From Blackface to Black Twitter

Jannette L. Dates is a former dean of the School of Communications at Howard University, a nationally recognized authority on mass media and African Americans, and co-editor of acclaimed book Split Image: African Americans in the Mass Media (1990)—recipient of the Gustavus Myers Award. Mia Moody Ramirez, a noted scholar in gender, race, and media, received her PhD from the University of Texas. She is a professor of journalism, public relations, and new media at Baylor University, where she also serves as Director of American Studies and Graduate Studies.

Acknowledgements – Introduction – Part I. The Roots of Black Humor – Overview, Structure, and Significance of Book – Pre-Slavery Through the 19th Century – Part II. The Fruits of Black Humor – The Twentieth Century – Representations of Black Men and Kings of Comedy – Black Feminism and the Queens of Comedy – Part III. Black Comedy, Social Identity, and User-Generated Content – 21st Century-Humor and Social Identity – Black Twitter, Social Movements, and Politics—Humor Across Media Platforms and Memes – Humor and Citizen-Produced Memes – Part IV. Black Humor and Politics – Humor and President Obama – Part V. The Future of Black Comedy – Conclusions and Focus on the Future for Black Comedy – Appendices – Appendix A: Noteworthy African American Men in Comedy (Both Stand-Up and Screen) – Appendix B: Noteworthy African American Women in Comedy (Both Stand-Up and Screen) – Appendix C: Images Used in Cover Collage – Index.

“In this important addition to the literature concerning black humor, Jannette L. Dates and Mia Moody Ramirez provide a wide-ranging and comprehensive overview of comedy by, for, and about African Americans. For newcomers to the field, the appendices will be a welcome guide, as will the historical scope offered by this volume. The major contribution of this book is in the authors’ very timely and important explication of the impact of new social media platforms on the deployment of black humor in the early 21st century, by both professional comedians and by the general public.”
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, Harvard University