Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 25

New Books Network: Barbara Harris Combs – ‘Bodies Out of Place: Theorizing Anti-Blackness in U.S. Society'

'Bodies Out of Place: Theorizing Anti-Blackness in U.S. Society (U Georgia Press, 2022) asserts that anti-Black racism is not better than it used to be; it is just performed in more-nuanced ways. Barbara Harris Combs argues that racism is dynamic, so new theories are needed to help expose it. The Bodies-out-of-Place (BOP) theory she advances in the book offers such a corrective lens. Interrogating several recent racialized events—the Central Park birding incident, the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, sleeping while Black occurrences, and others—Combs demonstrates how the underlying belief that undergirds each encounter is a false presumption that Black bodies in certain contexts are out of place. Within these examples she illustrates how, even amid professions to color-blindness, fixed attitudes about where Black bodies belong, in what positions, at what time, and with whom still predominate. Combs describes a long historical pattern of White pushback against Black advancement and illuminates how each of the various forms of pushback is aimed at social control and regulation of Black bodies. She describes overt and covert attempts to push Black bodies back into their presumed place in U.S. society. While the pushback takes many forms, each works to paint a narrative to justify, rationalize, and excuse continuing violence against Black bodies. Equally important, Combs celebrates the resilient Black agency that has resisted this subjugation. Combs is in conversation with Omari Averette-Phillips is a graduate student in the department of history at UC Davis.'

Conversations in Atlantic Theory • Nick Bromell on The Powers of Dignity: The Black Political Philosophy of Frederick Douglass

'Nick Bromell, Professor Emeritus in the English Department at University of Massachusetts in Amherst, Mass. joins Conversations in Atlantic Theory. Bromell is the author of numerous articles on 19th and 20th century literature and politics, and has edited the Norton Critical Edition of Frederick Douglass’ My Bondage and My Freedom, as well as a collection of essays under the title The Political Companion to W.E.B. Du Bois (University of Kentucky Press, 2018). He is the author of four books, and a new book, the occasion for our conversation, The Powers of Dignity: The Black Political Philosophy of Frederick Douglass (Duke University Press, 2021). In The Powers of Dignity, Bromell centers on the notion of dignity and its cognates in Douglass’ work and, by way of that focus, develops a broad, comprehensive picture of a political philosophy rooted in what Douglass calls “the slave experience.” In our discussion here , we explore themes of race, racism, Republicanism, liberalism, and the complexities of imagining Black liberation in the 19th century up through the 21st century.'

Soundcheck: Brazilian Musician Rogê Brings the Spirit of Samba From Rio de Janeiro

'The Brazilian singer and guitarist named Rogê made his mark playing his own brand of samba and samba funk in the clubs of Rio de Janeiro. [Samba in Brazil is rather like the Blues in America, a statement and sound born of the forced migration of Africans, and in both styles, these musical roots grew up and out into many more kinds of popular music.] Now, L.A.-based, Rogê is preparing to release his first album outside Brazil in early 2023, in partnership with producer/guitarist Thomas Brenneck (Menahan Street Band, producer/guitarist for Charles Bradley, Sharon Jones and The Budos Band.) It’ll be called Curyman, (his given name is Roger José Cury), and even though the record has a big, almost orchestral sound at time, thanks to string arrangements by fellow Brazilian Arthur Verocai, it all starts with the voice and guitar. Samba star Rogê performs these new tunes with percussionist Stephane San Juan, in-studio.'

In 'Grocery Shopping With My Mother,' A Son Becomes a Caretaker

'Author Kevin Powell grew up without much physical affection. He says the first time someone tried to hug him was in college; it felt like a foreign concept to him. In his new book of poetry, Grocery Shopping With My Mother, Powell examines his relationship with the single mother who raised him – the one he now cares for in her older age. He tells NPR's Scott Simon that writing becomes a way to heal and forgive, even if it means confronting a whole lot of hurt.'

On the Media: Nationalism and The Politics of Nostalgia

'The Make America Great Again slogan of the 2016 presidential election brought nostalgia front and center in American politics. Although former President Donald J Trump by no means originated nostalgia as a political tool, his MAGA strategy has gone global, effectively employed this year, notably in the campaigns of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines. And in early December of 2022 it came up again with an attempted coup in Germany. The plot to execute the German leadership was led by a far-right group called the Reichsbürger, or the “Citizens of the Reich,” fueled by a conspiracy theory that the German state was just a mirage, or a corporation set up by the Allies after World War Two. And in parts of East Germany, the Reichsbürger found some support in a nostalgia for an idealized Germany of long ago. On the Media's Brooke Gladstone speaks with Sophia Gaston, a social researcher and the Head of Foreign Policy & UK Resilience at the think tank Policy Exchange, about the use of nostalgia as a cultural and political force spreading across Europe.'

The Takeaway | Hope on the Horizon: Combating Rising Suicide Rates in Black and Latino Communities

'The death of beloved dancer and host Stephen “Twitch” Boss took many by surprise. It once again thrusts the always present yet rarely covered reality of suicide by Black and Brown people back into the mainstream. The Takeaway discusses suicidality within Black and Brown communities, the disparities that exist and the help that’s available. Michael Lindsey, Dean and Paulette Goddard Professor of Social Work, NYU School of Social Work and Kiara Alvarez, Bloomberg Assistant professor of American Health at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health join us to discuss.'

Literature Ambassador Jason Reynolds Knows Young People Have a Story of Their Own

'NPR's A Martínez talks to writer Jason Reynolds, who is ending his term as the national ambassador for young people's literature. The Library of Congress appointed him to the post in 2019.'

D-Nice | The Blackprint with Detavio Samuels

'Host Detavio Samuels welcomes legendary DJ and producer D-Nice for a conversation about breaking through the cultural zeitgeist with Club Quarantine, how he first fell in love with hip hop, defining success on your own terms, and more.'

Left of Black S13 · E10 | E. James West on the Black Press of Chicago

Chicago became a hub for African American cultural production and journalism with the ascent of such titanic enterprises like The Chicago Defender and Johnson Publishing, Inc., responsible for printing JET and Ebony magazines. Just how far a reach did these companies, and the people who ran them, have into the Black communities in the Windy City and beyond? Historian Dr. E. James West joins Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, to discuss his latest book, A House for the Struggle: The Black Press and the Built Environment in Chicago, published by University of Illinois Press.

Vincent W. Lloyd on Black Dignity

'In this episode of the Yale University Press podcast, we talk to author Vincent W. Lloyd about his new book, Black Dignity: The Struggle against Domination. In what might be called a work of observational philosophy—an effort to describe the philosophy underlying the Black Lives Matter movement—Lloyd defines dignity as something performative, not an essential quality but an action: struggle against domination.'

YaleUniversity · Vincent W. Lloyd on Black Dignity: The Struggle Against Domination.