Seneca Vaught
Jointly-appointed member of the Departments of History and Interdisciplinary Studies applying historical research and interdisciplinary methods to contemporary issues.
Address: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Address: Atlanta, Georgia, United States
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Papers by Seneca Vaught
black family and the ways in which hip hop has challenged traditional notions of family, kinship, and familial love. The chapter examines representations of hip hop fathers and hip hop mothers, complicates notions of the “modern” American family, and frames new trajectories for how black families are imagined in hip hop discourses.
Soul of Black Folk, relatively few scholars have delved into the
ongoing relevance of one of the book’s most poignant essays.
The fifth chapter, “Of the Wings of Atalanta,” presents a complex
moral reading of a nascent city in the post-bellum South and its
role in recurring debates about morality, progress, and the nature
of true education. This paper argues that reflections on Du Bois’
“Of the Wings of Atalanta” shed light on understudied aspects
of Black history and Southern history but also interdisciplinary
discourse about Hip Hop culture and the meaning of progress in
Atlanta’s Hip Hop generation.
black family and the ways in which hip hop has challenged traditional notions of family, kinship, and familial love. The chapter examines representations of hip hop fathers and hip hop mothers, complicates notions of the “modern” American family, and frames new trajectories for how black families are imagined in hip hop discourses.
Soul of Black Folk, relatively few scholars have delved into the
ongoing relevance of one of the book’s most poignant essays.
The fifth chapter, “Of the Wings of Atalanta,” presents a complex
moral reading of a nascent city in the post-bellum South and its
role in recurring debates about morality, progress, and the nature
of true education. This paper argues that reflections on Du Bois’
“Of the Wings of Atalanta” shed light on understudied aspects
of Black history and Southern history but also interdisciplinary
discourse about Hip Hop culture and the meaning of progress in
Atlanta’s Hip Hop generation.
Despite the notable attributes that independently owned neighborhood stores showcase, they also present some significant problems. Corner stores frame racial and economic divisions in complicated ways while simultaneously illustrating how self-employment and community cooperation can generate community development. For many immigrant families coming to the United States, corner stores serve as an important entrepreneurial segue into American economic life but they also replicate the existing racial order.
These stores are also often characterized by practices that would be unheard of in a middle-class commercial setting, such as selling “loosies” (single cigarettes), toiletries and feminine hygiene products in the vicinity of food, uniquely branded and flavored junk foods (e.g, ketchup potato chips, dill vinegar potato chips) and a variety of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages (e.g, low-end fortified wine such MD 20/20, Cisco, Nightrain, Colt 45, etc.). Often these goods are sold for more than the fair market value that one could expect in more affluent areas. Some items are not marked at all and the price is determined as the customer reaches the cash register, which in itself can be another defining characteristic of these places of commerce. More often than not, there is extensive use bulletproof glass, convex security mirrors, and profiling of customers, all of which were introduced as precautionary measures but have contributed to increased tensions between store owners and patrons. In some cases, illegal activity such as drug trafficking and prostitution may take place in the vicinity of the corner store though not necessarily tied to the owners.
This paper addresses these important themes by examining the impact of corner stores in two American cities: Buffalo, New York and Atlanta, Georgia. The paper illustrates how corner stores can effectively address unique demands in urban niche markets and the problems and possibilities these approaches present. The paper puts these developments into a historical, economic and spatial context that illustrates how neighborhood stores emerge and the dynamics of race, economics, and geography that they engage. Finally, the paper illustrates several models for effective small propriety grocers that specifically address issues of economic disparity and racial divisions, illustrating how these examples have empowered communities and transformed antagonistic approaches to urban commerce.