Arts and Humanities Commons^™

The End Of A Nation: Warithuddin Muhammad And Muslim Identity In The Nation Of Islam, Derek R. Galyon

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Warithuddin Muhammad’s tenure as the leader of the Nation of Islam (NOI) saw the attempted implementation of universalist doctrine that differed significantly from the particularism practiced by the movement’s founding prophet, Elijah Muhammad. Despite an apparent desire to distance the movement from Elijah Muhammad’s teachings of the intrinsic link between Blackness and Islam, race remained important for both Warithuddin and his followers. By partially embracing universalist interpretations that purported to view each race as inherently equal from an Islamic viewpoint, Warithuddin could easily be characterized as having tried to “deracialize” the Nation of Islam. With this shift, one would expect …

Food Justice And Practices In The Five Points Community Of Knoxville, Tennessee: A Survey Of Residents Living In An Urban Food Desert, Sylvia Isabel Duluc-Silva

Masters Theses

This thesis identifies the views related to traditional and alternative food systems and practices among residents living in East Knoxville, Tennessee, which has been designated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) as a food desert. These views were obtained from a mail survey sent out to adult residents living in the community who were responsible for obtaining food for their household. Its foundation is based on general place-based theory and findings associated with environmental and food justice literature. It builds upon this work by identifying and describing key variables and how they may be related via a theoretical …

Color-Blind Stancetaking In Racialized Discourse, Abigail Christine Tobias-Lauerman

Masters Theses

In this thesis, I examine how language constructs and constrains racialized discourse in post-Jim Crow contemporary America. Drawing on rhetorical and sociolinguistic work set forth by Booth, Shotwell, Bonilla-Silva, Omi and Winant, and others, it is apparent that racial organization— and racial identities and categorization— in the US is reliant upon specific markers that signify racial meaning. Such markers are assimilated into wider, unconscious discourse through what Shotwell and Booth describe as seemingly inherent— yet ultimately constructed— matters of “common sense,” and are expressed through evaluative stance acts. I explore the origins and construction of these markers and the relationship …

Toward Justice: Reflections On A Lesson Before Dying, Robin A. Bedenbaugh, Ralph Hutchison, Connor Hess, André Canty, Kaya Grace Porter, Erin Adams, Ginna Mashburn, Jennifer M. Jabson, David B. Byrd

Newfound Press eBooks

In 2016, the citizens of Knoxville, Tennessee, joined in a community reading program called the Big Read. Knoxvillians read Ernest Gaines's book A Lesson Before Dying, and community groups hosted a series of lectures, book discussions, film screenings, and dramatic performances that immersed the community in a five-week conversation on racism.

This book of essays is the University of Tennessee Libraries' contribution to Knoxville's Big Read. The Libraries put out a community-wide call for written responses to A Lesson Before Dying and was richly rewarded with the thoughtful and heartfelt commentaries gathered here.