Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 1005

Book Trailer: My Father's Name: A Black Virginia Family after the Civil War

EmoryUniversity:  Lawrence P. Jackson, Professor of English and African American Studies at Emory, talks about his new book, My Father's Name: A Black Virginia Family after the Civil War (University of Chicago Press, available May 2012). The book, part detective story and part historical memoir, tells the story of his quest to learn more about his ancestral past, one tied to the history of slavery.

His most recent book, The Indignant Generation: A Narrative History of African American Writers and Critics, 1934-1960  received the American Publishers Awards for Professional and Scholarly Excellence in literature; a literary award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association in the nonfiction category; and an award from the Modern Language Association of America.

http://aas.emory.edu/ljackson.html[image error]

Bun's Beat: How Hip Hop Has Changed the World

Bun's Beat :

Whether you’re hear an ad for a car on the radio or see a commercial for a bank, you can’t help but notice how hip hop has impacted the marketing world. [image error]

Obama Administration Vows to Veto CISPA

RTAmerica:  On Thursday, US Congress debated the highly controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing Protection Act (CISPA). Critics of the bill are concerned how, if passed, CISPA will allow companies to obtain private information from its users and hand it over to the federal government. Although US lawmakers spent Thursday discussing the proposed bill, the Obama administration has claimed they will strongly advise the president to veto the legislation if it makes its way to the White House. Trevor Timm, activist for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, joins us with the latest on CISPA.

Wells Fargo and the Prison Industrial Complex

RTAmerica:  The US prison system is notorious and lately there has been a major shift in privatizing facilities within the industry. Currently, one out of every 100 Americans is behind bars, making the US the country with the highest incarnation rates in the world. The prison industrial complex has a vested interest in keeping people locked up. Wells Fargo is one of the companies that is profiting for the practice and Axel Caballero, founder of Cuentame, joins us with more on the prison industrial complex.

Rap Sessions--Rebirth of a Nation: Race and Gender Politics in Today’s Media

Rap Sessions, Rebirth of a Nation: Race and Gender Politics in Today’s Media St. Ignatius College Preparatory | Doris Duke Wall Choral Room 2001 37th Avenue
San Francisco, CA  94116
(415) 731-7500  Date: Friday - April 27, 2012 Time: 6:30 PM
Join us for an interactive discussion on the politics of race and gender media representations in an era often described as “post-racial” and “post-feminist.”  Contemporary hot-button issues such as immigration, Islamophobia, women’s reproductive rights, and racial profiling – as well as contemporary pop cultural films and television shows- come center stage in a lively dialogue that promises to challenge mainstream media narrative.
Moderated by Bakari Kitwana and featuring nationally-renowned scholars, authors, and activists Adam Mansbach, Elizabeth Mendez Berry, Mark Anthony Neal and Malkia Cyril. 

#ClassicBlack: Living Colour--"Love Rears Its Ugly Head"

Music video by Living Colour performing "Love Rears Its Ugly Head" from Vivid.
(C) 1990 SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT

Trailer: Black and Cuba (dir. Robin J. Hayes)

Black and Cuba Trailer from Progressive Pupil on Vimeo.


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#Occupy Movement Targets Wells Fargo Meeting in San Francisco

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Occupy movement targets Wells Fargo meeting in San Francisco by Kari Huus | msnbc.com
Several hundred protesters marched to the Wells Fargo Bank headquarters Tuesday in San Francisco and about 30 managed to gain access to the company's annual shareholder meeting and disrupt proceedings, San Francisco Gate reported. About a dozen were escorted out of the 15th floor meeting by police.
Police in riot gear arrested six people involved in the protest, which focused anger on foreclosures, high executive compensation and low corporate taxes, Reuters reported.
Demonstrators carried a huge inflated rat with dollar bills coming from side pockets, and held signs that read: "99 percent take over, topple the 1 percent" — referring to the majority of the U.S. population and the 1 percent who make up the wealthiest Americans.
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Closing the Opportunity Gap

Closing the Opportunity Gap: Institute on Teaching and Learning for a Bright Tomorrow
Conference this week seeks to change attitudes about student achievement
Durham, NC - On April 26 and 27, local and national education professionals will gather at Duke to discuss educational reform that would treat every child as a gifted child and challenge them to seek a bright future.

"Closing the Opportunity Gap: Institute on Teaching and Learning for a Bright Tomorrow" is a two-day conference sponsored by the American Association for Gifted Children (AAGC), The Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality at Duke University, Social Science Research Institute at Duke and The Exceptional Children Division of North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

"The general principle is that when you upgrade or accelerate curriculum for all students, you get positive results for all students," said William Darity, director of the Research Network on Racial and Ethnic Inequality and AAGC Board Member. "And, in fact, universalizing a high-quality curriculum actually reduces the magnitude of the racial achievement gap."  

Education professionals in attendance will have the opportunity to learn about AAGC's Project Bright Tomorrow through real life examples, current research and materials to initiate the program in their prospective school districts.

With keynote speakers, Angel Harris, Princeton University and Darity, the conference leaders plan to have certain messages presented to the audience:

Circulate information about the Javits Research Project Bright IDEA: Interest Development Early Abilities, as a model for transforming teaching and learning;Showcase new Bright Tomorrow Schools, based on the modelDisseminate current research on racial and ethnic inequality and poverty issues for closing the opportunity gap for all studentsDialogue and collaborate with stakeholders on long term solutions for transforming teaching and learning in the 21st Century. "Our breakout sessions with principals, teachers and curriculum directors will show results and how to best implement the programs in their districts," said Margaret Gayle, executive director of AAGC. "We hope when everyone leaves, there will be a way to continue to work together. Our call to action at the end of the conference will be to involve and collaborate with those who are interested in follow-up institutes in July. We want to start a dialogue with participants to work toward improving best practices for all students -- teaching every child as we believe they are gifted."

For more information on the conference and to register visit http://thenetwork.ssri.duke.edu/closingthegap.php. 

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TUPAC RESURRECTION: The Man, The Myth and The Hologram

TUPAC RESURRECTION:  The Man, The Myth and The Hologram by Mark Anthony Neal | Ebony.com
By now you've likely seen footage of Tupac's "performance" at the recent Coachella Music Festival. The rapper and actor, who was murdered in September of 1996, is the only hip-hop artist to have generated the kind of full service mythology that surrounds dead icons such as Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. No matter how much we may miss them, there have been no reports of folks claiming to have seen Ol’ Dirty Bastard or the Notorious B.I.G. on a subway in New York. Some of this has to do with the lack of closure experienced by Shakur’s family, friends and fans thanks to his still-unsolved murder, but also the other-worldly aura that Shakur had a hand in crafting during his brief life. The mythology that accompanies Tupac in death—the son of the Black Panther Party, who many believed represented the leading light of his generation of Black youth—was very much present when he was alive.
Audiences gasped when the hologram of Shakur showed up on stage performing “Hail Mary” and later “2 of Amerika’s Most Wanted” opposite Snoop Dogg (who, honestly, looked like more of a ghost than the holograph did). For some, the performance might have been perhaps too authentic. The Tupac who strutted on stage looked as he might have anytime during the last year of his life, and his demeanor was much the same.
Tupac had indeed been resurrected, but sounding like a throwback to an era that was distinctly out of sync with the young people that have shaped hip-hop culture—for better or worse—since his death. One would be hard pressed to think of a contemporary rap artist of Tupac’s stature (okay, maybe Weezy) that would address a crowd, like that assembled for the hologram performance with “What the f*ck is up Coachella?” It was subtle reminder of the extent that the commercial rap industry has become invested in the mainstream, where lawyers and publicists matter more than ever. Can a holograph have a publicist?
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