Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 109

B. Sharise Moore in The Black Writer's Studio

'B. Sharise Moore’s love of literature was ignited by Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Judy Blume’s Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. After earning a BA in English from Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, she began performing her poetry on stages throughout the country. To date, Moore’s poems have appeared in Starline, Fantasy Magazine, These Bewitching Bonds, Mermaid Monthly, and FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction.'

Bobby Hundreds On Setting Trends in Streetwear and Web 3.0

'Bobby Hundreds is a trendsetter, and he believes if you give yourself permission you can be too. As founder of the iconic streetwear brand The Hundreds, he's been at the forefront of design for decades, and in this episode of The Limits with Jay Williams he tells Jay how he does it. For Bobby, success is about reframing your perceived weakness as your greatest strength. In the early days of The Hundreds, when Bobby found himself with limited merchandise, he branded it 'exclusive' and suddenly buyers found his designs irresistible. Now he's applying that same mentality to Web 3.0 by expanding the definition of "NFTs".'

In Georgia, Black Communities Are More Likely to Live Near Toxic Waste Sites

'For decades, Black people in this country have felt the heavy toll of environmental racism. A study published by University of Michigan in 2016 shows that communities of color and low-income neighborhoods are targeted by polluting industries. At the same time, people of color are more likely to be exposed to high levels of fine particulate air pollution, which causes tens of thousands of deaths every year.  For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Christina Fuller, Associate Professor at Georgia State University School of Public Health, and Drew Kann, an enterprise reporter at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution covering climate and environmental issues.' 

Milwaukee's Bronzeville is Making a Huge Comeback

'Once a dynamic Black neighborhood, Milwaukee's Bronzeville was destroyed significantly by highway construction. Now, its Black Holocaust Museum is reopening after being closed for more than a decade as well as other cultural touchstones, including a new cultural center. It's also got new restaurants and has been included in The New York Times's "52 Places for a Changed World." Wisconsin Public Radio's Corrinne Hess reports.'

Documentary Filmmaker Stanley Nelson on the History of HBCUs and 'Attica'

'Stanley Nelson Jr., documentary filmmaker of many films including Tell Them We Are Rising: The Story of Black Colleges and Universities and the new Oscar-nominated documentary Attica, joins to discuss the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and how they built generations of Black leadership in America.'

The United States of Anxiety: Black People Are From Outer Space

'Afrofuturism is an old idea that’s reaching new people. This Black History Month, we travel from Seneca Village to Wakanda, from Sun Ra to Lil Nas X as we learn this cosmic vision of Black freedom, directly from the culture makers propelling the movement. Academy Award winning production designer and lead curator of the Before Yesterday We Could Fly: An Afrofuturist Period Room at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Hannah Beachler (Creed, Moonlight, Beyoncé's Lemonade, Black Panther, and more), tells us what Afrofuturism looks like. Then, Professor Louis Chude-Sokei, director of the African American studies program at Boston University and co-curator of the Afrofuturism festival hosted by Carnegie Hall, tells us what Afrofuturism sounds like.'

After 'Texas Sun,' Leon Bridges and Khruangbin seek solace on 'Texas Moon'

'An endless stretch of Texas highway on a hot day; moonlit car rides with a secret lover. These are some of the images invoked on Texas Sun, the first collaborative EP between soul and R&B musician Leon Bridges and psychedelic trio Khruangbin. They debut their second homage to the state both musical acts call home — this time a more introspective, spiritually-driven journey through the darker underworld of the "Lone Star" state. Bridges and Mark Speer, guitarist for Khruangbin, spoke to NPR's Kelsey Snell about the upcoming release of Texas Moon.'

How One Woman's 'Immortal' Cells Changed the World

'In 1951, Henrietta Lacks, a young black woman from Baltimore, died of cancer. However, before her death a small sample of her cells were taken from her without her knowledge, and these cells did not die. Unlike every other previous sample of human cells, these continued to grow and multiply and still do so today. The HeLa cells became the first 'immortalised human cell line' and have helped both save and create millions of lives ever since.'

Immanuel Wilkins live from PhilaMOCA

'Coming up in the Philadelphia area, Immanuel Wilkins got his musical training not only in jazz circles but also at the Prayer Chapel Church of God, where he played piano. The active feedback loop of a worship service, with its pulsating cycles of call and response, remained a vivid sense memory for Wilkins as he moved on to some fairly elite institutions — notably the Juilliard School, from which he graduated in 2019, and Blue Note Records, which released his debut album, Omega, the following year. The 7th Hand, his second album for the label, synthesizes lessons learned at the altar and on the bandstand, with a keen awareness of African-American cultural history. "I was thinking a lot about being a vessel," Wilkins told Shaun Brady of the Philadelphia Inquirer several days before this album-release concert in his hometown. "About getting into a super Zen space where it feels like you're not the one making the music. I wanted to write a body of work that triggered that experience".'

Rev. Dr. Justin Lester on Bringing Young Black People Back to Church

'Weekend Edition Saturday's Scott Simon speaks with the Rev. Dr. Justin Lester of Congdon Street Baptist Church in Providence, R.I., about Black pastors trying to bring the younger generation back to church: "the real questions of life - dealing with divorce and parents and depression and sex and sexuality and gender identity and - we're not giving people the space to ask questions".'