Since this video is a bit long I pulled the key quotes from it:

-“You and I have never seen democracy, all we’ve seen its hypocrisy!” (1:20)

-“Stop talking about the south, long as you south of the Canadian border! You south.” (2:20)

These pointed statements by Malcolm X initiate uproarious laughter from the crowd. The crowd seems to strongly identify with these clever inversions. This example of the “comic spokesperson, as a mediator, as an ‘articulator’ of our culture” plays an important role in Malcolm’s “leading us in a celebration of a community of shared culture” (Mintz, 75, 74). Additionally, the laughter is also deeply intertwined in the history of survivalist humor (Boskin and Dorinson, 12). This joke is only laughable because of the pain that it references within the audience. Not only is this humor, but it is recognizably black ethnic humor. The use of rhyme and rhythm in Malcolm X’s speech heralds a strong connection to black ethnic roots of gospel music and the Black Church, both big influences in many manifestations of black culture up to the present day (Johnson; Black Performance Studies).

In Sommore’s animated monologue she explores the separation of white and black America. In the first half she comments on socioeconomics without specifically bringing race into her monologue but it is visible in the bystanders of the animation. When her family goes to the movie theatre you see predominantly white moviegoers and the docent singles her family out to shine his light on the only black people in the theatre. Although Sommore turns this into a sex joke, she does not allude to the possible racial dynamic in that specific story. In the second half of the skit though, she shares her experience with her white classmates. In her reaction to the drastic divide between her friend’s fancy home and her own home in “the hood” she becomes the comic spokesperson for the injustices of the racial divisions in US society (2:26). Sommore uses the “irony of receiving flagrantly inequitable treatment” which Watkins claims is the “main source of black humor,” to evoke a laugh from the audience (475). This theme can be seen not only in black humor but also in the work of many Native American comics.

While she follows the mold of black humor to some extent thought, this animated comedy does not play into many of the more common stereotypes found in racial humor. For example, she clearly respects her mother and turns her childhood frustrations at her mom into good elements that she is grateful for. Black women are predominantly portrayed as overbearing, aggressive, and inarticulate, and Sommore fights against this trope without focusing on it directly in this monologue. Perhaps the widespread nature of this stereotype is due to the lack of women’s voice and especially women of color’s voices in comedy today.

In DJ Cavem’s music video, he spoofs Snoop Dogg’s song “Gz Up Hoes Down” to create a new piece focusing on farming and healthy food.  By doing this he challenges mainstream black rap.  The music industry and (primarily) white listenership disproportionately supports types of black performance that serve to reinforce Euro-American stereotypes of African Americans. Thus, in expanding the scope of black musical performance, DJ Cavem and his contemporaries have their work cut out for them. The first time I watched this, the meaning of the lyrics took about 30 seconds to decode in my brain since I have been trained to see a black man in a hoody and assume his lyrics will center violence, drugs and sex.  Johnson writes, “performance must…provide a space for meaningful resistance of oppressive systems” (Black Performance Studies, 447) and in this song, as in his other work, DJ Cavem resists by challenging the mainstream assumptions of what being a black rapper means. This theme of unexpectedness can be seen across black and Native American performance as a tool for breaking down systems of oppression (Deloria).

Additionally, DJ Cavem’s use of rhyme and rhythm, common to hip hop and black performance more broadly, connects his work with that of black performers throughout history (Johnson, Black Performance Studies).