Professor Emeritus
michawk@umich.eduAutobiography Studies; English; Twentieth Century American; American; Gender and Sexuality; African American; Emeriti
Education/Degree:
Ph.D., Pennsylvania 1986
Highlighted Work and Publications
Burying Don Imus: Anatomy of a Scapegoat
Michael Awkward
What the furor surrounding Don Imus shows us about unresolved race relations in the United States“That’s some nappy-headed hos.” With these now-infamous words, uttered in 2007 to describe the supposed appearance of the Rutgers women’s basketball team, tWhat the furor surrounding Don Imus shows us about unresolved race relations in the United States
“That’s some nappy-headed hos.” With these now-infamous words, uttered in 2007 to describe the supposed appearance of the Rutgers women’s basketball team, the radio talk show host Don Imus became the improbable focus of a heated national... See More
Philadelphia Freedoms: Black American Trauma, Memory, and Culture after King
Michael Awkward
Michael Awkward’s Philadelphia Freedoms captures the energetic contestations over the meanings of racial politics and black identity during the post-King era in the City of Brotherly Love. Looking closely at four cultural moments, he shows how racial trauma and his native city’s history have been entwined. He introduces each of these moments with poignant personal memories of the decade in focus and explores representation of African American freedom and oppression from the 1960s to the 1990s.
Philadelphia...
