{"id":1594,"date":"2023-05-18T12:44:37","date_gmt":"2023-05-18T16:44:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/samanthablackmon.net\/bgarchive\/?page_id=1594"},"modified":"2023-05-18T12:44:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-18T16:44:37","slug":"replaying-video-game-history-as-a-black-feminist-mixtape","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/samanthablackmon.net\/bgarchive\/replaying-video-game-history-as-a-black-feminist-mixtape\/","title":{"rendered":"Replaying Video Game History as a Black Feminist Mixtape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Scholarship in Focus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Citation:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

TreaAndrea M. Russworm and Samantha Blackmon. \u201cReplaying Video Game History as a Mixtape of Black Feminist Thought.\u201d Feminist Media Histories<\/em> 6, no. 1 (January 1, 2020): 93\u2013118. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1525\/fmh.2020.6.1.93<\/a>. (PDF)<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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When we published this article in 2020, we wanted to challenge the tendency to frame video game history as only pioneered by white male innovation because we knew such histories were incomplete. We simultaneously wanted to challenge our own expectations about the form and formats of academic scholarship. As a key part of our method for telling new stories, then, we leaned into the history of Black female musical performance as a way of encouraging new ways of thinking about video game history\u2014in this case establishing an important link between Black contributions in music and gaming. Then too, by prioritizing the voices and experiences of Black women game scholars, entrepreneurs, developers, players, and content creators, we integrated oral histories of Black women that detailed their experiences and long histories with games. Transcripts of those oral histories are spliced throughout the published article. We decided to call the space where all of these different threads of Black culture intersect with games a \u201cmixtape\u201d partly to emphasize listening as a required skillset for more richly understanding video game history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Abstract:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This article, a Black feminist mixtape, blends music, interviews, and critical analysis in order to demonstrate some of the ways in which Black women have impactfully engaged with the video game industry. Organized as musical \u201ctracks,\u201d it uses lyrics by Black women performers as a critical and cultural frame for understanding some of the work Black women have done with video games. In prioritizing the personal as not only political but also instructive for how we might think about digital media histories and feminism, each mixtape track focuses on Black women’s lived experiences with games. As it argues throughout, Black feminism as defined and experienced by the Combahee River Collective of the 1970s has been an active and meaningful part of Black women’s labor and play practices with video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Games and aspects of video game history referenced and discussed in this article :<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arcades; Pac-Man<\/em>\u00a0(1980);\u00a0Ms. Pac-Man<\/em>\u00a0(1982);\u00a0Super Mario Bros!<\/em>\u00a0(1985);\u00a0Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas<\/em>\u00a0(2004)<\/a>;\u00a0Resident Evil<\/em>\u00a0(1996);\u00a0Contra<\/em>\u00a0(1987);\u00a0Kid Icarus<\/em>\u00a0(1987);\u00a0Double Dragon<\/em>\u00a0(1987);\u00a0The Sims<\/em>\u00a0(2000)<\/a>;\u00a0Left 4 Dead<\/em> (2008)<\/a>;\u00a0Call of Duty<\/em>\u00a0(2003);\u00a0Deus Ex: Human Revolution<\/em>\u00a0(2011);\u00a0Candy Crush<\/em>\u00a0(2012);\u00a0Farm Heroes<\/em>\u00a0(2013);Township\u00a0<\/em>(2013);\u00a0Sudoku\u00a0<\/em>(2006);\u00a0Animal Crossing<\/em>\u00a0(2001);\u00a0Minecraft\u00a0<\/em>(2011);\u00a0Style Savvy<\/em>\u00a0(2008).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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