Critiquing Reality-Based Televisual Black Fatherhood: A Critical Analysis ofRun's HouseandSnoop Dogg's Father Hood

Barack Obama as the Great Man: Communicative Constructions of Racial Transcendence in White-Male Elite Discourses

“…Whereas this study examines claims about Obama's race transcendent appeal, there have been studies considering other Black individuals who enable versions of human experience that transcend the exclusive gaze of race. For instance, numerous studies have focused on contemporary and well-known Black men and women such as Oprah Winfrey (see Cloud, 1996;Peck, 1994Peck, , 2002Squires, 1997), Colin Powell (Kinder & McConnaughy, 2006), Bill Cosby (see Inniss & Feagin, 1995;Jhally & Lewis, 1992;Smith, 2008), and Michael Jordan (Dyson, 1993). These studies have shown that these race-transcending icons acquired an often heroic dimension by surpassing the narrow boundaries of their specific careers and representing the possibilities for success denied to many African Americans.…”

“…Specifically, they desire Black leaders, and petulant White entrepreneurs for that matter, to become more Obama-like in their behaviors, rhetorical styles, and in demeanor. These constructions are quite ironic as studies show that Black men cannot escape ideological frames in public spaces that often feature them as criminals, aggressive, lazy, unintelligent, and highly emotional (Brown, 2009;Davis, 1998;Jordan, 2008;Orbe, 1998;Smith, 2008).…”

“Food Changed My Life”:The Chef Jeff Projectand the Politics of Rehabilitative Cooking

“…Drawing on the work of Andrejevic and Colby (2006), Orbe describes RTV as a unique ''social experimentation'' in which ''everyday individuals agree to be themselves in situations contrived by others to maximize the intensity of human interaction' ' (2008, p. 345). Programs such as Run's House (Smith, 2008) and Flavor of Love (Dubrofsky & Hardy, 2008) provide seemingly unfiltered tours of ''real'' black families. Other series, including 30 days, A Farmer's Wife, and American High, bring together RTV and documentary by inviting viewers to witness the daily activities and ''social weight'' experienced by specific, often marginalized groups such as minimum wage workers, LGBTQ couples, rural housewives, and urban high school students (Murray, 2004).…”

“I’d Rather Be with Them Than Doing Anything Else”: Kobe Bryant’s Status as the MVP of Girl’s Dads

“…Extant scholarship regarding Black fathers is extensive and spans several decades (Abdill, 2018 ; Adams, 2019 ; Cazenave, 1979 ; Connor & White, 2006 ; Daniel, 1975 ; Hamer, 1997 , 2001 ; Hutchinson, 1997 ; Kim, 2014 ; McAdoo, 1981 ; Oware, 2011 ; Prinsloo, 2006 ; Randles, 2020 ; Smith, 2008 ). Within this broad literature are numerous investigations of various aspects of Black fatherhood.…”