"Boots on the Ground": Policing Community and Joy

Get ready to dance! In many public spaces 803Fresh's "Boots on the Ground (Where Them Fans At?)" is the 2025 Song and Line Dance of the Summer. When Carnival Cruise Line banned "clacking fans" on club dance floors in June 2025, many saw it as a policing of community and communal joy.

Join Dr. Neal Lester for a fascinating and interactive look at the history of church hand fans in the U.S. and how that history connects to today’s debates about culture, politics, and joy.

Come dressed in your best western boots and don’t forget your hand fan. We’ll wrap things up with a fun line dance lesson to the song everyone’s talking about!