How do the mass media contribute to the social and economic advantages of the privileged and the subjection of African American women? Does America really care about providing equal opportunities for African American women? Passionately written and supported with detailed evidence this book shows the deeply rooted abiding cancer of oppresion in American society. It reveals the formal and informal ways in which African American women have been exluded from equal participation before and after the time of slavery. It will shock many who complacently believe that America is already a land on equality and it will give new heart to the many others who experience racism and sexism as daily facts of life.

As hip-hop artists constantly struggle to "keep it real," this fascinating study examines the debates over the core codes of hip-hop authenticity--as it reflects and reacts to problematic black images in popular culture--placing hip-hop in its proper cultural, political, and social contexts.

As the official publication of the Division on Black American Literature and Culture of the Modern Language Association of America, African American review promotes an exchange among writers and scholars in the arts, humanities, and social sciences who hold diverse perspectives of African American literature and culture.