Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 161

Afropop Worldwide; The Gorgon, The Originator, and The Dub Master

'During the last 60 years, Jamaican music has constantly reinvented itself, a handful of innovators pioneering distinct musical genres such as ska, rock steady, reggae and dancehall, as well as shorter-lived subgenres. But Jamaica's musical trendsetters did much more than just shake up the island's music scene. At crucial intervals, their inventiveness has dramatically changed or even spawned a range of popular forms overseas—sowing seeds for rap via the deejay style and stimulating remix culture through dub. In "The Gorgon, The Originator and The Dub Master," producer David Katz leads a tour of indelible changes brought about by producer Bunny "Striker" Lee, DJ U Roy and engineer and sound system owner, King Tubby, to demonstrate how they changed popular music worldwide.'

Climate Change Is a Racial Justice Issue

'Climate disasters have erupted around the world. In the US alone, we’ve seen wildfires in the west, tornadoes in the midwest, and hurricanes pummeling the Gulf and East Coasts. The environments we live in have become hostile to our health, our livelihood, and our community. Many have been forced to leave their homes and some will never be able to return. Globally, nearly 24 million people have been displaced due to climate effects since 2008. But this issue, both in the U.S. and around the world, isn’t impacting everyone equally. Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are disproportionately impacted by climate change. This is a racial justice issue, an immigration issue, and an indigenous rights issue. Shamyra Lavigne and Devi Lockwood talk to At Liberty to better understand how climate change intersects with other forms of injustice.'

At Liberty · Climate Change Is a Racial Justice Issue

LARB Radio Hour | Cynthia Cruz’s 'The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class'

'LARB Radio Hour hosts Kate Wolf and Medaya Ocher are joined by author Cynthia Cruz to discuss The Melancholia of Class: A Manifesto for the Working Class. A mix of memoir, cultural theory, and polemic, Cruz’s latest work addresses the personal and social consequences of the marginalization of America’s majority population, its working class. Cruz speaks about what inspired her to write the book and how she came to focus on the lives of certain famous working-class people, like musicians Amy Winehouse and Ian Curtis (who both died tragically in their 20s), and Jason Molina (who made it to 39), actress Barbara Loden, and others. How did they and Cynthia contend with the hegemonic “middle-class” culture’s shaming of working-class characteristics? Denial and repression of working-class consciousness is encouraged in our society. This repression is seen as a precondition for success, but it mangles the soul and shreds the bonds of social solidarity that are the foundation of community and provide a sense of belonging. 173 years after Marx and Engels recast the working class as the protagonist of history in their Manifesto, Cruz does the same in hers.'

'Black Girl Songbook' – Chapter 19: The Blue-Eyed Soul Black Girls Love

'Danyel Smith talks blue-eyed soul and musical segregation of the past and the present and how it affects artists’ legacies. She also talks about the difficulty of reckoning with this truth as it relates to being a fan of talented white artists like Madonna and Adele. Later, Danyel is joined by her sister and friend of the show, Raquel Smith, to discuss Raquel’s all-time favorite, Teena Marie.'

Vanity Fair | Regina King Breaks Down Her Career, from 'Friday' to 'Watchmen'

'Regina King discusses the roles that make up her exceptional film and TV career, including 227, Boyz n the Hood, Friday, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, The Boondocks, Southland, If Beale Street Could Talk, Watchmen, One Night in Miami..., and The Harder They Fall.'

Music or Noise?: The Story of Go-Go in a Gentrifying Neighborhood in D.C.

'On a corner in a historically Black neighborhood in Washington D.C., just a few of blocks away from Howard University, a Metro PCS phone store is famous for loudly bumping go-go — a funky, hip-hop music rooted in Black culture which was born in D.C. The store sits on the corner of “Chuck Brown Way,” named after the godfather of go-go himself Chuck Brown. The Shaw neighborhood has seen its fair share of gentrification, and in 2019, a resident from a luxury apartment building across the street from the Metro PCS made a noise complaint, and allegedly threatened to sue the owner of Metro PCS, which is T-Mobile The go-go was turned off, but not before several members of the community came together to create the “Don’t Mute DC” movement and demonstrated outside the luxury apartment buildings in support of the store. Natalie Hopkinson, an Associate Professor of Communication, Culture and Media Studies at Howard University and co-Founder of “Don’t Mute DC” Movement, talks with The Takeaway all about go-go.'

Rita Dove's 'Playlist for the Apocalypse'

'Rita Dove, Pulitzer Prize Winner for Poetry and former Poet Laureate to the Library of Congress and the State of Virginia, joins All Of It to discuss her newest collection of poems, Playlist for the Apocalypse.'

The Importance of Mentoring for Black Girls

'Susan L. Taylor founder and CEO of the National Cares Mentoring Movement and Dr. Monique Morris, CEO of Grantmakers for Girls of Color, joined The Takeaway with to discuss the importance of mentoring young Black girls at the individual level and at the community level to provide the proper foundation for them to succeed.'

Esperanza Spalding's 'Songwrights Apothecary Lab'

'Esperanza Spalding’s new album, Songwrights Apothecary Lab, is named after the roaming creative workshop into which she invited musicians, neuroscientists, ethnomusicologists, and other specialists. Six of the twelve songs on the resulting LP were recorded during a session of live sets in New York this summer. Spalding joins All Of It for a Listening Party.'

Pastor T.L. Barrett's Five Decades Spent As A Current For Our Sails

'"I grew into love of my music and of my ministry because it was actually a way out," says Pastor T.L. Barrett, Jr. in an interview with All Things Considered's Mary Louise Kelly. Barrett, now 77 years old, recalls his difficult youth; as a teenager, he turned to songwriting to express himself. And 50 years ago, in the years following the Civil Rights movement, he released his classic album, Like a Ship (Without a Sail). The title track described how he was feeling at the time. In the 1970s and '80s, the pastor rewrote the rules of gospel, with songs like the transcendental "Wonderful." In recent years, his recordings have been sampled by hip-hop artists, such as Kanye West and DJ Khaled. And last week, his collected work was reissued in a box set called I Shall Wear a Crown.'