{"product_id":"looking-for-leroy-9780814758359","title":"Looking for Leroy","description":"\u003cp\u003eMark Anthony Neal’s Looking for Leroy is an engaging and  provocative analysis of the complex ways in which black masculinity has  been read and misread through contemporary American popular culture.  Neal argues that black men and boys are bound, in profound ways, to and  by their legibility. The most “legible” black male bodies are often  rendered as criminal, bodies in need of policing and containment.  Ironically, Neal argues, this sort of legibility brings welcome relief  to white America, providing easily identifiable images of black men in  an era defined by shifts in racial, sexual, and gendered identities. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNeal highlights the radical potential of rendering  legible black male bodies—those bodies that are all too real for us—as  illegible, while simultaneously rendering illegible black male  bodies—those versions of black masculinity that we can’t believe are  real—as legible. In examining figures such as hip-hop entrepreneur and  artist Jay-Z, R\u0026amp;B Svengali R. Kelly, the late vocalist Luther  Vandross, and characters from the hit HBO series The Wire, among  others, Neal demonstrates how distinct representations of black  masculinity can break the links in the public imagination that create  antagonism toward black men. Looking for Leroy features close  readings of contemporary black masculinity and popular culture,  highlighting both the complexity and accessibility of black men and boys  through visual and sonic cues within American culture, media, and  public policy. By rendering legible the illegible, Neal maps the range  of identifications and anxieties that have marked the performance and  reception of post-Civil Rights era African American masculinity.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mark Anthony Neal","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48274429346043,"sku":"9780814758359","price":107.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0779\/3917\/9771\/files\/CoreSourceHub_b7f6ad9f-bd96-4a75-beb8-f8a407dc716c.jpg?v=1771047146","url":"https:\/\/indiepubs.com\/products\/looking-for-leroy-9780814758359","provider":"IndiePubs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}