Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 122

Steve Francis: "That Levy Gonna Break" | The Players’ Tribune

'Former NBA star  Steve Francis gets real: “The truth is, I've dealt with depression. I’ve dealt with anxiety. I’ve tried to solve my problems with the bottle”.'

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz: “The US has never been ‘a nation of immigrants’”

'In her latest book, Not a Nation of Immigrants: Settler Colonialism, White Supremacy, and a History of Erasure and Exclusion, world-renowned scholar and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz writes, “The United States has never been ‘a nation of immigrants.’ It has always been a settler state with a core of descendents from the original colonial settlers, that is, primarily Anglo-Saxons, Scots Irish, and German. The vortex of settler colonialism sucked immigrants through a kind of seasoning process of Americanization, not as rigid and organized as the ‘seasoning’ of Africans, which rendered them into human commodities, but effective nonetheless.” In this extensive and wide-ranging conversation, The Real News Network Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez and Dunbar-Ortiz trace the history of this particular national mythology and the political functions it serves in the larger project of US settler colonialism, economic domination, and military imperialism.'

How Starbucks Operates Like a Bank While Serving Coffee

'Starbucks, a $124.4 billion company, trails only McDonald’s as the largest restaurant chain by market capitalization. In this video, WSJ’s Heather Haddon explains how Starbucks used technology to garner its loyal customer base and why mobile orders are shifting the chain’s business priorities.'

What Does Black Ambition Sound Like?

'James Reese Europe was already famous when he enlisted to fight in World War I. But the band he took to the frontlines — as part of the famous 369th Infantry Regiment, also known as the Harlem Hellfighters — thurst him, and Black American music, onto the global stage. Jason Moran sits down at the piano to show The United States of Anxiety host Kai Wright how Europe’s band changed music, and how jazz carries the resilient sound of Black history and ambition in America.'

Beat-Making in the Public Domain with Citizen DJ

'Around 400,000 new sound recordings from 1922 and earlier are now in the public domain. But what can be done with them? The Library of Congress's Citizen DJ offers one option. It collects free sound recordings in a browsable database and allows anyone to create music with them. Brian Foo, the artist and computer scientist behind the project, joins All Of It to discuss.'

Holly Robinson Peete, An Advocate for Autism

Actress, author and “gangsta mom of four” Holly Robinson Peete joins The Takeaway to talk about her advocacy work for kids on the autism spectrum and her decision to go public about her son’s diagnosis.'

Nnedi Okorafor on Sci-Fi Through an African Lens

'Nnedi Okorafor, a recipient of the prestigious Hugo Award, is a prolific writer of science-fiction and fantasy novels for adults and young adults. She spoke with The New Yorker Radio Hour's Vinson Cunningham about how her Nigerian American heritage influenced her interest in fantastical worlds. “It’s part of the culture—this mysticism,” she says. “I wanted to write about those mystical things that people talked about but didn’t talk about because they were mysterious and interesting, and sometimes forbidden.” Her novel Akata Woman, which comes out this month, is the third in a series that also acknowledges complicated relationships among peoples of the African diaspora.'

Left of Black S12 · E7 | Shanna Greene Benjamin on the Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay

Nellie Y. McKay, a champion for Black women's voices in modern literature, was also a scholar with an extraordinary path to academia in the late 1960's, early 1970's. Many personal details of her life were not known until after her passing away in 2006, even to some of her closest colleagues. McKay rewrote the narrative of her life to become aligned with her goals of becoming a professor in African American Literature, which led to such achievements as co-editing the Norton Anthology of African American Literature with Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr. In this episode of Left of Black, host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal sits with Dr. Shanna Greene Benjamin to discuss her book, Half in Shadow: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay, published by University of North Carolina Press.

Inspired by Muhammad Ali: Duke University Women's Softball Coach Marissa Young

'As part of the PBS North Carolina "What Are You Fighting For?" series, Marissa Young, Head Coach of the Duke University softball team, shares how Muhammad Ali's unwavering confidence has been an inspiration throughout her life.'

Mark Anthony Neal Discusses Life and Legacy of James Mtume

'BNC News remembered the life and legacy of the late James Mtume. The Grammy Award-winning songwriter, record producer and musician is perhaps best known for chart-topping hits like “Juicy Fruit.” That 1983 masterpiece would end up being sampled by rap legend Biggie Smalls over a decade later. Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies at Duke University, joins Marc Lamont Hill on “Black News Tonight” to discuss the monumental influence that Mtume has had on music and the culture.'