Boston University Libraries OpenBU
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
    View Item 
    •   OpenBU
    • Theses & Dissertations
    • Boston University Theses & Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   OpenBU
    • Theses & Dissertations
    • Boston University Theses & Dissertations
    • View Item

    Black gods of the asphalt: street basketball, power, and embodied spirit

    Thumbnail
    Date Issued
    2014
    Author(s)
    Offley Woodbine, Onaje X.
    Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare by Email
    Export Citation
    Download to BibTex
    Download to EndNote/RefMan (RIS)
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Embargoed until:
    2021-05-30
    Permanent Link
    https://hdl.handle.net/2144/14344
    Abstract
    This dissertation examines the motivations behind black male "hoop dreams." Other scholars have argued that young black males in the United States are "pushed by poverty" and "pulled" by predominately white institutions to pursue the game of basketball as a means of escape from the difficulties of the inner city. While these deterministic accounts are illuminative, they strip these ballplayers of agency, attempting to explain the significance of basketball in their lives without considering their lived experiences. The result is that the wider scope of meaning and feeling that drives black males to crossover, spin, and stutter step on asphalt courts, is completely overlooked in the scholarly literature. To address this gap, I conducted an ethnographic study of Boston street basketball from 2010 to 2014. During participant observation and interviews, I learned that black males also go to inner city basketball courts to discover their humanity, to demonstrate to themselves and others that they possess something intangible not subject to the decay of urban life. Especially during times of crisis, these men turn themselves into choreographers of the court, playing this game in order to express grief, find hope, and revel in community. In this dissertation, I explore this deeper quest for human identity in inner city basketball through the lenses of religious studies, philosophy, and the reflexive sociology of Pierre Bourdieu. I argue that, while the practices of street basketball do express considerable symbolic violence, the actual experience of playing the game goes far beyond the simple enactment of stereotypical representations of black males as dumb jocks or uncontrollable animals. Religious studies in particular can speak to this deeper dimension of human agency on the asphalt, at the level of feeling, emotion, and the embodiment of what William James calls a "more."
    Collections
    • Boston University Theses & Dissertations [6982]


    Boston University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Help
     

     

    Browse

    All of OpenBUCommunities & CollectionsIssue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjectsThis CollectionIssue DateAuthorsTitlesSubjects

    Deposit Materials

    LoginNon-BU Registration

    Statistics

    Most Popular ItemsStatistics by CountryMost Popular Authors

    Boston University
    Contact Us | Send Feedback | Help