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2021- 2022 Counterpoints Lecture

Dr. Kyra GauntÌý

(University at Albany, State University of New York)

Tuesday, February 22, 5:00 pm
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This is a virtual event.ÌýTo register to receive the Zoom link, click .

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While TikTok, with one billion users across 154 countries,Ìýbecame the most downloaded app during the global COVID-19 pandemic, YouTubeÌýheldÌýsteady as the number one destination for music search and discovery. Both platforms wereÌýfined millions by the FTC in 2019Ìýfor accusations of violating the Children's Online Privacy and Protection Act.ÌýWhen users search for hits that girls' hips make famous from YouTube to TikTok,Ìýthe sheer volume of ubiquitous music listening masks online child sexploitation orchestrated by music tech. 14-year-old Jalaiah Harmon's choreography drove attention toÌýK-CAMP's hit, "Loyalty (Renegade)," but Black girls get no love and little profit for their taste-making on the musical Internet.ÌýÌýÌý

This keynote is based on writing from Gaunt'sÌýforthcoming book,ÌýPLAYED: How Music Orchestrates Violence Against Black Girls Online. Using case studies from YouTube,Ìýthe adverse consequences of tween twerking in bedroom musical play areÌýexposed.

This talk is co-sponsored by the Center for African and African American Studies; Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and the Department of Theatre and Dance.

About the Speaker:
For over 20 years, Dr.ÌýKyraÌýD. Gaunt, Ph.D. has been an innovative leader in the field of ethnomusicology as a prize-winning author, professor, and singer-songwriter. SheÌýholds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and is currently on faculty at the University at Albany, SUNY after being on faculty at Baruch and Hunter College in CUNY, New York University, University of Virginia, and Tufts University.

Her first book,ÌýÌý(NYU Press),Ìýfunded by NEH and the Ford Foundation, won the distinguished 2007 Alan Merriam Book Prize from The Society of Ethnomusicology.ÌýThe Games Black Girls PlayÌýand her subsequent publications contributed to the emergenceÌýof Black girlhood studies, hip-hop music studies, and hip-hop feminism.ÌýOutside academia, Gaunt is the principal qualitative researcher for the Black Internet Culture and Trends Project and she serves as a federally-certified expert witness offering testimony involving FacebookÌýin state and federal court.Ìý

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As a public intellectual, Gaunt is an advocate for gender justice in Black music studies, particularly relative to Black girls. She voices the unspoken through song, scholarship, and socialÌýmedia, Her 2020 article "," published during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Parenting Section ofÌýThe New York TimesÌýwas selected asÌýEditors' Pick, an important achievement for the field of ethnomusicology, given the newspaper's worldwide reach.

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Her 2018 episode of TED's Design seriesÌýSmall Thing, Big Idea:Ìýwith over 7M+ views has been published in over 28 languages on TED.com. The video's reach exceeds notable TED talks by Bryan Stevenson and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.ÌýGaunt also sees herself as a knowledge activist through her work as a Wikipediian. She actively edits and teaches WikipediaÌý(WikiEdu.org)Ìýto counter systemic bias and close the gender gap in the free knowledge spaces of the internet from Wikipedia to Genius.com.ÌýÌý

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Follow her onÌýÌýandÌý.ÌýÌý