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How do you like it so far?

How Do You Like It So Far uses pop culture to take soundings of a society in transition, exploring intersections with civic imagination and engagement, and social and political change. Henry Jenkins and Colin Maclay are your guides on this adventure.

Episode 135: AE Stevenson and Brooklyne Gipson on Digital Black Feminism, Sinners, and One Battle After Another

April 7, 2026

University of Chicago Assistant Professor in the Department of Cinema and Media Studies, AE Stevenson and Rutgers University–New Brunswick, Assistant Professor of Journalism and Media Studies Brooklyne Gipson join us to talk about digital Black feminism online. We start our discussion with America’s relations with the platform TikTok, and how it is a large social media site for Black creators. We then explore how to define community and culture, especially for Black people online, in a world resistant to progress. Building from this, AE and Brooklyne discuss how certain communicative practices in the Black community focus on storytelling as a vehicle for critical thought rather than a lack of media literacy education. This leads to the larger topic of online discourse around the films Sinners and One Battle After Another. We end with dissecting how the recognition of, or lack thereof, Black culture affects people’s views of these films. Although they both feature Black actors, they interact with culture very differently. Ultimately, we push for an awareness of the multilayered discussions of media seen as progressive or discursive. They should think about what cultures and communities are being featured and how.       

Here are some of the references from this episode, for those who want to dig a little deeper:

Academic/Educational readings and resources:

People & Places:

Media:

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