Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 127

Sisters Inc.: The First Beauty Subscription Box for Women of Color

Dana Hill Robinson, the founder of COCOTIQUE, the first beauty subscription box for women of color, discusses how she built a following of loyal customers on this episode of Black Enterprise's Sisters, Inc.

Choreographer Rennie Harris on Channeling Alvin Ailey

'Rennie Harris was tapped by Robert Battle, Ailey Artistic Director, to choreograph a piece about Ailey for the 60th anniversary of the company. To prepare, the two reviewed archival footage of Ailey discussing his process. "I just sit there and watch to find out what made Mr. Ailey, Mr. Ailey," said Harris." -- American Masters PBS

Amanda Gorman on Life After Inauguration

'Amanda Gorman’s reading at President Biden’s Inauguration—two weeks after the insurrection of January 6th—made her about as famous as an American poet can be. She talks with Kevin Young, The New Yorker’s poetry editor, about writing a new book once the stakes were much higher.'

The Whitewashing of Reggaeton And Why J. Balvin's Apology Falls Flat

'Artist J. Balvin received a ton of backlash after he received the Afro-Latino artist of the year award from the African Entertainment Awards. Balvin has since apologized but critics note how this highlights the erasure of Black artists from Reggaeton. The Takeaway speaks with artist, writer and socio-critic Zahira Kelly-Cabrera who joins us to discuss why the whitewashing of reggaeton music has a long history.'

The Toll of Fibroids on Black Women

'Of the estimated 26 million women between age 15 and 50 who have uterine fibroids, more than half of them will experience complications from them. For some reason, Black women are more likely than white women to have fibroids, and also more likely to have painful symptoms from them. For more on this, The Takeaway spoke to Patrice Peck, senior opinion editor at Cosmopolitan, and Dr. Anissa Vines, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the UNC-Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health.'

Behind the Blue Wall of Silence: How Law Enforcement Punishes Its Whistleblowers

'USA TODAY set out to establish the extent of the blue wall of silence and its impact on the officers who have defied it.'

Brazil Shows You Can Harvest Sugar Cane Without Polluting the Air

'Florida’s largest sugar companies say cane burning is safe and can't be stopped without economic harm. But Brazil has successfully transitioned away from the controversial practice, and experts there say the U.S. can follow their lead.' -- ProPublica

Poet Martín Espada on “Floaters,” the Dehumanization of Refugees, Puerto Rico & His Father

'Acclaimed poet Martín Espada won the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry for his anthology Floaters. He became just the third Latinx poet to win the award. Floaters is titled after the photo of the Salvadoran father and daughter who drowned in the Rio Grande in June 2019 trying to cross into the United States, one that sparked outrage at the humanitarian crisis at the U.S. southern border. Espada discusses U.S. immigration policy and reads the poem “Letter to My Father: October 2017,” which looks back at his father’s native Puerto Rico.'

Home Prices Are Up. For Black families, is Selling Grandma's House the Right Choice?

'Fast-rising home prices are creating opportunities for some longtime Black homeowners. Those high valuations can also raise big questions about the best way to tap into that wealth.' -- Morning Edition

Conversations in Black Freedom Studies: Radical Black, LGBTQ+ Feminist Lives

'The conversation brings together four thinkers whose work examines the long history of Black women strategies for combatting racism, misogyny through collective action in spaces as varied as the prison and the digital world. Barbara Smith’s lifelong commitment to this activism will ground an intergenerational conversation where the radical Black feminism, LGBTQ+ lives will be centered. The discussion features Emily Thuma, author All Our Trials Prisons, Policing, and the Feminist Fight to End Violence , Moya Baily, Misogynoir Transformed: Black Women’s Digital Resistance, Laura Lovett, author, With Her Fist Raised: Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the Transformative Power of Black Community Activism and Barbara Smith, editor Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology. The talk is part of the Schomburg Center's Conversations in Black Freedom Studies series organized by historians Jeanne Theoharis and Robyn C. Spencer.'