All posts by Henrike Kattoll

23 June 2021Access AmericaBarack Obama, Bill Clinton, Christopher Park, Christopher Street Day, Christopher Street Liberation Day, Daughters of Bilitis, Equality, Gay Liberation Front, Gay Rights Movement, Human Rights, Human Rights Campaign, Joe Biden, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, LGBTQ+ Community, LGBTQ+ History, Marsha P. Johnson, Mattachine Society, Police Brutality, Pride, Pride Month, Pride Parade, Rainbow Flag, Stonewall, Stonewall Inn, Stonewall Riots, VisibilityHenrike Kattoll

Happy Pride Month!

By Henrike Kattoll

The month of June commemorates a turning point in many countries’ LGBTQ+ history. In the U.S., the Stonewall Riots mark this turning point.

The Stonewall Inn is a gay bar located in Greenwich Village. Before the riots, the police routinely raided the Mafia-run gay bars to harass or detain members of the LGBTQ+ community. On the morning of June 28, 1969, a surprise raid took place at the Stonewall Inn. The angry patrons and neighborhood residents, fed up with the constant police harassment and social discrimination, gathered outside the bar and became increasingly agitated about the police aggressively manhandling people. Soon afterward, the onlookers began to throw objects – pennies, bottles, and cobble stones – at the police. The full-blown riot continued for five more days, involving thousands of people clashing with law enforcement on Christopher Street and neighboring roads. The fabulous Marsha P. Johnson, a Black drag queen, is credited for throwing the first stone – although she’s never confirmed it.

16 June 2021Creativity CornerAmerican Studies, Bloomsday, Bloomsday Festival, Dublin, Fiction, James Joyce, Letters, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Mrs. Joyce, U.S. Cities, UlyssesHenrike Kattoll

On Bloomsday, Dublin Comes to Many U.S. Cities or ‘Milly Bloom Also Has a Few Words to Say’

By Deborah A. Cecere

James Joyce statue, Earl Street North, Dublin https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Joyce_statue,_Dublin_1998.jpg

What does the novel Ulysses (1922) by James Joyce (1882–1941) have to do with American Studies? The answer is simple: Bloomsday is an annual literary festival celebrated in many U.S. cities, around the globe, and particularly in Dublin, the setting of the novel. The event is named for one of the novel’s protagonists, Leopold Bloom. The novel takes place on June 16, 1904, the day that James Joyce met his later wife, Nora Barnacle. Celebration activities include dressing up in period costumes, readings, theater performances, film screenings, and art exhibits associated with the novel and Joyce’s writings and life. The liveliness of the festivals testifies to the fun of reading Ulysses, especially if it’s read aloud. The novel is often mistakenly described as inscrutable for the average reader, but it is perhaps more accurately described as surprisingly readable.

In honor of Bloomsday, I’ve imagined a tongue-in-cheek letter of condolence from Milly Bloom, now fifty-two, but at the time of the novel the fifteen-year-old daughter of Leopold Bloom and his wife, Molly, to Mrs. Joyce (born Nora Barnacle). The letter is dated 1941, nineteen years following the novel’s publication and thirty-seven years following that famous day in Dublin in 1904.

9 June 2021Access AmericaCall Me By Your Name, Christianity, Cultural Impact, Garden of Eden, Leuphana, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Lil Nas X, Lucifer, Montero, Montero (Call Me By Your Name), Pop Culture, Rap Music, Rapper, Satan, TaboosHenrike Kattoll

Call Him by His Name: Rapper Lil Nas X Marks the Spot Where Viral Becomes Substantial

By Hannah Quinque

CC BY 2.0, DiFronzo, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Lil_Nas_X#/media/File:Lil_Nas_X_(cropped).jpg

In the digital information age, sensationalist headlines are all around us, all around the clock.

To stand out from the general noise even for a split second, a genuinely momentous sensation has to shake the collective foundation on- and offline. Enter Montero Lamar Hill, aka Lil Nas X. The 22-year-old Georgian rapper knows how to jump-start the pop cultural wave pool like few others as demonstrated by the virtually inescapable splashes he made with his new single, released this March.

2 June 2021Best Books & Fabulous FilmsGreat Dane, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Sigrid Nunez, The FriendHenrike Kattoll

A Human or Non-Human Companion? The Friend by Sigrid Nunez

By Maria Moss

Every so often, a book comes around by an author you’ve never heard about – although you pride yourself on always following new, enticing, and award-winning publications from the U.S. Well, The Friend is a novel (the sixth!) by a woman whose name I’d never encountered before: Sigrid Nunez. Not George Saunders or Colson Whitehead, not Joan Didion or Louise Erdrich, but Sigrid Nunez. And when I saw a Harlequin Great Dane on the cover, I knew I needed to read it.

26 May 2021Access AmericaBirthday, Bob Dylan, Greatest Hits, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Nobel Prize, Singer, SongwriterHenrike Kattoll

Happy Belated Birthday, Bob Dylan!

“Bob Dylan (Bring it All Back Home Sessions)” by ky_olsen is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Let’s keep it simple. Bob Dylan, the only singer and songwriter who has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, turned 80 on May 24^th. We would be surprised if you couldn’t name at least one of his songs.

The American Studies Blog decided to honor him not with a list of his numerous achievements, awards, and fun facts as others have already done that for us. Instead, we want to share a bit of his music that continues to inspire new generations.

19 May 2021Access America20-Dollar Bill, 20-Dollar Bill Controversy, African Americans, American Society, Andrew Jackson, Brittany Cooper, Civil Rights, Civil War, Combahee River Raid, Currency Redesign, Emancipation, Harriet Tubman, Indian Removal Act, Kasi Lemmons, Kerry Walters, Leuphana, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, National Identity, Sarah Bradford, Slavery, Time Magazine, Women's RightsHenrike Kattoll

Harriet Tubman and the 20-Dollar Bill Controversy

By Sabrina Völz

Public Domain, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=61139114

Mere days after Joe Biden was sworn in as President of the United States, the new administration announced its intention to put Harriet Tubman – known as Moses – on the twenty-dollar bill. The currency redesign – a relatively common occurrence in the 19^th century – was originally set for release in 2020 to mark the centennial of the 19^th Amendment that granted women the right to vote. The majority of Americans supported the redesign in 2016 when the last poll on the issue was taken. President Donald Trump put the project on hold, citing security issues and attributing the Obama initiative to sheer political correctness. While Trump may still view Andrew Jackson as an American hero, historians are quick to point out the complexities of the former U.S. president’s biography. Jackson owned hundreds of slaves and was responsible for the Indian Removal Act that led to the death of about 4,000 Cherokees, forced to walk from the Southern states to modern-day Oklahoma on what is now referred to as the Trail of Tears. Even though he probably should be, Jackson will not be completely removed from the twenty-dollar bill – he’ll just be demoted to the back. The irony of placing Tubman on one side and Jackson on the other on a symbol of national identity has not gone unnoticed and certainly speaks to the division in American society today.