Performance isn't just something that happens on a stage. For Black America, it is a daily act of survival, a way to communicate, resist, and create. It is the "invisible stage" of everyday life.

Black Stardust is a profound exploration of how performance shapes power and identity. Author Mark E. Jemy takes you from a smoky jazz club to the modern-day "infinite scroll", revealing the "stardust" in the choreography of our lives.

This book is a living archive, uncovering the magic in:

* The Everyday Performance: From the "code-switching choreography" in a boardroom to the "performance of non-threat" on a dark street.

• The Ancestral Echo: How West African griots and the painful legacy of minstrelsy still inform our present.

• Joy as a Weapon: The defiant, radical performance of "Black bliss" found at a family cookout or on the dancefloor.

* The Theater of Protest: How marches and sit-ins are meticulously choreographed spectacles designed to demand change. * The Mask Behind the Smile: A look at the "strong Black woman" trope and the complex performance of gender, identity, and "passing".

From the sacred stage of the church to the modern hustle of a TikTok creator, Black Stardust is a powerful work of cultural criticism that invites you to see the magic in the mirror