- Films: Your assignment is to watch the rest of Brother From Another Planet (available in the Rosenthal library and via Amazon) and you will watch West Side Story (1961) which can be accessed by checking it out from the main office for use in the lounge or on campus.
- Readings:
- Caryl Phillips-Crossing the River
- Guerrero-Framing Blackness-Brother
- In the Shadow of Slavery: CHAPTER 3:
- Alberto Sanchez on West Side Story (1961):
- Flores-Citizens vs Citizenry
- Recommended: Slavery in New York (you can just browse the website a bit to get a clearer sense of this history)
- Recommended: Some of you might be interested to listen to This American Life from this week which provided a very enlightening view of contemporary American attitudes on immigration.
Prompt for Week 2: It can be argued that for some of New York’s people (im)migration is a one time experience that begins with official entry and culminates with assimilation. For others, however, migrations occur every day, as they pass across myriad boundary lines (some more visible than others) of status, language, race, or culture—having to prove themselves, time and again, as Americans that belong here.
How do West Side Story and The Brother from Another Planet express the experience of being among New York’s permanent others and marginal citizens? In order to practice your skills at mise-en-scene criticism, try to use a detailed description of one scene from each film as an example, as well as reference to the readings, which similarly describe marginal migrant experience.
