Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 255

Simon & Schuster's Books Like Us: Tracy Deonn

'Author Tracy Deonn's first encounter with a book that looked like her came in college, with Paul Beatty's The White Boy Shuffle. The LEGENDBORN author describes how the book's ability to float between prose and verse helped her envision herself as a writer in a way that she wasn't able to before.'

Many Lumens with Maori Karmael Holmes: Jason Reynolds

'Many Lumens host Maori Karmael Holmes is joined by writer and poet Jason Reynolds, who posits literature as a form of radical world-making. They talk about kindred experiences in the late 1990s D.C. spoken word scene, hippie parents, his love of Queen Latifah and more.'

Wendell Pierce On Parenting, The Pandemic And Reckoning With The Past

'Wendell Pierce stars in a new production of Some Old Black Man. In the the play by James Anthony Tyler, Pierce plays a college professor who moves his elderly father into his New York City apartment.  His father, played by Charlie Robinson of Night Court fame, was a taxi driver in Mississippi. It's "the classic confrontation of father and son," says Pierce. Aspects of the story hit close to home for the award-winning actor. Pierce says he recognized, only later in life, many of the ways in which his own father tried to shield him from the traumatic experiences of the older generation.' -- Morning Edition

Black Frame: New Voices of Documentary with Garrett Bradley, Darius Clark Monroe, RaMell Ross

Filmmakers Garrett Bradley (TIME), Darius Clark Monroe (EVOLUTION OF A CRIMINAL) and Academy Award nominee RaMell Ross (HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING), join Duke Professor Mark Anthony Neal in conversation about how they are moving the documentary form forward using new approaches, cinematic languages, and theory in their recent work. The Conversation is part of the series Black Frame: New Voices of Documentary in partnership with The Full Frame Documentary Festival, A&E IndieFilms and the Department of African & African American Studies at Duke University.

Black Frame: New Voices of Documentary | A&E IndieFilms Speakeasy from Full Frame Documentary Film Fest on Vimeo.

Dr. Kelli Morgan on Alain Locke’s Seminal Text 'The New Negro'

'Dr. Kelli Morgan discusses Alain Locke’s seminal text The New Negro and it’s connections to African American Art History.' -- Black Art In America

Jazmine Sullivan On 'Heaux Tales,' Dirty Laundry And The Value Of Taking Breaks

'Jazmine Sullivan artist speaks with All Things Considered's Michel Martin about her acclaimed, ambitious new album and why she wanted to bring the conversations women have amongst themselves to light.'

Nadia Owusu Examines Her Ghanaian-Armenian Identity In 'Aftershocks'

'NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Nadia Owusu about her memoir, Aftershocks. Aftershocks is a memoir of a tough, interesting, multinational, multiracial upbringing and adulthood that ranges around the world, from Rome to Kampala to New York and dozens of stops in between. It's the first book from Owusu, a writer and urban planner, who joins Weekend Edition Saturdayfrom Brooklyn.'

Director Yoruba Richen on 'How It Feels To Be Free'

'Director Yoruba Richen joins us to discuss her new documentary for PBS American Masters titled,  "How It Feels To Be Free." Based on the book How It Feels To Be Free: Black Women Entertainers and the Civil Rights Movement by Ruth Feldstein, the documentary follows the career trajectories of six iconic Black female entertainers – Lena Horne, Abbey Lincoln, Nina Simone, Diahann Carroll, Cicely Tyson and Pam Grier – and highlights the close relationship between creative output and political awakening in the 20th century.' -- All Of It

Filmmaker Kemp Powers on Bringing 'One Night in Miami' and 'Soul' to the Screen

'Kemp Powers is the co-director and co-screenwriter for Pixar’s newest film, Soul which premiered at the end of last month. This week sees the release of One Night in Miami, which he adapted for the screen from his own play, and marks the directorial debut of actor Regina King. The film taps into Powers’s interests as a self-described history buff. And it was inspired by a brief section he came across in a book about sports and the civil rights movement of the 1960s, detailing what happened after Muhammad Ali won a fight to become Heavyweight Champion of the World on February 25, 1964. Ali spent much of that night in a hotel room with civil rights leader Malcolm X, football player Jim Brown, and singer Sam Cooke. And while little is known about what the four actually discussed, Powers used the real-life event as a jumping-off point for his work. Powers joins The Takeaway to discuss his work on One Night in Miami and Soul.'

'I Came As A Shadow': Coach John Thompson's Autobiography with Jesse Washington

'As head coach of the men's basketball team at Georgetown, John Thompson built the program into a powerhouse. He recruited players like Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutombo and Allen Iverson. He was also one of the only coaches of color in college basketball at the time, and he used his position to advocate for student-athletes of color throughout his career. Before he died this past August at the age of 78, Coach Thompson had written an autobiography called I Came As A Shadow. The Undefeated reporter Jesse Washington talks about readying the book for publication as well as Thompson's impact on the game. And he's joined by Coach Thompson's son, Ronny Johnson, who played for his father from 1988 to 1992.' -- All Of It