Black women are often hidden figures in American culture. However, from rap and pop music to films and novels, Black womens creative contributions to popular culture has been immense. To understand Black women's cultural contributions is to understand American history because Black women's history is American history. This course uses films such as Lemonade and Eves Bayou, and music by Billie Holiday and Sexyy Redd to explore how Black women have created their own identities and cultural forms while also reshaping the landscape of American popular culture. This class will discuss Black Identity, Black love, Black intergenerational trauma and healing, cultural appropriation, feminism, the Black family, respectability politics, colorism, as well as race and social media discourse.