In my position as Research Specialist for Black Play and Culture, I am often asked to provide a metric for determining Black playthings. Is it Black because it was produced by Black people? Is it Black by virtue of it bearing the image of a Black person? Is it Black because Black people are the intended audience? As a result of a recent cataloguing excursion into The Strong’s collections, I now wonder if any of these questions are sufficient for […]

Continue Reading about Toyetic Oppression: Black Toys and Black People Published on:
May 17, 2024

Hip hop celebrates its 50th anniversary in August of 2023, and The Strong National Museum of Play is poppin’ and lockin’ into position to show our appreciation. Originating with the technique that DJ Kool Herc called “The Merry-Go-Round,” hip hop toyed with the time signatures of contemporary funk hits by extending the drummer’s solo on dance albums. In turn, hip hop crafted a borderless sonic landscape and established a new playground for innovation. Utilizing two turntables and a mixer, DJ […]

Continue Reading about Indelibly Marked: Crayons, Records, and Grandmaster Flash Published on:
July 7, 2023

“Your breath smells like camel spit and urine samples,” exclaimed one of my dearest friends at the top of his lungs, as a group of our friends walked to the local pool, in the summer of 2002. While the rest of our crew was caught up in the rapture of laughter at what might be the best roast I have received to this day, the challenge of a response weighed upon me. Timing was everything in these engagements. The right […]

Continue Reading about The Dozens: The Art of Tender Trash Talk Published on:
February 3, 2023

The words “Phase 10” evoke smiles and fond memories in innumerable families worldwide. The bestselling card game’s creator Ken Johnson released the game as a young Black man in Detroit, Michigan, trying to break into the gaming industry. However, Phase 10 was not his first attempt to triumph in the game aisle. Johnson developed, produced, and sold a game just before the success of the game for which he is world-renowned. That earlier game is Dice-Baseball, and this is its […]

Continue Reading about Strikeout to Home Run: Ken Johnson’s Dice-Baseball Published on:
December 30, 2022

Imagine it’s another hot summer day in 1973. However, you and your friends are planning to attend a party in the New York City borough of the Bronx. After a long subway ride and getting lost, you make it to the party just in time to hear Clive Campbell, better known by his chosen name DJ Kool Herc, start his set. He is playing the music you came to hear. However, when it gets to your favorite part of the […]

Continue Reading about The Tables Have Turned: Playing the Technics Direct Drive Player System Drive SL-1200 Published on:
September 16, 2022