mulkey April 21, 2023November 21, 2023

Is abolition a love language? On Black love as a form of resistance in the case of the first Black Bachelor Matt James. Revolutionary Love challenges the erotic logic of racial fetishism. An examination of romance and the politics of Black masculinity.

Oshun's Suicide: Eros, Repetition, and Reprieve in Black Popular Culture

by Jordan Mulkey April 19, 2023November 21, 2023

Black Poetics and the Captive Maternal: Joy James asks poets to confront Black violence, using poetry as a means of survival and liberation.

On the Tensions and (Im)Possibilities of Black Poetics: No Shame, No Devil

by Jon Jon Moore Palacios April 14, 2023November 21, 2023

Five Black Southerners you should know this Women's History Month

by Scalawag Editors March 21, 2023November 21, 2023

grief & other loves: National Poetry Month workshop series

by Scalawag Team March 16, 2023December 1, 2023

Rom-coms don’t need to promote the police state; in fact, cop romance movies detract from what makes rom-coms so, well, lovable.

The romantic comedies convincing you to fall in love with the police

by Elizabeth Weill-Greenberg February 14, 2023December 1, 2023

Grief and Love, Outside the Changes

by Julian Reid February 10, 2023December 1, 2023

Why your new diet is antiblack

by Ko Bragg and Da'Shaun L. Harrison January 3, 2023December 1, 2023

In the soil, in the sound: Houston's Jamal Cyrus gets to the root of Southern Black aesthetics

by Alysia Nicole Harris November 17, 2022December 1, 2023

Bookmobiles to the rescue

by Leticia Urieta September 20, 2022December 4, 2023

How to do away with copaganda: Three Emmy-nominated shows to watch with an abolitionist lens

by Kaitlin Fontana, Rebecca Bodenheimer and Naa Djama Attoh-Okine September 16, 2022December 4, 2023

'beyond a better hell' / talking to ghosts: a mixtap/e/ssay

by A.D. Carson September 9, 2022December 4, 2023

Netflix's 'Spiderhead' forgets that the truth about prisons is stranger than sci-fi

by Siona Peterous September 2, 2022December 4, 2023