Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 169

'I Want This Film To Be A Teaching Tool': Kenneth Chamberlain's Son On The Killing Of His Father

'The new feature film "The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain" dramatizes the story of Chamberlain Sr., a 68-year-old Black retired Marine who was killed by police who were responding to a medical alert. Here & Now host Scott Tong speaks with Chamberlain's son, Kenneth Chamberlain Jr.'

Carmelo Anthony Gets Personal, Sharing The Story Behind His Journey To The Lakers

'Ten-time NBA All-Star, three-time Olympic gold medalist and top-ten NBA all-time scorer Carmelo Anthony tells Moira Forbes the story behind his legendary NBA career and how he beat the odds on and off the court. He shares why he’s “still a work in progress,” the significance of his upcoming season at the Lakers, and life lessons from his long-time friend LeBron James.  Anthony released his memoir, Where Tomorrow’s Aren’t Promised, a candid look at his upbringing in Brooklyn and the Murphy Homes of West Baltimore, and his journey to becoming an NBA Great.'

Candice Hoyes - Zora's Moon Natasha Diggs REMIX Music Video

Natasha Diggs remixes Candice Hoyes' "Zora Moon".

New Police Abuse Footage Exposes Cover-ups By Louisiana State Troopers

'An investigation has found Louisiana police covered up at least a dozen use-of-force incidents, most of them against Black people. Reporters also discovered multiple body-camera recordings of police beatings that had previously been buried. The cases range from the violent arrest of Aaron Bowman during a routine traffic stop that resulted in broken ribs and a gaping wound to the death of Ronald Greene after he was held down by multiple officers and beaten.' -- AJ+

Adia Victoria - You Was Born To Die (feat. Kyshona, Margo Price, & Jason Isbell) [Official Video]

Adia Victoria's "You Was Born To Die" featuring Kyshona, Margo Price, and Jason Isbell from
A Southern Gothic (2021).

Helga—The Armory Conversations: Deborah Archer

 “It was so important to be apart of community. To find strength in each other. To know that on the days when I can’t move forward, someone is going to take up the baton and move forward for me."

'Professor, Lawyer and ACLU President Deborah Archer sat down to speak with Helga Davis about some of her earliest moments and how they shaped her desire to fight for equality.   Archer is a Professor of Clinical Law and Co-Faculty Director of the Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law at NYU School of Law. Deborah is also the President of the ACLU and a leading expert in civil rights, civil liberties, and racial justice. She is an award-winning teacher and legal scholar whose articles have appeared in leading law reviews. Deborah has also offered commentary for numerous media outlets, including MSNBC, National Public Radio, CBS, Monocle, The Atlantic, and The New York Times.'

Black Homebuyers Are Being Left Out of Pandemic Housing Boom

'During the pandemic, there’s been a massive real estate boom in the U.S., as many people looked to leave crowded cities like New York City for the suburbs. But for Black Americans, the boom has been more like a bust, as they’ve been priced out of this pandemic-fueled housing frenzy. Housing inequity is nothing new in this country; there’s a deep history of discrimination in the housing market against Black Americans. The Takeaway's Melissa Harris-Perry spoke to Anne Price, president of the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, and Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, professor of African American Studies at Princeton University and author of Race for Profit: How Banks and the Real Estate Industry Undermined Black Homeownership.'

'Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma' (dir. by Topaz Jones and rubberband)

'The Black ABCs were once taught across the United States. Created in 1970 by two Chicago teachers and the Society for Visual Education, the cards and posters linked the 26 letters of the alphabet with language and imagery that reflected the lives of Black children. Now, 50 years later, artist Topaz Jones offers a new vision of his – and America’s – Black identity through a reimagining of the Black ABCs in a short film titled Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma, now part of The New York Times Op-Docs video series. The film, which was created as a visual companion piece to Jones’s musical album of the same name, is told through 26 individual scenes, each representing a letter of the alphabet and Topaz’s corresponding update to their meanings.'

 

American Business Leaders Step Up to Fight Inequities in the South by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr.

 

American Business Leaders Step Up to Fight Inequities in the South

by Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. | @DrBenChavis | NewBlackMan (in Exile)

 

(NNPA NEWSWIRE) — Even as the pandemic has laid bare societal inequities that have long eroded the foundation of our democracy, political leaders in Washington and in state capitols are mired in a level of rancor and partisanship not seen since the ideological struggles over the Vietnam War. This toxic atmosphere has left them incapable of addressing pressing, yet ingrained issues like the racial wealth gap, the digital divide, and vast inequalities in everything from health care to home ownership.

 

With COVID-19 still an omnipresent concern and the country’s recovery still very much in jeopardy, individuals, families, and communities – particularly communities of color throughout the South – are struggling to deal with issues that have only been exacerbated by the pandemic.

 

From impediments to wealth creation opportunities and a dearth of education and workforce development to a lack of access to reliable broadband, substandard housing, and inadequate political representation, communities of color have suffered an outsized toll during the ongoing public health crisis.

 

Yet political leaders can’t even agree on basic facts that would allow the nation to implement a coherent national strategy for combating a pandemic that appears to be entering a new wave amid the rise of the highly contagious Delta variant that is currently ravaging parts of the South.

 

Against that disillusioning backdrop, there is at least some reason for hope. Moving to fill the vacuum created by the inaction of our political class, a group of business leaders in the technology and investment sectors have embarked on a far-reaching – and perhaps unprecedented – campaign to address the social inequities and systemic racism that has historically plagued our country’s southern communities.

 

Known as the Southern Communities Initiative (SCI), the campaign was founded by financial technology company PayPal, the investment firm Vista Equity Partners (Vista), and the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

 

SCI was formed to work with local elected officials and advocacy groups to tackle the ubiquitous problems of structural racism and inequalities facing communities of color in six communities throughout the South. SCI notes that these areas – Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, Houston, Memphis, and New Orleans – were chosen in part because they are home to around 50 percent of the country’s Black population and are where some of the greatest disparities exist.

 

SCI is aiming to drive long-term change, as outlined by PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, Vista CEO Robert F. Smith and BCG CEO Rich Lesser. In Atlanta, for example, SCI is working to bridge the wealth gap that exists among the region’s African-American residents. While there is a strong Black business community in the city, and high levels of Black educational achievement thanks to the regional presence of several Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and the voice of the Black Press, there is still an extremely low level of Black entrepreneurship and business ownership with only six percent of employer firms being Black-owned.

 

To remedy this disparity, SCI is working with the Southern Economic Advancement Project to create entrepreneurship hubs and accelerator programs to increase the number of minority-owned businesses. The corporations behind SCI are also using their networks to help other companies work with minority-owned supply companies.

 

In Alabama, SCI is seeking to bridge the massive digital divide in an urban area where 450,000 households are without connection to the internet. In order to tackle the crisis, SCI is leveraging relationships with local schools and libraries to distribute laptops and service vouchers. Another tact SCI is taking is to partner with the owners of multi-unit buildings in low-income neighborhoods to install free public Wi-Fi for residents.

 

The lack of access to capital is another reason Black communities throughout the South have been traditionally underbanked. In Memphis, where 47 percent of Black households are underbanked, SCI is partnering with Grameen America to cover the $2 million per year per branch start-up cost to build brick-and-mortar banks in minority communities.

 

This alone will provide 20,000 women access to more than $250 million per year in financing.

 

Beyond these initiatives, SCI is partnering with groups like the Greater Houston Partnership and the Urban League of Louisiana to provide in-kind support to improve job outcomes for minority college students, expand access to home financing through partnerships with community development financial institutions, and harness the power of technology to expand health care access in underserved urban and rural neighborhoods.

The issues facing these communities throughout the South are not new nor will they be fixed overnight.

 

Fortunately, SCI is taking a long-term approach that is focused on getting to the root of structural racism in the United States and creating a more just and equitable country for every American.

 

A once-in-a-century pandemic and a social justice movement not seen since the 1960s were not enough to break the malaise and rancorous partisanship in Washington. Fortunately, corporate leaders are stepping up and partnering with local advocates and non-profit groups to fix the problem of systemic injustice in the U.S.

 

We, therefore, salute and welcome the transformative commitments of the Southern Communities Initiative (SCI). There is no time to delay, because as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. so accurately said, “The time is always right to do what is right.”

 

***

Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. is President and CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) and Executive Producer and host of The Chavis Chronicles on PBS TV stations throughout the United States. He can be reached at dr.bchavis@nnpa.org.

 

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Colson Whitehead on Writing His First Crime Novel, 'Harlem Shuffle'

'Two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead talks with CBS Mornings' Anthony Mason about his new book, Harlem Shuffle. Whitehead and Mason take a walk through history, touring some of the iconic Harlem spots that inspired the best-selling writer's first crime novel.'