The Aesthetic Character of Blackness

“Jemma DeCristo calls upon us to consider how ludicrous it is that a love of black culture may come at the expense of black life. Showing the ways this life remains under the yoke of captivity by means of the cultural products and aesthetic value that are mined from it, The Aesthetic Character of Blackness makes a most welcome contribution to black sound studies and is a gateway text onto the predicaments of black life in the afterlife of slavery.” - Fumi Okiji, author of Billie’s Bent Elbow: Exorbitance, Intimacy, and a Nonsensuous Standard

“In The Aesthetic Character of Blackness, DeCristo argues that art is not a neutral zone from which creative practice happens. Turning to sound, murmurs, noise, music, DeCristo offers precise prose and persuasive passages compelling us to think differently and anew about art and beauty. She demonstrates the ways beautiful things created as art are just as often used against black folks to exacerbate displacement and harm.” - Ashon T. Crawley, author of The Lonely Letters