Kaiya Smith Blackburn: Winner of the 2018 Dean鈥檚 Essay Prize
Congratulations to聽, a current masters student in the musicology program, who was awarded 1st place in the聽2017-18 Dean鈥檚 Essay Prize for her project 鈥淏lack Israelites, Social Justice, and Kendrick Lamar: Meditations on a Rhetorical Branch of African American/Jewish Relations.鈥�
Kaiya Smith Blackburn is an academic, a celebrated performer and film composer. Spending聽many years performing folk and alternative music, she has recently taken her musical interest to academia.聽Kaiya completed an undergraduate degree with distinction at the University of Toronto in Music History & Culture, Philosophy and English. Her postgraduate work consists of a Master's Degree in Musicology聽with Prof. David Brackett聽the聽Schulich School of Music of 平特五不中 in Montreal, QC. With this degree her focus is on African American musical expression & religion, as well as the gender politics of the Freak-Folk tradition.聽Kaiya has contributed various socio-political and theoretical analyses of popular music to the field.聽She is now pursuing editorial work within this field and in the wider spheres of music journalism and broadcasting.聽
In celebration of this achievement, we asked Kaiya a couple questions in a recent email exchange.
What does winning the Dean鈥檚 Essay Prize mean to you?聽
As an academic, one only rarely has their work validated by the larger academic field of which they are a part. When it happens, it's incredibly meaningful and extends far beyond the kind of affirmation a grade can provide. It reminds you that your work is valued and inspires you to continue your research. I'm very fortunate to聽have received this recognition.
How did you become interested in your paper鈥檚 topic?
I have long been聽fascinated by the intersections between theology, sociology and music. In particular, I have been聽curious about modes of聽African American Christianity being expressed in soul, blues, hip hop聽and r&b. My own theological research has bled into my聽musicological work so much that I find the two聽irrevocably聽entangled, with regards to African American religious聽identity. With this framework in mind, I knew that I needed to look more closely at Kendrick Lamar's聽DAMN.聽as it showcases fascinating interplay with theological discourse and聽political activism. I knew I had to work with this album to further understand the tapestry of African American religious articulation.
Abstract
African American communities from the eighteenth century onward have successfully interpreted the Hebrew Bible and Christian scriptures to befit their existential reality and reinforce their humanity.聽On the sonic landscape of the spirituals, African Americans have identified with the Torah鈥檚 themes of social justice, liberation, and equality. With songs such as 鈥淚 Am Bound for the Land of Canaan,鈥� 鈥淒idn鈥檛 My Lord Deliver Daniel,鈥� and 鈥淪teal Away,鈥� African slaves and their descendants identified directly with the suffering Children of Israel 鈥� they engaged with scripture as a living, malleable organism, and carved within it a likeness of their own experience. The reinterpretation of scripture has thus been central to the self-definition, identity-formation, and social cohesion of many African American communities from the first theological utterances of the earliest bards, to the more contemporary exaltations of black artists throughout the postmodern nation. This analysis evaluates the network of African American identifications with central stories and principles of the Torah, situating it within the overarching social sphere of African American and Jewish relations.聽While the earliest alignments with the enslaved Hebrews of Exodus by African Americans occurred prior to substantial contact between blacks and Jews, black theology has continued to evolve within the context of an integrated history with Jews. One particular branch, 鈥� stemming in part from interaction with Jews in America 鈥� is the Black Israelite theological phenomenon.聽I focus on Kendrick Lamar and his fourth studio album聽DAMN.聽(2017),聽which employs Black Israelite聽biblical rhetoric profoundly, to evaluate this cultural entanglement.聽
