In this essay, I grapple with the ethics and practices of working on Black composers as a White scholar, and consider how to try to create an anti-racist practice of music scholarship.

Through the example of Barry Jenkins’ choices for Moonlight (2016), this chapter argues that pre-existing musical cues can link a film’s themes to other minority filmmaking traditions. The song at the center of this chapter, “Cucurrucucú Paloma,” exemplifies the kinds of cultural translations common in transnational queer cinema. It was orig…[Read more]

Through the example of Barry Jenkins’ choices for Moonlight (2016), this chapter argues that pre-existing musical cues can link a film’s themes to other minority filmmaking traditions. The song at the center of this chapter, “Cucurrucucú Paloma,” exemplifies the kinds of cultural translations common in transnational queer cinema. It was orig…[Read more]