Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 251

The Deep History of White Supremacy Within the U.S. Military

'As the Biden administration hopes Lloyd J. Austin will help usher in an era of change for the U.S. military, The Takeaway looks back at the history that got us to this point, and what our government and military leaders really need to do to root out violent racist hate groups from our armed forces. Dr. George Reed, retired Army Colonel and the Dean of the School of Public Affairs at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and Lecia Brooks, Chief of Staff for the Southern Poverty Law Center, joined the show to discuss.'

Sirius XM's Crank Radio Gives Go-Go Music A National Platform

'NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro talks to Sirus XM hosts Charles "Shorty Corleone" Garris and Rico Anderson, who are giving the D.C. region's go-go music a national boost with the new Crank Radio show.'

The New Yorker Radio Hour: William Barber, and the Question of Faith and Politics

'In January, 2021, the Reverend William J. Barber II of the Greenleaf Christian Church delivered the homily for the inaugural prayer service. His appearance, speaking to, and for, the new Administration, was significant. Politics and religion go hand in hand for Barber, but his agenda is diametrically opposed to that of the Christian right, which has so deeply influenced U.S. politics. Barber thinks that conservative Christians who focus on banning abortion and limiting L.G.B.T.Q. rights—rather than ministering to “the poor, the broken-hearted, the sick, ... the stranger, and all of those who are made to feel unacceptable”—may be guilty of “heresy.” Progressives, Barber believes, made a mistake in walking away from Christianity during the rise of the Moral Majority.' -- The New Yorker Radio Hour

Ani DiFranco Wants Us To Engage In 'Revolutionary Love'

'At a time when the country seems more and more divided, it can be a lot to ask of a person to "love thy neighbor," even when they don't necessarily love you back. It takes an aggressive kind of love to start engaging, and that's the idea that inspired the title track of Ani DiFranco's newest record, Revolutionary Love. The phrase is also the name of a book by DiFranco's good friend, activist Valarie Kaur, which encourages an understanding of one's adversaries.' -- Morning Edition

Surveillance And Local Police: How Technology Is Evolving Faster Than Regulation

'Journalist Jon Fasman says local police are frequently able to access very powerful surveillance tools with little oversight. He writes about the threat to privacy in We See It All.' -- Fresh Air

Showdown, The Caribbean Answer To Verzuz, Is Part Of A Long-Running Musical Exchange

'The livestream event Showdown debuted in 2020, with two soca stars facing off. Even though Verzuz came first, the American series arguably owes its existence to Caribbean music.'

Queen Cicely by Lisa B. Thompson

Queen Cicely

by Lisa B. Thompson | @DrLisaBThompson | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile)

My family watched television together after dinner on nights when my father came home early. My brother and I sat on pillows on the floor in front of our new color RCA TV because the sofa was for Mommy and Daddy only. One night in 1972 I was mesmerized by the diminutive, angular face of dark-skinned Black woman on the screen. I’ll never forget Cicely Tyson in the television adaptation of the Ernest Gaines novel The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman. It was the first time I saw a Black woman performing on television in a drama. It was a watershed moment for my consciousness. She held my attention like you hold your breath when you’re expecting a surprise. The surprise was her. Regal, beautiful, and substantive. 

Ms. Tyson was not like most of the Black women I’d seen in countless movies before. Sometimes those images made my face burn and confused me because they did not remind me of the Black women I knew and loved like my grandmother, aunts, and mother. I remain amazed by Cicely Tyson’s transcendent depiction of a Black southern woman suffering from the worst of white supremacy. She did the same thing in every role she took. Ms. Tyson imbued each performance with such dignity, elegance, and strength that even Black women with very little cultural or financial capital appeared rich and powerful in the ways that matter most. 

Everyone is astounded by Cicely Tyson’s prolific and award-winning film and television career, and I am too, but as a playwright I’m particularly inspired by the way she commanded the stage. Tyson was luminescent on and off-Broadway as she built her career working alongside other icons of Black theatre. She starred in Jean Genet’s The Blacks along with James Earl Jones, and in Tiger Tiger Burning Bright along with Alvin Ailey, Al Freeman Jr., Diane Sands, and Roscoe Lee Brown. She received her first honor as an actor in 1962, a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Moon on a Rainbow Shawl by Trinidadian actor-playwright Errol John. 

In I 2013 I was fortunate to see Cicely Tyson on Broadway in The Trip to Bountiful. I arrived early for the matinee and settled into my seat. Two older Black women sat behind me and proceeded to eat full meals during the show. I must admit I’m one of those theatre goers who expects complete silence during plays and musicals. Theaters are temples to me. I’m known to cast a steely eye at an errant audience member but these women ignored my chastising glances. They weren’t some pretentious theatre critics measuring the play against the original film. 

Those Black women showed up for the best reason there was, Cicely Tyson. Those women taught me (as they ate their lunches as if they were sitting the church’s fellowship hall) that although Tyson was a legend, more than anything she was ours. No stifling Broadway mores would dictate the terms of their audience with the queen. When Ms. Tyson began to sing the Christian hymn Blessed Assurance, the audience joined in and she welcomed us with open arms. I knew then that I was watching more than a Broadway play, I was witnessing one of the finest to grace the stage deliver a master class. Ms. Tyson won her first Tony for that role at the age of 88.

Cicely Tyson was both queen and quotidian. Regal and regular. Yes, she could sport a devastating bob, flawless skin, and fierce couture for the Gawds, but she was always accessible, always ours. She felt like your mother, auntie, sister, or grandmother. She knew us and loved us. Ms. Tyson took all of our triumphs, our worries, our joys, and our devastations and presented them before the world with the sacredness it deserves. I never had the opportunity to meet her in person but I suspect that she always carried a piece of hard candy, and a handkerchief in her purse for your tears along with a good word about following your dreams. I’m most grateful to Cicely Tyson for showing a skinny, dark-skinned, 7-year-old Black girl what is possible if you own and share your gifts.

***

Lisa B. Thompson is a playwright and professor of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her new book is Underground, Monroe, and The Mamalogues: Three Plays.

The Quarantine Tapes 151: Nikky Finney

“Don’t you ever forget that love made you. That’s a really important fact for me as a poet of my time in this world today.”  

'Poet Nikky Finney joins guest host Walter Mosley for a two-part discussion on episode 151 of The Quarantine Tapes. Finney speaks with great thoughtfulness about the responsibilities of a working poet and of a teacher and how she feels humbled by both those jobs. Finney talks to Mosley about the need she feels as an artist to speak the truth by addressing both the trauma and the love in her life. They also discuss what she saw in the people marching into the Capitol on January 6th and the contrasts with what she saw in the Black Lives Matter protests.'

Jazz Musician Robert Glasper Breaks Down Jazz Scenes from Movies

'Jazz pianist Robert Glasper breaks down Jazz scenes from movies, including Whiplash, LaLa Land, Bird, Miles Ahead, Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Mo' Better Blues and 'Round Midnight.'

The Tight Rope: Cornel West & Tricia Rose Talk with Charles M. Blow

'In this episode of The Tight Rope, acclaimed journalist and op-ed columnist for the New York Times, Charles M. Blow, walks The Tight Rope with Dr. Cornel West and Professor Tricia Rose. The author of bestselling memoir Fire Shut Up in My Bones shares a grand geopolitical vision for Black America in his new book, The Devil You Know. The new text is an unsettling manifesto, proposing nothing short of what some may see as the most audacious power play by Black people in the history of this country.'