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In 1686, Thomas de la Torre, a 46-year mulatto slave, joined a Spanish military expedition against Port Royal, South Carolina. While the Spanish forces were defeated by ravaging storms, Thomas survived. The foul weather, however, proved to be only the beginning of his misfortunes; Thomas endured English imprisonment, pirate raids, and Indian threats, before being able to return to St. Augustine.

By virtue of being an aspect of language, naming expresses power and social change. From this perspective, systems of surnames in precolonial Africa and their transformation during the colonial period is a narrative of power relations in precolonial Africa on the one hand and between empire and its colonial/postcolonial subjects on the other.

What is popular music? Is it white or black? Do African American practices become more “white” as they enter the music economy? Or does the extended reign of hip-hop indicate that, really, pop music has just been “black” all along? Is there a racial connotation to the notion of the “mainstream”? As the King of Pop and oft-discussed racial chameleon, Michael Jackson is perfectly poised as a figure through which to investigate these questions.

Who are the attorneys representing Guantánamo detainees? What is the nature of this representation? What lessons can we learn from the experience of habeas counsel about the role of lawyers during this chapter in United States legal history? This paper seeks to elucidate the experience and impact of attorneys serving this unique population.