Mr Kenneth Wesley Norwood

Postgraduate research student

Kenneth Wesley Norwood is a Postgraduate research student within Film at the University of Southampton.

2014-2017 – MA Media Studies, Long Island University Brooklyn Campus

2008-2013 – BA Mass Communications, Xavier University of New Orleans

Thesis:

The mission of this project is to lay out and explore the power of race and sexuality in the creation of visual cinematic art and said art’s influence on shaping historical narratives. The focal point of material includes members of the African Queer Diaspora (AQD) ranging from 1989 to present day 2017. This project’s relevance or importance to the institution of film studies is noted by its attempt to collect, survey, contextualize, and update a large sample of Black Queer Cinematic Art (BQCA) across the diaspora. It also documents the motif of BQCA that is concerned with breaking down historical narratives and making their own that is similar to the “New Queer Cinema” movement in the early 90’s; something that has not been academically explored on a large scale. Recurring themes of deconstruction, combativeness, and narrative forming around body politics, desire politics, marginalization by white queers, invisibility/visibility, disabilities, sex work, black heteronormative opposition, and trans independence/liberation; are all present throughout the black queer diaspora and elaborate upon this global community and their art.