This project defines and argues for the Black Social Cut as a pivotal social phenomenon that intervenes in cinema through distinct editing practices. The Black Social Cut represents the intersection of Black cultural expression, resilience, and resistance, which manifests both socially and cinematically. By examining Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1983) as a seminal example of Black aesthetics, this study aims to define the key characteristics and functions of the Black Social Cut by positing that editing practices that emphasize fragmentation, juxtaposition, and rhythmic pacing, reflect the complex realities of Black life and provide a powerful means of storytelling. These practices not only enhance the visual and narrative impact of Black cinema but also serve as tools for cultural resistance and community engagement. Further, my project explores the continuation and extension of the Black Social Cut through the works of Eddie Murphy and Tiffany Haddish. Murphy’s and Haddish’s comedic performances and their use of digital platforms exemplify how the Black Social Cut evolves with technological advancements, maintaining its relevance and impact. Their work underscores the importance of the Black Social Cut in both cinema and community, demonstrating its role in fostering collective identity and resilience. By synthesizing theoretical perspectives from Black Studies, critical race theory, film studies, and performative theories, this research will provide a comprehensive framework for understanding the Black Social Cut. The project aims to highlight its enduring legacy and transformative power in shaping cultural discourse and challenging systemic oppression, emphasizing the necessity of this aesthetic theory for contemporary media studies. KEY WORDS: black standup comedy, the Black Social Cut, cinematic techniques, cultural identity, social resistance

When moving away from illicit crops and imposing sweeping restrictions, governments face unintended consequences, raising questions about who bears the distributional effects and how they cope with them. In April 2022, the Taliban imposed a ban on opium cultivation in Afghanistan. As opium was the main cash crop cultivated in many parts of the country, the ban upended the livelihoods of farmers and cultivators. Leveraging spatial variation in satellite-derived measures of opium cultivation along with detailed household survey data, we examine whether the ban had any effect on food security in the affected areas. Our findings from a difference-in-differences framework suggest that high food insecurity emerged in the immediate aftermath of the ban but gradually diminished over time. Results show a substantial increase in the likelihood of facing an extreme level of food insecurity - nearly a quarter of the pre-ban mean, whereby the effect is pronounced only for households unable to transition their production from opium to grains. Households cope with extreme food insecurity by reducing food consumption frequency and limiting portion sizes in the short run, selling livestock, and shifting production from opium to wheat on arable-for-grain soils in the medium run.

My submission is a research article written for a class that explored how Nigerian youth form resilience against the government ban on the social media network. The study examines the unique response to the ban imposed by Nigeria’s then-president, Muhammadu Buhari, which escalated the issue from an individual grievance to a national political conflict. Through an analysis of 300 tweets from June 2021 to January 2022, using Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA), the research found that rather than migrating to alternative platforms or returning covertly, Nigerian youth actively and openly re-engaged with Twitter using VPNs. They strategized ways to bypass the ban and criticized the government, demonstrating a rejection of perceived authoritarianism and an emphasis on self-empowerment. The article highlights the broader implications of de-platforming incidents, particularly involving prominent individuals, and identifies strategies for enhancing online safety and resilience, contributing to the understanding of digital activism.