Forum Online

Solitaire (Solitary)

Writer and poet El’Ja (LeJuane) Bowens reflects on a photograph by Southbound artist McNair Evans.

As part of the exhibition, Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South, we’ve asked artists, writers, and poets to respond to a photograph of their choice in the form of short written pieces.

How I Roll: The Nuts and Bolts of Roller Derby

By Kaylee Sciacca

Despite its quickly growing popularity, roller derby is often considered to be obscure or even vintage as far as sports go.

Those of us who didn’t grow up playing roller derby may know the sport from pop culture references that portray derby girls as bruised-up, fishnet-wearing rockabilly queens who touch up their lipstick after punching you in the face. Part of the popular image of roller derby came from what it used to look like in the 1950s and 1960s, when it was first televised. There are, of course, players who generally uphold the stereotype — save for the punching, which is considered illegal contact in the rules of the game.

Writing in the Wake of Charlie Hebdo

By Helen Solterer

Reporter and critic Philippe Lançon published a book about surviving the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.

Part chronicle, part essay, Le Lambeau [Shreds] details all he went through undergoing facial reconstruction during 2015, from the attacks at the beginning of the year to those at the end.

Visionary Aponte: Art & Black Freedom

By Forum staff

The Visionary Aponte: Art & Black Freedom art exhibit takes as its point of departure an extraordinary — and now lost — historical artifact: a “Book of Paintings” created by José Antonio Aponte.

Aponte was a free Black carpenter, artist, and former soldier who was also the leader of an ambitious antislavery movement in Cuba during the Age of Revolution.

A View of Haiti From the American South

By Aasha Henderson

Growing up in rural Louisiana, the deep American South, my community preached strong patriotism, strong Christian beliefs, and strong nativism.

History in school was taught to follow the same narrative: America wins, and America is better.

There and Back Again: Haitian Children in Detention Camps

By Sanha Lim

At the U.S.-Mexico border, 23,000 children have been torn from their parents. The imagery is jarring.

In a facility in McAllen, Texas, immigrants sit in cages like criminals, with one holding as many as 20 children.

Print Culture and Resistance Among Cuban Refugees at Guantánamo Bay

By Alyssa Perez

Duke undergraduate Alyssa Perez talks about her experiences conducting archival research for the first time in the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Duke University.

As a Cuban-America student, she is intrigued by the Caribbean Sea Migration Collection and what it reveals about the detention of Cubans and their tenacious fight for freedom.

Listening for Surrealist Ethnography

By Jay Hammond

On November 15, 2017, Jay Hammond and the Forum for Scholars and Publics hosted a reading and performance by Eugene Chadbourne and friends.

Chadbourne kicked off the event by reading passages from his tome Dreamory and was joined on stage by David Menestres and members of his family band, The 13 Society. Hammond reflects on the evening.

The Black Atlantic Festival 2018

By Forum staff

The music of the Black Atlantic is our global soundtrack.

Doctoral students from a range of disciplines in Laurent Dubois’ class on the Black Atlantic have produced a guide to the context of the Black Atlantic music festival.