Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 177

'Candyman' Gets An Update, And The Horror Is Gentrification

'Legend has it that if you say "Candyman" in front of a mirror five times, you'll summon the spirit of a terrifying killer with a hook for a hand, who's constantly surrounded by a swarm of bees. That's the premise of the 1992 horror movie Candyman, about a white Chicago grad student who becomes obsessed with an urban myth haunting Black residents of the notorious Cabrini-Green housing projects. Now there's a sequel, directed by Nia DaCosta and co-written with Jordan Peele, that brings back the villain for a modern audience, and it stars Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris as a couple living in a now-gentrified Cabrini-Green.' --  Pop Culture Happy Hour

Lee Morgan's Most Dynamic Band is Revealed in Full on 'The Complete Live at the Lighthouse'

'Lee Morgan, the incandescent trumpeter, led one of the greatest bands of the early 1970s — a short-lived but multifaceted quintet, expansive in both attitude and approach. Featuring multi-reedist Bennie Maupin, pianist Harold Mabern, bassist Jymie Merritt and drummer Mickey Roker, this ensemble spent a productive weekend in Hermosa Beach, Calif, in the summer of 1970 — with Blue Note Records rolling tape. The resulting album, Live at the Lighthouse, spread four extended cuts across a double LP, opening a portal to the outer reaches of post-bop. The Complete Live at the Lighthouse  presents for the very first time all 12 sets of music the legendary trumpeter with Maupin, Mabern, Merritt, and Roker recorded during their historic engagement at The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach, California from July 10-12, 1970.'

TheBlerdGurl Podcast with Karama Horne: How Xmiramira is Unapologetically Creating Space for Black Gamers

'If you are an avid player of The Sims, a life simulation game that let’s players design the lives of simulated characters and watch as they “live” out their scripts, then you know that game has change a lot over the last 20 years. In this episode TheBlerdGurl Podcast, host Karama Horne talks to guest Amira Virgil (aka @Xmiramira) who got tired of seeing the same light or shite characters with the same hairstyles, slothing music and scenarios, decided to create a downloadable ‘Melanin Pack’ mod to give her and friends more diverse characters. Needless to say it was a hit. Today Xmiramira is Twitch partner, a member of Queen Gaming, an advisor to EA Sports, the creators of the game and has founded her own  gaming community of Black gamers called The Noir Network.'

Police Power is an Expanding Force: On Cops as a Threat, and Abolition as a Promise

'Writer Geo Maher joins This is Hell! to discuss the rational resistance of mass anti-police protests, abolition's long work from Reconstruction to the George Floyd uprisings, and his book A World Without Police: How Strong Communities Make Cops Obsolete from Verso.'

This is Hell! · Police power is an expanding force: On cops as a threat, and abolition as a promise.

Black Players In Baseball Make Up Less Than 10% Of The Sport Today. Why?

'Black participation in Major League Baseball has declined for years — and The Washington Post spent this baseball season trying to understand why. In the 1970s, Black baseball players made up about 20% of MLB. Today, that number has dropped to nearly 8%. The Post launched a project called “The Nine” centered around the profiles of nine legendary baseball players. Chelsea Janes, national baseball reporter and a writer on the project, says a reason for the decline in participation is the timeline of becoming an MLB player. “A lot of Black kids looked up and saw stars in the NFL and NBA who come right out of high school or right out of college and are suddenly on national television,” Janes says. “And in baseball, that just doesn't happen.”

Why Michael Jai White’s Creativity is Beyond Your Expectations

'Throughout his 30-plus year career, actor Michael Jai White has been overlooked and underestimated. Here’s how he’s been navigating it all.'

Broadway's Latest Season Centers Black Theater Artists

'Broadway producers are doing something a little different this season: actively supporting and celebrating the work of Black artists. All seven of the news plays premiering this season on Broadway were written by Black playwrights, a testament to the activism displayed by Black theater artists over the course of the pandemic. Maya Phillips, critic at large for The New York Times, and Vinson Cunningham, staff writer and theater critic for The New Yorker, joined Melissa Harris Perry of The Takeaway to discuss.'

Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady: George Packer on Redefining "American" and the Inequalities of the State

'In this episode of Just the Right Book with Roxanne Coady, George Packer joins Roxanne to discuss his new book, The Last Best Hope: America in Crisis and Renewal, out now from Farrar, Straus and Giroux.'

What Sundown Towns Represent For Black Drivers Today

'Author Candacy Taylor spent all summer documenting Green Book sites and exploring how Black Americans can travel safely across the U.S in 2021. Taylor’s latest book, “Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America," examines the historical role and the impact of the Green Book — a travel guide printed from 1936 to 1967 to help Black Americans find safe places to stay, shop and eat on the road. Taylor says during her travels she came across so-called “sundown towns” — all-white communities or neighborhoods that intentionally exclude Black people and other minorities through discriminatory systems.'

John Coltrane's Masterpiece Breathes New Life With 'A Love Supreme: Live In Seattle'

'John Coltrane rarely performed the music from A Love Supreme after its release at the end of 1964 – meaning even the most ardent Coltrane-ologists have been unaware of the existence of these tapes.'