Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 219

Reimagining Blackness & Architecture: A Dream is a Built Thing | Felecia Davis

'How do you build something with your community? Architect Felecia Davis discusses her project “Fabricating Networks: Transmissions and Receptions from Pittsburgh’s Hill District” and the importance of mutual aid in creating free spaces.' -- The Museum of Modern Art

'Love Letter To Black Boys': Memoir Explores Masculinity Against Appalachian Backdrop

'Brian Broome began writing a memoir of his life when he was at the absolute bottom — in rehab for drug addiction in his 40s. "That's where it kind of officially started, and then when I got out of rehab, it just went from there," he tells Morning Edition. His book, Punch Me Up to the Gods, begins with his father beating a 10-year-old Broome with his fists. The blows by his father, and even his friends, were meant to pound manliness into him.'

The Pioneering Legacy Of The International Sweethearts of Rhythm

'The International Sweethearts of Rhythm reached the height of their acclaim in the 1940s as the nation's first racially integrated all-women's jazz band. They toured the country and the world even as they faced discrimination on the basis of both race and gender. All Things Considered's Michel Martin speaks to Cathy Hughes about the International Sweethearts of Rhythm,  of which her mother was a founding member, and their legacy.'

Brand New Heavies at Brooklyn's Pioneer Works

'Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas, who are collectively known as Deux Femmes Noires, join All Of It to discuss their second curatorial project together titled, Brand New Heavies. The exhibition is on view at Brooklyn's Pioneer Works through June 20 and features monumental, site-specific installations by three artists: Abigail DeVille, Xaviera Simmons, and Rosa-Johan Uddoh.'

'Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas, who are collect...

'Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas, who are collectively known as Deux Femmes Noires, join All Of It to discuss their second curatorial project together titled, Brand New Heavies. The exhibition is on view at Brooklyn's Pioneer Works through June 20 and features monumental, site-specific installations by three artists: Abigail DeVille, Xaviera Simmons, and Rosa-Johan Uddoh.'

One Hundred, The Ed Gordon Podcast: Director, Actor Bill Duke

'Ed Gordon talks with trailblazing actor, director, Bill Duke. Duke talks about his scene-stealing roles in movies including American Gigolo and Predator to directing movies (Hoodlum, Sister Act2) and television shows (Miami Vice and Dallas). Duke also talks about the hardships people of color encounter in Hollywood.' 

#BlackVanLife Movement Highlights Issues Exacerbated By Pandemic

'There’s a romance inherent in the idea of paring down one’s earthly possessions and hitting the road, with only one’s imagination (and one’s vehicle) to limit them. The nomadic lifestyle is attracting a cross-section of Americans, including young Black people disillusioned with an inaccessible housing market and the grind it takes to stay in it. Tested host Rebecca Martinez speaks with Durham artist Marcella Zibguo Camara about her decision to get in on the #BlackVanlife movement.'

How Real Is It?: Black Panther Party Leader Rates 6 Black Panther Party Scenes In Movies

'Former Black Panther Party leader Elaine Brown rates six Black Panther Party scenes in movies for realism. Brown joined the Black Panther Party in 1968 and was the acting chair of the party from 1974 to 1977 while Black Panther cofounder Huey Newton was in self-imposed exile in Cuba.' -- Insider

How Tax Laws Disadvantage Black Americans but Subsidize White Americans

'Tax returns are calculated based on income, but a new book highlights how the tax code disproportionately impacts people of color. Dorothy Brown, professor at Emory University School of Law and author of “The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans and How We Can Fix It” joins PBS NewsHour Hari Sreenivasan to discuss.'

'Theft At A Scale That Is Unprecedented': Behind The Underfunding Of HBCUs

'Tennessee could owe a historically Black university more than a half-billion dollars after it withheld funding for decades. A bipartisan legislative committee determined last month that the state failed to adequately fund Tennessee State University in matched land grants going all the way back to the 1950s, costing the public university between $150 million and $544 million. Andre Perry, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who has written about Maryland's battle with inequality in public higher education, blames institutional racism for what he believes is a pervasive lack of funding at HBCUs.'