Brian C Johnson

Spike Lee’s third film, Do the Right Thing, was released
in the summer of 1989. Lee wrote, produced, directed
and starred in this film. The budget for the film was
$6 million and the box office pulled in over $37 million.
The film has enjoyed both popular praise, and in
some cases, a place in the canon of educational films
addressing race and ethnic relations (Pinterits and
Atkinson 1998). The film's action bears striking resemblance to the racial unrest in Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.

This paper seeks to explicate the intersections of social dominance theory and cyberspace; particularly how computer-mediated technology supports and maintains white racial hegemony. Cyberspace has allowed for a social dominance discourse in a protected, yet public space, and these posts are often revelatory of a broader belief in the racial supremacy of whites (Simpson, 2008). Social networkers often feel safer to openly discuss racial feelings in affinity groups (Foster, 2009). While the concept of race in cyberspace has been shaped by the idea that online community is raceless or colorless, in fact, the literature suggests that white supremacy groups have begun to utilize this service for recruitment, announcements, and mobilization purposes (Levin, 2002; Beckles, 1997; Douglas, McGarty, Bliuc, & Lala, (2005).

In a sex-obsessed culture as America in teen film, where sexual conquest is a rite of passage for pubescent boys before graduating high school and  a must do activity on prom night, what is surprising is the fetishistic manner in which we view masturbation. Once considered a topic to be shunned, with promises of mental illness and hairy palms for its practitioners, this paper will examine the mechanisms and treatment of the topic and how filmmakers over a 30-year trajectory have kept self-pleasure a central cultural force through a series of humorous and comedic enmbarassments and mishaps. Yes, we have come a long way (pun intended) from Judge Reinhold’s voyeuristic pool scene in Fast Times at Ridgemont High (Phoebe Cates was blazing hot in the 1980s, but current representations suggest a very prudish acceptance of masturbation in recent teen films.

In an increasingly global and interconnected world, it is necessary for corporations and educational systems to develop mechanisms for community members to enhance multicultural competencies related to diversity including race, ethnicity, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, age, religion, and the like. Some people internalize anger, fear, contempt, and guilt about these issues. As a result, people express their feelings in unhealthy and unproductive ways in school and in the workplace. The solution often is to provide diversity training or sensitivity training. This case study analysis utilizes Kaufman’s systemic thinking model to examine what went wrong when one university attempted to implement
a yearlong intensive diversity training program that brought national media attention and a potential lawsuit against the university, ultimately resulting in a dramatic shift in the university’s out-of-classroom experiential learning policies.

Included in Shirley Steinberg's "Diversity and Multiculturalism: A Reader" (2009), this chapter offers tips and strategies on using mainstream American film to teach students about diversity and social justice. In addition to a narrative on harnessing the  benefits of film pedagogy, the chapter concludes with ten examples of film clips (including elapsed times on the DVD) that would be useful for sparking classroom dialogue about varied issues.

Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno, founders of the Frankfurt School, developed critical theory as a mechanism for examining how mass media impacts and influences national opinion. In addition to radio, television, and print media, critical theory was concerned with the use of mainstream film as a purveyor of cultural norms. This paper utilizes critical theory to discuss how mainstream Hollywood film has been used as means to reinforce heterosexual hegemony in American culture. We will examine the ways that gay character archetypes such as the effeminate sissy or the asexual eunuch or industry practices like the heterosexual actors playing gay roles or lesbianism seen through the lens of heterosexual male fantasy each support the notion of heterosexual normativity in American social thought and culture.

A young girl’s life is shattered when she is stolen from her African village in a midnight raid. Ruthlessly torn from her family to be beaten, chained, degraded, and enslaved in a heartless world she can barely comprehend.

The slave ledger at Virginia’s Belle Grove Plantation only reveals that Judah was purchased to be the cook, gave birth to 12 children, and died in April 1836. But, like the other 276 faceless names entered in that ledger, Judah lived. Brian C. Johnson’s important work of historical fiction goes beyond what is recorded to portray the depth, humanity, and vulnerability of a beautiful soul all but erased by history.

Reel Diversity: A Teacher’s Sourcebook is a resource manual for teachers who want to infuse the concepts of diversity and social justice into their secondary and college courses. Lecturers and workshop presenters will also appreciate this text for its practical uses. The authors present proven guidelines for teaching diversity using a framework that deconstructs national opinion and culture from both majority and minority perspectives. Emphasizing the development of a shared language among teachers and learners, the text provides a list of important definitions about difference and power. It discusses the role of the teacher in minimizing cultural dominance, prejudice, and discrimination in society. The text includes an extensive section on designing a diversity education course, and teachers will benefit from the suggested instructional activities, readings, assignments, and advice on creating a classroom atmosphere for these issues.

More than just another book on film literacy and criticism, this manual stands out from the competition for its practical, user-friendly mini-lessons using film clips from mainstream Hollywood feature films to illustrate the 25 diversity definitions provided in the text, and develops a list of questions following each clip that can be used to encourage cross-cultural dialogue.

This resource manual offers practical guidance on how to effectively use the concept of difference as a starting point towards true inclusion. Seasoned and novice trainers will appreciate the suggested strategies and best practices on facilitating diversity dialogues, which are coupled with a set of twenty-five definitions that introduce and raise awareness of the personal and systemic nature of difference, discrimination, and power. 

We've Scene It All Before: Using Film Clips in Diversity Awareness Training is a learning tool which will be tremendously useful in reducing resistance and increasing thoughtful cross-cultural dialogue.