‘It's William Back from the Dead’: Commemoration, Representation, and Race in Akala's Hip‐Hop Shakespeare

Recent work oriented towards race in \udShakespeare studies has involved calls \udnot \udjust for critical attention to race as an ever\ud-­‐‑\udpresent, constitutive element of \udShakespeare\udbut also\udfor modes of scholarship and criticism that actively \udpromote \udcritical race studies, \uddiversity\udand inclusivity\udwithin the field\ud. In her \udextraordinarily reflective study of race, Shakespeare and contemporary \udAmerica, \udAyanna\udThompson \uddescribes her work \ud‘\udas a\udn act of intervention and activism\ud’\ud(\ud2011\ud: \ud128)\ud. Thompson \udurges the various constituencies of the book’s audience, \udincluding teachers, theatre practitioners and community activists to \udfacilitate \uddiscussions about race both in and through Shakespeare\ud, \udwhich\udshe argues might \udbe at its most valuable where it is destabilized\udor regarded as an ongoing \udprocess\ud. \udThompson’s call is echoed \udby \udRuben Espinosa\ud(2016), \udwho showcases\udthe important work within the field around race and diversity, yet also suggests \udthat su\udch work remains marginalized\udwithin the broader currents of the \udShakespeare academy\ud. \udF\udor Espinosa, writing five years after Thompson’s \udinfluential work, all of us invested in Shakespeare continue to have a \udmaterial \udrole to play in \udrealizing greater \uddiversity\ud: \ud‘\udour field’s commitment \udto uncovering \udand discussing social and racial inequalities \ud–\udin the world of Shakespeare and in \udour own \ud–\udthrough race and ethnic studies should compel us to engender an \udatmosphere of inclusivity when it comes to our fie\udld, one that encourages future \udscholars to challenge the perceived delineation of Shakespeare’s meaning\ud’\ud(\ud2016: \ud62). \udIn this year of the Shakespeare quatercentenary, \udsuch ethical commitments \udto \uda diversified Shakespeare \udseem\udespecially salutary\ud. \udWriting in\udthe \udShakespeare Association of America’s special \udcommemorative \udpublication\ud,\udIan \udSmith \udargues \udthat \ud‘\udspeaking about race within the discipline, requires unpacking \udone’s white positioning, which includes making whiteness visible and an object \udfor critical \udinterrogation\ud; checking privilege; and exposing the denials and \udmisinterpretations that, too often, keep race a minority issue and race studies a \udfaddish or questionable enterprise in the era of so\ud-­‐‑\udcalled postracial \udenlightenment\ud’\ud(\ud2016: \ud121). \udA\uds we variou\udsly commemorate, celebrate and reflect \udon Shakespeare as a legacy, as a value \udand as a potentiality, we also have the \udopportunity to ensure that it\udi\uds an open, plural Shakespeare that endures, one \udfull of \udwhat Kathryn Schwarz calls \ud‘fugitive propositions’\ud(2016: 18)\ud