RELIGST 2EE3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Cardinal Direction, Hoop Dreams, Arthur Agee

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OC1170598

2 Nov 2017

School

Department

Course

Professor

November 2, 2017

Onaje Woodbine

●teaches philosophy in religious studies

●grew up in a poor African American neighbourhood in Boston

●he was exposed to poverty, violence, intimidation by gangs, exposure to drug trade, primarily

because there aren't other economic opportunities besides the drug trade

○lots of young black men died before their time because of gun violence, police violence,

accidents

●Onaje's father was absent from the family

●he was recruited to Yale and was voted one of the top 10 players and led the Yale team to scoring

●he ended up quitting the time to focus on studies

●white players belonged to a fraternity that none of the black guys belonged to

●he felt compared to these street basketballs, Yale basketball lacked passion

Hoop Dreams (Documentary)

●it's wealthy white academic institutions who rely on black athletes

●1994 film

●the film follows William Gates and Arthur Agee, two African-American teenagers who are

recruited by a scout from St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a predominantly white

high school with an outstanding basketball program, whose alumni include NBA great Isiah

Thomas

Black Gods of the Asphalt

●study of street basketball in Boston neighbourhoods

●"urban lived religion"

Woodbine

●focused on ethnography

●participant observation fieldwork

●argues that it's impossible to do scholarly work if you don't care about your subject and you don't

realize you're always studying yourself

1. this approach is called autoethnography

2. the researcher is using his or her experience as a compliment to the observations he or she

makes about other peoples experiences and statements/narratives he/she collects from

other people

●he observed that the young men who play basketball on the streets of Boston, go to the courts to

discover their humanity

1. that they represent something intangible

2. these men turn themselves into choreographers of the court; it's like they're dancing on

the court

3. expresses grief, solidarity to the community, and seeks to find hope

●in his book he explores 3 main facets:

1. grieving

2. desire for healing

3. celebration and transcendence

Boston Neighbourhoods

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RELIGST 2EE3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Cardinal Direction, Hoop Dreams, Arthur Agee

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