After the groundbreaking success of his debut film, Boyz N the Hood in 1991, filmmaker John Singleton (1968–2019) gained worldwide acclaim, earned the respect of major film industry figures, and became the topic of both scholarly and popular culture film conversations. He also made history by becoming the youngest—and the first African American—nominee for the Academy Award for Best Director. However, lukewarm reception for his sophomore release, Poetic Justice in 1993, dampened the momentum of his early promise, and critical interest in his subsequent work waned. Once Upon a Time in South Central LA: John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy (UP of Mississippi, 2026) seeks to reframe Singleton’s legacy and reaffirm his significance as a filmmaker.

Author Mark D. Cunningham argues that Singleton’s so-called “hood trilogy”—Boyz N the Hood, Poetic Justice, and Baby Boy (2001)—offers a vital cinematic lens into the lived experiences of young African American men and women. Blending film analysis with literature, music, sociology, and cultural studies, the volume positions Singleton’s work as a critical intersection of African American history, identity, and popular culture. Cunningham explores Singleton’s portrayal of Black masculinity, the social environment of South Central Los Angeles, and the impact of hip-hop culture on gender dynamics. By revisiting Singleton’s early career and the cultural weight of his films, Once Upon a Time in South Central LA reasserts the filmmaker’s place in the cinematic canon and highlights the enduring influence of his work on African American youth and storytelling.

Dr. Mark D. Cunningham is professor and chair of the Department of Radio-Television-Film at Austin Community College. His research focuses on film and television studies, with an emphasis on Black filmmakers, screen adaptations, and representations of race and identity in popular media. His scholarship engages figures such as directors John Singleton, Spike Lee, Barry Jenkins, and rapper/actor Ice-T. His work has appeared in The Atlantic and The Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, and he has contributed to numerous edited volumes in film, television, and media studies. You can find Mark on Instagram.

Subscribe, like, follow, and rate Additions to the Archive with Sullivan Summer on Instagram, Substack, and wherever you get your podcasts. And check out Sullivan's Substack for a continued conversation between she and Mark, as they discuss the hood trilogy's impact in the 21st century.

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Sandwiched between the long period of French colonization, and the brief return to the French empire before the Americans enter the scene, the Spanish period of Louisiana's history is often ignored by historians. Yet, according to University of North Alabama historian Frances Kolb Turnbell, scholars of Vast Early America and the American West ignore this three decade period at their own peril. In Spanish Louisiana: Contest for Borderlands, 1763-1803 (LSU Press, 2024), Turnbell argues that the Spanish period of Louisiana's history is a prime example of historical contingency. The people - Black, white, Indigenous, and the many who straddled such categories - assumed the colony would stay in Spanish hands indefinitely, and made choices based on that assumption. The actions of Native people or American traders only make sense through this specific and contextual lens. And although this Spanish period did come to a close, its legacy endured well into the American period of the region's history. An excellent example of borderlands history, Turnbell's book urges scholars to reevaluate the history of the American West during the revolutionary period to uncover what else may have been missed beneath the Mississippi's murky waters and lush bayous.

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Who has the “right” to learn Mandarin Chinese? In Multiracial Mandarin: Asian Americans and Impossible Language (U Minnesota Press, 2026), Dr. David Shuang Song examines how matters of race and privilege shape US Mandarin language education and who has access to it. Through a two-year ethnographic study of two Bay Area high schools where diasporic and heritage speakers learn Mandarin alongside Black and Latinx students, Song advances a sociological and educational–linguistic inquiry into how language interacts with our understanding of identity and equity.

Comparing classroom activities in two public schools, Dr. Song investigates teachers who seek to make Mandarin accessible while detaching it from its cultural roots. As he explores the difficulties of limited resources, racial inequality, and pedagogical practices inherent in multiracial Mandarin instruction, Dr. Song shows how language education complicates how educators understand Asian American students and troubles conventional conversations around race and racial equity in schools.

Arguing that language practice and instruction must always be considered in relation to diaspora, ethnicity, and racialization, Multiracial Mandarin offers a frank analysis of the risks and benefits of teaching a diasporic language and asks if this practice ought to be replicated in more schools. As he applies innovative conceptual frameworks for talking about language among Asian Americans, Dr. Song’s timely and theoretically sophisticated analysis has wide-ranging implications for how students, teachers, and administrators approach essential questions around education, privilege, and language survival.

This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.

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