@article{1480288,
      recid = {1480288},
      author = {Neal, Mark Anthony, },
      title = {Looking for Leroy : Illegible Black Masculinities /},
      pages = {1 online resource},
      abstract = {Mark 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. Neal 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&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.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/1480288},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9780814789407.001.0001},
}