Intergenerational Pedagogy in Jenn Nkiru's Rebirth is Necessary

The Heat is On

“…In the manner of a DJ, digging through the crates, Nkiru performs simultaneously archaeological and ensemblic work. 33 This call and response BLKNWS establishes between Begley's formal choices, his exploration of black ana-originarity, and Nkiru's "cosmic archeology" through the relay of Russell's River Rites can be regarded as a microcosm of what, in another clip featured in BLKNWS, Jafa describes as "quantum intentionality" that characterizes the editing style employed in some of contemporary black art cinema and video both Jafa and Joseph claim as part of their extended ensemble: "movements in a basketball court accumulate intentionality on a quantum level," he explains while discussing specifically black ways of playing, "that's why they say everybody needs to get their touches; because on a quantum level, it's about focusing energy around this object [i.e., the ball] that is going to end up in that hole [i.e., the basket]." 34 Although Jafa evokes quantum physics, I don't believe that the logic of this accumulation can be successfully explained through Michelle Wright's "physics of blackness," which is concerned more with spatiotemporal coordinates than with accumulating black matter.…”