Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 1021

Panel Discussion: 'Question Bridge: Black Males' @ the Brooklyn Museum

Question Bridge: Black Males is an innovative video installation created by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Chris Johnson in collaboration with Bayeté Ross Smith and Kamal Sinclair. The four collaborators spent several years traveling throughout the United States, speaking with 150 Black men living in 12 American cities and towns, including New York, Chicago, Oakland, Birmingham, and New Orleans. 
From these interviews they created 1,500 video exchanges in which the subjects, representing a range of geographic, generational, economic, and educational strata, serve as both interviewers and interviewees. Their words were woven together to simulate a stream-of-consciousness dialogue, through which important themes and issues emerge, including family, love, interracial relationships, community, education, violence, and the past, present, and future of Black men in American society.

Question Bridge: Black Males
January 13 - June 3, 2012
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/question_bridge/

[Trailer] Love My Hair When It's Good & Then Again When It's Defiant and Impressive: An Original Play by Chaunesti Webb

March 8-17
Manbites Dog Theater
703 Foster Street 
Durham, NC 27701
919.682.4974


The Play :

Genevieve and Moni have grown up playing double-dutch together, chasing fireflies on grandma's front porch, and sharing the pain of the hot comb.  Worlds collide with age and the search for identity as they attempt to make sense of the world through the complicated relationship they have with their hair.  Theirs is a story of love and envy, silence and joy.  Follow these two cousins and the family of women who love them, as they come of age together in the south, a south, too small to contain their curiosities. Sassy, lyrical and nostalgic, I LOVE MY HAIR integrates interview text, poetry, original music, movement and video, to explore family, community, race, class, politics and identity.
The Playwright :
CHAUNESTI WEBB is an interdisciplinary theater artist based in Durham, NC.  This native Bull-City-Teaching Artist-Writer-Director-Actor-Mover-Lover of Music and Language, holds an MFA in Theater and Contemporary Performance from Naropa University where she trained in Viewpoints, Psychophysical Acting (Grotowski), Roy Hart Voice work, Butoh, Somatic Techniques, and Contemplative dance practices.  Her interest as a Teaching Artist is in facilitating groups and individuals in creating original work for the stage.  She has taught Self-Scripting and movement techniques for adults and youth with a specific focus on bringing voice and expression to marginalized experiences.  She has worked as a guest artist at Duke University, Boulder Valley School District, Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School District and various art centers and theaters, teaching movement and directing performances.  She was a 2008 participant in the Urban Bush Women Summer Institute where she trained with company members and explored community-based art making.  Chaunesti also works in media advocacy producing training and educational videos on issues including public health, social justice and institutional equity.  She also works as an arts administrator for the Health Arts Network at Duke, managing performing arts programming for the medical center.  Chaunesti is a 2010 Durham Arts Council Emerging Artist Grant recipient and a National Performance Network Creation Fund recipient.  She is a member of, and administrator for, the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE).  Chaunesti also holds a BA in Communication Studies from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Support the Play at IndieGoGo

Saul Williams: Volcanic Sunlight Interview (2012)

ReelBlackTV's Lyrispect caught up with poet/actor/musician SAUL WILLIAMS to discuss his latest project VOLCANIC SUNLIGHT (Columbia), what types of music he uses to inspire him and his thoughts on the next generation of young poets in this exclusive clip.

Challenging Authority in Cyberspace: the Case of Al-Jazeera Arabic Writers

Professor Mbaye Lo and Duke University student, Andi Frkovich, present research they have done on Al-Jazeera.

Urban Organic | Episode 2: GHOST TOWN: Novella Carpenter farms in West Oakland

In this episode, Bryant Terry visits author/farmer Novella Carpenter at her Ghost Town Farm in West Oakland.

#LinSanity and the Blackness of Basketball

#LinSanityand the Blackness of Basketball byDavid J. Leonard | NewBlackman
Overthe last week, there has been significant discussion about how race is playingout within the media and fan reception of Jeremy Lin. Focusing on anti-Asian slurs, prejudice, and stereotypes,the media narrative has not surprisingly provided a simplistic yet pleasurablenarrative. Imagining racism as simply bias that can be reduced through exposureand education, the media discourse has erased the powerful ways that sports teachesrace and embodies racism.  As HarryEdwards argues, sports recapitulates society, whether it be ideology orinstitutional organization.
Accordingto Marc Lamont Hill, professor of education at Columbia, "blackness is at thecenter" of the media's Linsanity. Seeing basketball as a space of blackness, "the whole undertone isirony, bewilderment and surprise." Harry Edwards, Sociology Professor emeritus at UC Berkeley, highlights thepredicable narrative, which reflects the fact that "we live in a niche society."  This encourages people to "retreat intotraditional storylines." Irrespective of facts or specifics, the deployed media narrative hasretreated to a place that depicts the NBA as a black-league defined byathleticism and hip-hop that is changing before our eyes.  The arrival of Jeremy Lin, who themedia continues to cast in the role of the "model minority" whose intellect,personality, and overall difference is providing the league with somethingotherwise unavailable, is constructed through a narrative black-Asian conflict.   
Replicating stereotypes, the undercurrent of the Linnarrative, the media inducted fantasy, has been his juxtaposition to theleague's black players.  "Discussionsabout the NBA are always unique because the NBA is one of the few spaces inAmerican society where blackness, and specifically black masculinity, is alwaysat the center of the conversation, even when it's not.  Power is often defined by that which isassumed, as opposed to that which is stated," noted Todd Boyd in an email tome.  "Because black masculinity isthe norm in the NBA, it goes without saying. Concurrently any conversationabout race in the NBA inevitably refers back to this norm.  In other words, people seldom describesomeone as a 'black basketball player' because the race of the player isassumed in this construction. 
Soany current discussion about Jeremy Lin is taking place within the context of aleague and its history where the dominant players have long been blackmen.  Lin is 'the other' as itwere, but here the standard is black, not white, as would normally be the casein most other environments."  From the constant references to his being "humble"and "team-oriented," to his widely circulated idea that he came out of no whereand that his career is one of low expectations and being overlooked,the media narrative has imagined him as the anti-black baller.  The stereotypes of both Asian Americansand blacks guide the media narrative. 
Accordingto Oliver Wang, "Some in the Asian American community are following"Linsanity" with caution, especially as commentators praise Lin forbeing "hard working," "intelligent" and "humble,"words associated with long-standing stereotypes of Asian Americans. ChuckLeung, writing for Slate.com, expressed the fear that "beneath this Linsanityis an invitation for others to preserve these safe archetypes."  Whereas black ballers aredefined/demonized with references to selfishness and ego, a sense ofentitlement that comes from societal fawning, Lin purportedly providessomething else. Compared to black players, who are defined through physicalprowess and athleticism, Lin, who is 6'3", extremely physical and athletic, themedia has consistently presented him as a "cerebral player" whose success comesfrom guile, intestinal fortitude, and determination, seemingly discounting hisphysical gifts and his talents on the floor.  Marc Lamont Hill noted a report that described Lin as a"genius on the pick n' roll." Continuously noting his Harvard education, hishigh school GPA, his college GPA, and his economics major all advance thenarrative of his exceptionalism and his presumed difference from the league'sother (black) players.  
On Weekendswith Alex Witt , Sports Illustrated columnist and Linfriend Pablo Torre celebrated Lin as a "student of the game," and as ananomaly.  Torre noted that Linwatches game footage at halftime, a practice he says isn't seen within the NBA.  While David West of theIndiana Pacers told me that watching footage is standard practice with the NBA,its usage here is just another example as how Lin is being positioned as NBAmodel minority and the desired body outside the sports arena.
Reflecting on the nature of this discourse, HiramPerez in an essay about Tiger Woods, describes "model minority rhetoric" as bothhomogenizing the Asian American experience through professed stereotypes andcelebration of Asian American accomplishments, but "disciplin[ing] the unrulyblack bodies threatening national stability during the post-civil rights era" (Perez,2005, p. 226).  The caricaturedand stereotyped media story with Lin illustrates this dual process, one thatreifies stereotypes concerning Asian Americans while at the same demonizingblackness.  Historically, the modelminority discourse has work to juxtapose homogenized identities, cultures, andexperiences associated with Asian Americans and African Americans. 
According to Anita Mannur, "in recent years AsianAmericans have been praised (in contrast to blacks and Latinos) for having'assimilated" so well" (Mannur,2005, p. 86).  In other words,Asian Americans exists as a "model minority" within the national imagination "becausethey [seen] are hard workers" who "do not make a fuss, and are not loud"(Mannur, 2005, p. 86).  Likewise,Feagin and Chou argue that, "Asian Americans serve as pawns in the raciallyoppressive system maintained at the top by whites" (2008, p. 17).  Functioning in a "middling status," (Feaginand Chou, 2008, p. 17) or as "racial bourgeoisie" (Matsuda qtd. in Feaginand Chou, 2008, p. 17), Asian Americans sit between whiteness and racial othernesswithin dominant racial discourse." The racial fantasy and the narrative offered through much of the mediareplicates these dominant frames with ease given the racial landscape of theNBA. 

Nancy Abelmann and John Lie encapsulate theinterconnectedness between model minority, racism, and the condemnation ofblackness: 
The American dream presents a problematic ideal ofindividual life and community. More crucially for our purpose, however, the constellation of attitudesand institutions that constitutes the American dream has found a powerfularticulation in the contrast between the model minority and the urbanunderclass: Korean Americans embody the American dream, while African Americansbetray its promise.  Theideological constitution and construction of the "black-Korean conflict" shouldalert us not only the importance of the broader political economy but also tothe necessity of rethinking dominant American ideologies (Abelmann& Lie, 1995: 179-180).
We can say that ultimately that America's love affairthe Jeremy Lin narrative is a love of what he purportedly says about America,about the American Dream, and model minority, all of which gains meaning inrelationship to blackness.
In this regard, his media power and rhetoricalutterances embodies an anti-blackness. In "Linis transcending race and helping to shatter stereotypes," Shaun Powelldefines Lin's powerful cultural message through accepted stereotypes of bothAsianness and blackness:
Lin was ignored in high school, wasn't drafted by anNBA team, couldn't stick with two of them, had to beat the bush leagues andthen slept on a sofa because he wasn't sure the Knicks would keep him. Then hecaught fire overnight. The first time he scored 38 points in a basketball gamein his life, it came against Kobe Bryant. Because nothing was ever expected ofhim, and no fuss was ever raised over him until a week ago, he isn't spoiled bynature. He's humble and free of the jersey-tugging, preening, gesturing,chest-thumping culture that has polluted sports and soured it for many. That'sall part of the legend and the lore by now, and that's why he's getting lots ofunderdog love.
In an article that deploysall of the main themes of the media's Linsanity  -- (1) Lin as facilitator of colorblindness, as stereotypefighter and dream maker; and (2) as a story of Lin's fortitude in overcomingdiscrimination  -- Powell focuseshis attention on recycling the model minority myth, a narrative fantasy thatgarners value through the demonization of black ballers.   Powell describes Lin "as a giftfrom the basketball gods to the NBA, which in the past dealt with racialbacklash when the league was considered too black to appeal to white America.That 'game' has changed, and because of Lin, there's plenty more distancebetween those days and now. Folks who seldom or never watched the NBA aresuddenly into the league and wondering what a certain player will do next." Depicting the league asundesirable and unwatchable for parts of white America, Powell celebrates Linas anecdote to cure the NBA's woes. He makes clear that the problems facing the NBA emanates from thefailure of its black players.  Whilehe argues that Lin shatters stereotypes he simultaneously invokes modelminority stereotype and the undesirable hip-hop (black) baller. "Becausenothing was ever expected of him, and no fuss was ever raised over him until aweek ago, he isn't spoiled by nature. He's humble and free of thejersey-tugging, preening, gesturing, chest-thumping culture that has pollutedsports and soured it for many. That's all part of the legend and the lore bynow, and that's why he's getting lots of underdog love."   Similarly JasonWhitlock positions Lin as the alternative tohip-hop within the NBA:
Lin's success, even if it disappears, should not bedismissed. There is something to be learned from the results of his play andthe absence of two star hip-hop, AAU athletes, 'Melo and Amar'e.
Yes, I played the hip-hop culture card. Hip-hopmusic is a capitalistic success. Hip-hop culture is an utter failure. Theme-first, rebellious, anti-intellect culture directly contradicts all thevalues taught in team sports and most of the values necessary to sustain acivilized society.
Ignoring the fact that Lin can often be seen attime-outs chest bumping with his teammates, ignoring the fact that he flossedhis jersey following a 3-pointer against Dallas, and the fact that he often "openshis mouth to reveal a Now and Later-stained tongue" Powell, Whitlock andothers demonstrates the ways in which racial fantasy operates here.  Lin is a product of and reflective ofthe hip-hop generation ballers yet Powell and others imagine him in oppositionto the polluting influences of the league's black ballers.  Todd Boyd makes this clear:
Consider the stereotypes about NBA playersand then consider the stereotypes about Asian Americans in our society.  Much of the public discussion about Linhas been informed, consciously or unconsciously, by the notion of the"model minority," which of course is a stereotype often used inrelation to Asian Americans.  Thisis not Lin saying such things about himself, but what others have projectedupon him.  With this in mind, anAsian American from the Bay Area who went to Harvard, is quite vocal about histraditional Christian beliefs, and who got cut a few times before finding hisniche, is always going to be easier to support for some people than a richurban black guy who whose style and whose actions suggest that he isindifferent to the dictates of mainstream society.  Though there are many people who are genuinely proud of Linfor all the right reasons, there are certainly others whose celebration of Linmasks some deeper resentment relative to their own perceptions about blackplayers. 
There is a lot to celebrate with Jeremy Lin.  He is ballin' and it's a greatstory.  The pride and celebrationthat his success has brought is equally powerful.  Yet, I am increasingly left with a sour taste in my mouthfrom the persistent efforts to rehash and recycle longstanding stereotypes ofboth Asian Americans and African Americans.  The celebration of Lin in this context is no celebration atall, but another racial fantasy that validates American exceptionalism and theAmerican Dream.  The mediadiscourse is saying much more about us than Lin himself or his game, which isabout tiresome as anything else. 
***
David J. Leonard is Associate Professor in the Department of CriticalCulture, Gender and Race Studies at Washington State University, Pullman. Hehas written on sport, video games, film, and social movements, appearing inboth popular and academic mediums. His work explores the political economy ofpopular culture, examining the interplay between racism, state violence, andpopular representations through contextual, textual, and subtextual analysis. Leonard's latest book After Artest: Race and the Assault on Blackness will bepublished by SUNY Press in May of 2012.

"We Are the 44%" Coalition Challenges Sexual Violence Against Black and Latina Teens

Media Contact:Rosa Clemente413.345.4018
Public Statement - For Immediate ReleaseFebruary 21, 2012
"We Are the 44%" Coalition Challenges Sexual Violence Against Black and Latina Teens 
Online and offline Activism Spurs XXL Magazine to Suspend   Digital Editor Over Too Short's So-Called "Fatherly Advice" 
Last week popular hip-hop magazine XXL posted a video on its website (XXL.com) from Too $hort, a 45-year old rapper who came to prominence in the late 80's for his raunchy lyrics and videos. In what was called his "fatherly advice" video, the rapper instructed 12, 13, and 14-year-old boys on how to "turn out" their female classmates. In a transcript from the video, he said: "A lot of the boys are going to be running around trying to get kisses from the girls; we're going way past that. I'm taking you to the hole. …You push her up against the wall. You take your finger and put a little spit on it and you stick your finger in her underwear and you rub it on there and watch what happens."
As a response, a coalition of outraged Black and Latina activists, artists, and writers – all of whom have a long history in social justice activism – have come together to ensure that this does not happen again and have named themselves the We Are the 44% coalition. The coalition's name aims to give voice to the many teen survivors of sexual assault. Too $hort's video specifically targeted adolescent students. This group is consistent with the appalling statistic that 44% of sexual assault survivors are under 18 years old (visit the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network website: www.rainn.org/statistics). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also reports that 1 out 5 women in the United States have been raped in their lifetime (www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/sexual...). Because Too $hort's video blatantly promoted sexual violence against girls, and because boys are also being advised to develop irresponsible, abusive and ultimately criminal behavior compelled, the all-women coalition decided to take pointed actions (see demands listed below).
The coalition recognizes this video—and the fact that XXL gave it a platform — as part of the larger issue of sexual assault against our women and children, particularly Black and Latina girls. The coalition also recognizes that the aforementioned statistics do not reflect the countless abuses that go unreported, including that of teenage boys who are often the unrecognized survivors of sexual assault. And most importantly, the coalition recognizes the urgent need to create heightened awareness and broad, uncategorized support for the eradication of sexual violence against children.
FOCUSThe community of people who have been sexually assaulted in the United States is one that includes millions of people.* In fact, according to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network, a person is sexually assaulted every two minutes
It is also true that sexual violence disproportionately affects Black and Latina girls. For this reason, We Are the 44% coalition has decided to focus its work on this marginalized segment of the larger community, for it is one that is often unrecognized and unheard.
Because February is Teen Dating Violence Prevention month, the coalition will also highlight and support various anti-sexual violence organizations, including:
1. A Long Walk Home [www.alongwalkhome.org]2. Just Be Inc. [www.about.me.com/justbeinc]3. Girls for Gender Equity [www.ggenyc.org]4. GEMS [www.gems-girls.org]5. Sex Crimes Against Black Girls Project [www.sexcrimesagainstblackgirls.com]

* * * *
Since the video's release, online activism has kept the pressure on the media outlet's Editor in Chief Vanessa Satten and on Too $hort: A number of petitions (including http://act.colorofchange.org/sign/pro...) have been created and signed by thousands of people. And the hashtags #FireVanessaSatten and #ItsBiggerThan2Short both generated significant activity on Twitter. As a result, XXL removed the video from the site on Sunday. On Wednesday night, in response to escalating pressure, Satten suspended the digital editor allegedly responsible for putting up the video.
DEMANDSThe We Are the 44% coalition acknowledges that both Too $hort and Satten have issued public statements about the video. We firmly believe that because the threat of sexual violence was levied against Black and Latina girls – whether or not is was meant as a joke and whether or not it was uploaded with approval – there must be amends in order for the apologies to be relevant and meaningful. Today, the coalition will deliver the following demands to Too $hort and Harris Publications in the hopes that they will demonstrate their willingness to end sexual violence.
We demand that:
1. Too $hort, along with the professionals he hires to support his recording and touring career, must participate in education and sensitivity training on the topics of sexual assault and rape.
2. Too $hort must donate to local and national anti-sexual violence organizations that service Black and Latina girls.
3. All Harris Publications leadership, management, and staff members participate in education and sensitivity training on sexual assault/rape.
4. Harris Publications improve and make public its editorial policy so that the promotion of sexual violence is not encouraged or accepted under any circumstances.
5. Harris Publications create premium space for the promotion of anti-sexual violence content (articles, creative work, etc.) on its websites and in all its publications, on a permanently and quarterly basis. Additionally, that Harris Publications permanently set aside, on a quarterly basis, two full pages for use by the coalition to highlight its work and that of its member organizations.
6. Vanessa Satten, Editor-in-Chief of XXL.com and XXL Magazine, be fired immediately.
* * * *
The Women of the "We Are the 44%" Coalition Are:Nyoka Acevedo – Educator, ActivistEsther Armah – New York Radio Host; Playwrightasha bandele – Author, ActivistMonifa Bandele – Activist, WriterDereca Blackmon – Educator, Organizer, Spiritual ActivistDr. Yaba Blay - Scholar, Professor and Co-Founder, Sex Crimes Against Black Girls ProjectNuala Cabral, Educator, Filmmaker, Activist and co-founder, FAAN Mail Raquel Cepeda - Writer, Filmmaker, Cultural ActivistRosa A. Clemente - Activist; Doctoral Student, UMASS-Amherst; 2008 Green Party VP CandidateDr. Brittney Cooper - ProfessorMichaela angela Davis – Image ActivistDr. Dawn Elissa Fischer – Professor and Parentdream hampton - Writer, Filmmaker, ActivistShantrelle P. Lewis - Curator and Co-Founder, Sex Crimes Against Black Girls ProjectDr. Treva B. Lindsey - Professor of Women's and Gender StudiesCondencia Brade - The National Organization of Sisters of Color Ending Sexual AssaultJoan Morgan - Author, Cultural critic and Doctoral Student, NYUStacey Muhammad - Filmmaker, ActivistDr. Rachel Raimist - Filmmaker, Scholar, and Crunk FeministApril R. Silver – Activist, Writer/Editor, "Be A Father To Your Child"Dr. Kaila Adia Story - Assistant Professor Audre Lorde Endowed Chair in Race, Gender, Class, Sexuality Studies, University of LouisvilleFarah Tanis – Black Women's BlueprintLah Tere – Inner City Queen ProductionsCristina VeranDr. Salamishah Tillet - Academic, Activist, and Co-Founder, A Long Walk Home[list in formation]
Male Activist AlliesDr. Jared Ball - Professor of Communication Studies, Morgan State UniversityLumumba Akinwole-Bandele, Community Organizer; Professor, Lehman College/CUNYDr. Marc Lamont Hill - Professor, Author, Columbia University Byron Hurt - Filmmaker, ActivistJohn Jennings - Scholar and Artist; Associate Professor of Visual Studies, SUNY BuffaloBakari Kitwana - Author of The Hip-Hop GenerationDr. David Leonard - Prof., Dept. of Comp. Ethnic Studies, Washington State UniversityDr. R. L'Heureux Dumi Lewis - Writer; Assistant Professor, City University of New YorkDr. Mark Anthony Neal – Prof., African & African American Studies, Duke UniversityDr. James Peterson – Dir. of Africana Studies, Assoc. Prof. of English, Lehigh UniversityKevin Powell - Activist and Writer
For more information and background, visit the new We Are the 44% Facebook Fan Page. Check regularly for updates and activities from the coalition. Media inquiries are directed to Rosa Clemente at 413. 345.4018.

Ebru Today - Dr. David Leonard on Media's Coverage of the Recent TCU Drug Arrests

How Companies Are 'Defining Your Worth' Online

Fresh Air  
One of the fastest-growing online businesses is the business of spying on Internet users. Using sophisticated software that tracks people's online movements through the Web, companies collect the information and sell it to advertisers.
Every time you click a link, fill out a form or visit a website, advertisers are working to collect personal information about you, says Joseph Turow, a professor at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. They then target ads to you based on that information.
On Wednesday's Fresh Air, Turow — the author of the book The Daily You: How the New Advertising Industry is Defining Your Identity and Your Worth — details how companies are tracking people through their computers and cellphones in order to personalize the ads they see.

Stefon Harris: There are No Mistakes on the Bandstand

What is a mistake? By talking through examples with his improvisational Jazz quartet, Stefon Harris walks us to a profound truth: many actions are perceived as mistakes only because we don't react to them appropriately.
Stefon Harris plays the vibraphone -- and leads a jazz ensemble with a collaborative sound built on collective inspiration.