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Citizen: An American Lyric

Published by USC Bedrosian Center on

Featuring Raphael Bostic, Aubrey Hicks, Lisa Schweitzer, David Sloane, and Donnajean Ward
This month’s book is both poetry and criticism, Citizen: An American Lyric. Rankine’s piece is a revolution. A political, a poetic, complex revolution in 169 pages. We look at it through an unusual lens – what should we take away from works of art as we think about governance in America?
“[Citizen] is an especially vital book for this moment in time. . . . The book explores the kinds of injustice that thrive when the illusion of justice is perfected, and the emotional costs for the artist who cries foul. . . . The realization at the end of this book sits heavily upon the heart: ‘This is how you are a citizen,’ Rankine writes. ‘Come on. Let it go. Move on.’ As Rankine’s brilliant, disabusing work, always aware of its ironies, reminds us, ‘moving on’ is not synonymous with ‘leaving behind.'”—The New Yorker
To listen to the Bedrosian Book Club discussion of Citizen: An American Lyric click the orange arrow in the Soundcloud player at the top of this post. Or you can download it and subscribe through Soundcloud or iTunes! Follow us on Twitter! @RaphaelBostic @AubreyHi @drschweitzer @dcsloane53  @DonnajeanWard @BedrosianCenter

Links to things we talk about:

Prop 187
An altered photograph of a public lynching, Marion, Indiana, August 1930; created by Claudia Rankine’s husband, John Lucas, from Citizen

(Hulton Archive/Getty Images/John Lucas) An altered photograph of a public lynching, Marion, Indiana, August 1930; created by Claudia Rankine’s husband, John Lucas, from Citizen page 91

Black Lives Matter Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department David Hammons, In the Hood Modern Social Imaginaries by Charles Taylor

Next Month …

Dream Cities cover image Read Dream Cities: Seven Urban Ideas That Shape the World by Wade Graham along with us, and listen to our discussion on August 29, 2016. Dream Cities traces seven architectural ideas and the architects behind them to see how cities across the world have become so similar. Please read along with us. Let us know what you think of the book at Facebook or Twitter. This podcast was produced by Aubrey Hicks and Jonathan Schwartz, recorded and mixed by Corey Hedden. @AubreyHi @jonHLYP @coreyhedden

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