On Black Media Philosophy, by Armond R. Towns

Abstract

In On Black Media Philosophy, Armond R. Towns discusses the relationship between Blackness, commodification, ecology, and communication throughout history. Towns is concerned with how Blackness and Black people have challenged, as well as been oppressed by, white Western male conceptions of communication. In addition, Towns argues that Black media studies has been too focused on the content of cultural phenomena while largely ignoring issues with form. Towns’s goal in the book is to rectify this gap in scholarship and highlight issues with the theoretical assumptions that media users or consumers are white. To support his points about Black epistemology and engagement with media, Towns focuses in Chapters Two to Four on specific historical incidents including, in order, the Underground Railroad, the Black Panther Party, and the killing of Michael Brown and its aftermath in Ferguson, Missouri. The book is grand in scale, but succinct at the same time.

Keywords

• media
• black studies
• black epistemologies
• cultural studies