Michele Wallace is Visiting Professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University. She is the author of Invisibility Blues: From Pop to Theory and Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman. She has written for numerous popular and scholarly publications, including The Village Voice, The New York Times, Emerge, Aperture, Ms., October, and Renaissance Noire.

“Dark Designs and Visual Culture is a remarkable compilation of images, self-reflexive essays, and other critical works. It demonstrates Michele Wallace’s mastery of cultural criticism and indicates her interaction with American and African American visual culture during the past thirty years. A writer of extraordinary talent, she wields an ever sharpened insight and wit.”-Deborah Willis “I can hardly think of a living critic who is as courageous as Michele Wallace-she says things no one else dares to-and this collection proves just how consistent her bravery has been over the years.”-Andrew Ross “Michele Wallace has long been one of the most insightful and brave writers dealing with popular culture in this country. Her latest work continues that tradition of courage and wit.”-Nelson George

• Acknowledgments xiIntroduction 1Part I. The Autobiographical: 1989 through 2001 1. Whose Town? Questioning Community and Identity 812. Places I've Lived 853. Engaging and Escaping in 1994 884. To Hell and Back: On the Road with Black Feminism in the '60s and '70s 5. Censorship and Self-Censorship 1116. An Interview 114Part II. Mass Culture and Popular Journalism 7. Watching Arsenio 1278. Black Stereotypes in Hollywood Films: "I Don't Know Nothin' 'Bout Birthin' No Babies!" 1309. When Black Feminism Faces the Music, and the Music Is Rap 13410. Storytellers: The Thomas-Hill Affair 13811. Talking about the Gulf 14112. Beyond Assimilation 14413. "Why Won't Women Relate to 'Justice'": Losing Her Voice 14714. For Whom the Bell Tolls: Why Americans Can't Deal with Black Feminist Intellectuals 14915. Miracle in East New York 161Part III. New York Postmodernism and Black Cultural Studies 16. The Politics of Location: Cinema/Theory/Literature/Ethnicity/Sexuality/Me 16717. Black Feminist Criticism: A Politics of Location and Beloved 17918. Why Are There No Great Black Artists? The Problem of Visuality in African American Culture 18419. High Mass 19520. Symposium on Intellectual Correctness 19721. The Culture War within the Culture Wars 20222. Boyz N the Hood and Jungle Fever 215Part IV. Multiculturalism in the Arts 23. Race, Gender, and Psychoanalysis in Forties Films 22324. Multicultural Blues: An Interview with Michele Wallace 23825. Multiculturalism and Oppositionality 24926. Black Women in Popular Culture: From Stereotype to Heroine 26427. The Search for the Good Enough Mammy: Multiculturalism, Popular Culture, and Psychoanalysis 275Part V. Henry Louis Gates and African American Poststructuralism 28. Henry Louis Gates: A Race Man and a Scholar 28929. If You Can't Join 'Em, Beat 'Em: Stanley Crouch and Shaharazad Ali 29730. Let's Get Serious: Marching with the Million 30931. Out of Step with the Million Man March 31132. Neither Fish nor Fowl: The Crisis of African American Gender Relations 31433. The Problem with Black Masculinity and Celebrity 31834. The Fame Game 32435. Skip Gates's Africa 328Part VI. Queer Theory and Visual Culture 36. Defacing History 33937. When Dream Girls Grow Old 35338. The French Collection 35739. Modernism, Postmodernism, and the Problem of the Visual in Afro-American Culture 36440. A Fierce Flame: Marlon Riggs 37941. "Harlem on My Mind" 38242. Questions on Feminism 38643. Feminism, Race, and the Division of Labor 39044. Doin' the Right Thing: Ten Years after She's Gotta Have It 40145. The Gap Alternative 41046. Art on My Mind 41747. Pictures Can Lie 42248. The Hottentot Venus 42649. Angels in America, Paris is Burning, and Queer Theory 43050. Toshi Reagon's Birthday 45451. Cheryl Dunye: Sexin' the Watermelon 45752. The Prison House of Culture: Why African Art? Why the Guggenheim? Why Now? 46053. Black Female Spectatorship 47454. Bamboozled: The Archive 486Index 495

Michele Wallace is Visiting Professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University. She is the author of Invisibility Blues: From Pop to Theory and Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman. She has written for numerous popular and scholarly publications, including The Village Voice, The New York Times, Emerge, Aperture, Ms., October, and Renaissance Noire.

“Dark Designs and Visual Culture is a remarkable compilation of images, self-reflexive essays, and other critical works. It demonstrates Michele Wallace’s mastery of cultural criticism and indicates her interaction with American and African American visual culture during the past thirty years. A writer of extraordinary talent, she wields an ever sharpened insight and wit.”-Deborah Willis “I can hardly think of a living critic who is as courageous as Michele Wallace-she says things no one else dares to-and this collection proves just how consistent her bravery has been over the years.”-Andrew Ross “Michele Wallace has long been one of the most insightful and brave writers dealing with popular culture in this country. Her latest work continues that tradition of courage and wit.”-Nelson George

• Acknowledgments xiIntroduction 1Part I. The Autobiographical: 1989 through 2001 1. Whose Town? Questioning Community and Identity 812. Places I've Lived 853. Engaging and Escaping in 1994 884. To Hell and Back: On the Road with Black Feminism in the '60s and '70s 5. Censorship and Self-Censorship 1116. An Interview 114Part II. Mass Culture and Popular Journalism 7. Watching Arsenio 1278. Black Stereotypes in Hollywood Films: "I Don't Know Nothin' 'Bout Birthin' No Babies!" 1309. When Black Feminism Faces the Music, and the Music Is Rap 13410. Storytellers: The Thomas-Hill Affair 13811. Talking about the Gulf 14112. Beyond Assimilation 14413. "Why Won't Women Relate to 'Justice'": Losing Her Voice 14714. For Whom the Bell Tolls: Why Americans Can't Deal with Black Feminist Intellectuals 14915. Miracle in East New York 161Part III. New York Postmodernism and Black Cultural Studies 16. The Politics of Location: Cinema/Theory/Literature/Ethnicity/Sexuality/Me 16717. Black Feminist Criticism: A Politics of Location and Beloved 17918. Why Are There No Great Black Artists? The Problem of Visuality in African American Culture 18419. High Mass 19520. Symposium on Intellectual Correctness 19721. The Culture War within the Culture Wars 20222. Boyz N the Hood and Jungle Fever 215Part IV. Multiculturalism in the Arts 23. Race, Gender, and Psychoanalysis in Forties Films 22324. Multicultural Blues: An Interview with Michele Wallace 23825. Multiculturalism and Oppositionality 24926. Black Women in Popular Culture: From Stereotype to Heroine 26427. The Search for the Good Enough Mammy: Multiculturalism, Popular Culture, and Psychoanalysis 275Part V. Henry Louis Gates and African American Poststructuralism 28. Henry Louis Gates: A Race Man and a Scholar 28929. If You Can't Join 'Em, Beat 'Em: Stanley Crouch and Shaharazad Ali 29730. Let's Get Serious: Marching with the Million 30931. Out of Step with the Million Man March 31132. Neither Fish nor Fowl: The Crisis of African American Gender Relations 31433. The Problem with Black Masculinity and Celebrity 31834. The Fame Game 32435. Skip Gates's Africa 328Part VI. Queer Theory and Visual Culture 36. Defacing History 33937. When Dream Girls Grow Old 35338. The French Collection 35739. Modernism, Postmodernism, and the Problem of the Visual in Afro-American Culture 36440. A Fierce Flame: Marlon Riggs 37941. "Harlem on My Mind" 38242. Questions on Feminism 38643. Feminism, Race, and the Division of Labor 39044. Doin' the Right Thing: Ten Years after She's Gotta Have It 40145. The Gap Alternative 41046. Art on My Mind 41747. Pictures Can Lie 42248. The Hottentot Venus 42649. Angels in America, Paris is Burning, and Queer Theory 43050. Toshi Reagon's Birthday 45451. Cheryl Dunye: Sexin' the Watermelon 45752. The Prison House of Culture: Why African Art? Why the Guggenheim? Why Now? 46053. Black Female Spectatorship 47454. Bamboozled: The Archive 486Index 495

Michele Wallace is Visiting Professor of Africana Studies at Cornell University. She is the author of Invisibility Blues: From Pop to Theory and Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman. She has written for numerous popular and scholarly publications, including The Village Voice, The New York Times, Emerge, Aperture, Ms., October, and Renaissance Noire.

“Dark Designs and Visual Culture is a remarkable compilation of images, self-reflexive essays, and other critical works. It demonstrates Michele Wallace’s mastery of cultural criticism and indicates her interaction with American and African American visual culture during the past thirty years. A writer of extraordinary talent, she wields an ever sharpened insight and wit.”-Deborah Willis “I can hardly think of a living critic who is as courageous as Michele Wallace-she says things no one else dares to-and this collection proves just how consistent her bravery has been over the years.”-Andrew Ross “Michele Wallace has long been one of the most insightful and brave writers dealing with popular culture in this country. Her latest work continues that tradition of courage and wit.”-Nelson George

• Acknowledgments xiIntroduction 1Part I. The Autobiographical: 1989 through 2001 1. Whose Town? Questioning Community and Identity 812. Places I've Lived 853. Engaging and Escaping in 1994 884. To Hell and Back: On the Road with Black Feminism in the '60s and '70s 5. Censorship and Self-Censorship 1116. An Interview 114Part II. Mass Culture and Popular Journalism 7. Watching Arsenio 1278. Black Stereotypes in Hollywood Films: "I Don't Know Nothin' 'Bout Birthin' No Babies!" 1309. When Black Feminism Faces the Music, and the Music Is Rap 13410. Storytellers: The Thomas-Hill Affair 13811. Talking about the Gulf 14112. Beyond Assimilation 14413. "Why Won't Women Relate to 'Justice'": Losing Her Voice 14714. For Whom the Bell Tolls: Why Americans Can't Deal with Black Feminist Intellectuals 14915. Miracle in East New York 161Part III. New York Postmodernism and Black Cultural Studies 16. The Politics of Location: Cinema/Theory/Literature/Ethnicity/Sexuality/Me 16717. Black Feminist Criticism: A Politics of Location and Beloved 17918. Why Are There No Great Black Artists? The Problem of Visuality in African American Culture 18419. High Mass 19520. Symposium on Intellectual Correctness 19721. The Culture War within the Culture Wars 20222. Boyz N the Hood and Jungle Fever 215Part IV. Multiculturalism in the Arts 23. Race, Gender, and Psychoanalysis in Forties Films 22324. Multicultural Blues: An Interview with Michele Wallace 23825. Multiculturalism and Oppositionality 24926. Black Women in Popular Culture: From Stereotype to Heroine 26427. The Search for the Good Enough Mammy: Multiculturalism, Popular Culture, and Psychoanalysis 275Part V. Henry Louis Gates and African American Poststructuralism 28. Henry Louis Gates: A Race Man and a Scholar 28929. If You Can't Join 'Em, Beat 'Em: Stanley Crouch and Shaharazad Ali 29730. Let's Get Serious: Marching with the Million 30931. Out of Step with the Million Man March 31132. Neither Fish nor Fowl: The Crisis of African American Gender Relations 31433. The Problem with Black Masculinity and Celebrity 31834. The Fame Game 32435. Skip Gates's Africa 328Part VI. Queer Theory and Visual Culture 36. Defacing History 33937. When Dream Girls Grow Old 35338. The French Collection 35739. Modernism, Postmodernism, and the Problem of the Visual in Afro-American Culture 36440. A Fierce Flame: Marlon Riggs 37941. "Harlem on My Mind" 38242. Questions on Feminism 38643. Feminism, Race, and the Division of Labor 39044. Doin' the Right Thing: Ten Years after She's Gotta Have It 40145. The Gap Alternative 41046. Art on My Mind 41747. Pictures Can Lie 42248. The Hottentot Venus 42649. Angels in America, Paris is Burning, and Queer Theory 43050. Toshi Reagon's Birthday 45451. Cheryl Dunye: Sexin' the Watermelon 45752. The Prison House of Culture: Why African Art? Why the Guggenheim? Why Now? 46053. Black Female Spectatorship 47454. Bamboozled: The Archive 486Index 495