Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 261

Turning up the Volume: how musician Mykal Kilgore Boldly Champions Identity

'Musician and Broadway performer Mykal Kilgore grew up in a Southern Baptist home and spent his Sundays singing in the church choir. Today, the NAACP Image Award-nominated artist’s signature sound draws from his roots, melding gospel, country and R&B. The singer-songwriter’s storytelling is similarly steeped in personal identity. “It’s incredible to be … brave enough, to be available enough to say this is who I am.” His debut album, A Man Born Black, explores themes of race, sexuality, masculinity and more. "I’m black, I’m queer, I’m living in this world,” he says. “You cannot have me without having it ... You can’t ignore the black to get to me and to my art.” Through his work, Kilgore hopes to break down barriers, encouraging others to embrace the things that make them who they are. “There are a whole bunch of black boys and girls just like me and I want them to know what’s possible".' --Guardian Labs US

Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah: The New Chief

'Filmmakers Amitabh Joshi and Erik Spink spotlight Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, the Grammy-nominated, modern jazz musician from New Orleans who defies the expectations of jazz while challenging how music is taught in universities nationwide.' -- American Masters PBS

Sean Jacobs on Media in Postapartheid South Africa

'William Shoki talks with Sean Jacobs, author of  Media in Postapartheid South Africa: Postcolonial Politics in the Age of Globalization (Wits University Press, 2020). In the book, Jacobs turns to media politics and the consumption of media as a way to understand recent political developments in South Africa and their relations with the African continent and the world. Jacobs looks at how mass media defines the physical and human geography of the society and what it means for comprehending changing notions of citizenship in postapartheid South Africa.' -- Africa Is a Country

The Quarantine Tapes 142: Harryette Mullen

'Guest host Naomi Shihab Nye is joined by poet Harryette Mullen on episode 142 of The Quarantine Tapes. Harryette reflects on her habit of walking in Los Angeles and how that has served her well during the isolation of quarantine. She talks about her poetry practice and how walking and the city have inspired her work. Naomi and Harryette dig into the challenges and complications of teaching during this time. Harryette talks about teaching Ntozake Shange and offers up advice for pushing yourself to experiment with writing and art. In this reflective, heartfelt conversation, Naomi celebrates Harryette’s work, lifting up her use of language and inviting Harryette to read from her poems.'

Black Men Have the Shortest Lifespans of Any Americans: Social Epidemiologist Sherman James on 'John Henryism'

'The unrelenting stress of fighting systemic racism can alter a body’s normal functioning until it starts to wear down. The theory, known as John Henryism, according to Social Epidemiologist Sherman James, helps explain racial health disparities.' -- ProPublica

The Quarantine Tapes 144: Sarah Broom

'On episode 144 of The Quarantine Tapes, guest host Eddie Glaude is joined by writer Sarah Broom. Eddie and Sarah’s conversation dives deep into the craft and practice of writing. Sarah reflects on the time she is spending with visual art lately and the influence of painting and color theory on how she thinks about writing. Eddie and Sarah are both writers from the Gulf Coast. Sarah talks about how her relationship to that place and its history comes out in her writing. Their conversation offers striking meditations on form, dialogue, and how to write as a witness to this moment.'

New Year’s Resolutions the Biden Administration Can Make Right Now by Ben Jealous

New Year’s Resolutions the Biden Administration Can Make Right Now  

by Ben Jealous | @BenJealous | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile) 

I don’t know about all of you, but it feels to me like Christmas came early this year. 

  

Electing a new president and vice president was a gift that 81 million Americans gave to ourselves and to one another. 

Every court rejection of Trump’s bogus stolen election claims was one more stocking stuffer. 

 

Now the only thing left on my Christmas wish list is a victory in Georgia’s Senate races and an end to Mitch McConnell’s power-abusing, progress-obstructing reign as Senate Majority Leader. 

  

Actually, that’s not quite true. I also want a Biden-Harris administration whose vision and boldness are worthy of the hard work and sacrifices that so many people made to put them in office. 

  

The Democratic Party is a diverse coalition, and we shouldn’t expect everyone to agree on the best way to approach every issue. It’s natural that we’ll have disagreements and debates. 

 

But we can unite enthusiastically behind a broad set of values that we want our leaders to advance: equality, fairness, opportunity and justice for all. And we can agree on the need to move quickly to reverse many of the Trump administration executive orders and initiatives that undermined those values. 

  

That’s why leaders from across the progressive movement are thrilled to look forward to the day very soon when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are sworn in—and to the next day, when they will be in position to start the work they’re preparing for now. 

  

We are prepared to support them and fight alongside them, and when necessary to push them toward boldness in advancing policies that reflect our highest ideals and the urgent needs of millions of Americans. 

 

Here are some resolutions that leaders of the Biden administration should make right now to make 2021 a much happier new year than the one we have left behind: 

  

1. Make it a priority to start fixing the federal courts by nominating fair-minded judges and justices who are committed to protecting civil and human rights. 

  

2. Restore integrity to the 2020 census by reversing illegal efforts by the Trump administration to restrict who gets counted – and who counts when it comes to representation in Congress. 

  

3. Revive the Department of Justice as the nation’s primary protector of voting rights and civil rights and move aggressively against state and local efforts to restrict voting rights. 

  

4. Do everything in our power to reunite the children and families separated by the immoral actions of the Trump administration. 

  

5. Empower the Civil Rights Division at DOJ to investigate abuses by state and local law enforcement, use consent decrees to get commitments for reform, and ensure accountability and more just policing through steady oversight. 

  

6. Give stability to millions of immigrant families by fully resuming the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, reversing Trump’s Muslim ban orders and policies, reopening the door to settling refugees, and eliminating the public charge rule that discriminates against poor people. 

  

7. Recognize that religious liberty is meant to be a shield to protect everyone’s ability to exercise their religion, not a sword to allow religious claims to justify discrimination or other harms to others. 

  

8. Reverse a Trump executive order that prevented federal agencies, contractors, and grantees from discussing the impact of racism in the workplace or embracing policies to advance diversity and equal opportunity. 

 

9. Issue guidance establishing a necessary use of force standard that allows police use of force only as a last resort.

 

10. Direct DOJ to explore legal options for limiting or ending the qualified immunity doctrine that insulates police officials from liability for serious misconduct.

Of course, there is much more work ahead for the Biden administration and for those of us who want it to succeed, particularly around COVID-19 recovery and access to health care. But these steps will get us off to a good start.

  

What a joy it is in this holiday season to know that so many policies grounded in bigotry and cruelty will soon be reversed. 

  

What a blessing it will be not to be on the defensive at every moment—and to use our collective expertise, creativity, and heart to imagine, design, debate, perfect, and implement policies that will bring more fairness, more justice, and more opportunity to all the people in these United States. 

*** 

Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way and People For the American Way Foundation. Jealous has decades of experience as a leader, coalition builder, campaigner for social justice and seasoned nonprofit executive. In 2008, he was chosen as the youngest-ever president and CEO of the NAACP. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and he has taught at Princeton and the University of Pennsylvania.

'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' Shines A Light On August Wilson's Vision

'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was August Wilson's first Broadway hit — and a preamble to his cycle of award-winning plays about the African-American experience across the 20th Century that included Fences and The Piano Lesson. Now Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is the first of the late playwright's works to be adapted for Netflix.  Wilson was a little-known poet when the play opened at Yale Repertory Theater in the spring of 1984. Sitting in the theater, Wilson told me the story came to him one day when he was listening to a recording of Ma Rainey singing the title song.' -- Morning Edition

Harriet Washington on Race And The Roots Of Vaccine Skepticism

'NPR's Michel Martin speaks with science writer and medical ethicist Harriet Washington about the factors that contribute to vaccine skepticism among communities of color and ways to address them.' -- All Things Considered

From Graffiti to the Gallery, Futura Talks About Art

'Born Leonard McGure, Futura made his reputation spray painting subway trains in New York City in the 1970s as “Futura 2000” — the number was dropped in 1999. He would go on to be part of the booming graffiti and street art movement in the 1980s, but was forced to depend on European venues and collectors after attention in the United States quickly dried up in the late 1980s, though he did go on to collaborate with various American fashion and music labels. Now he’s back with his first solo New York exhibition in 32 years, which is taking place at Eric Firestone Gallery in Manhattan. In this conversation, he generously shares his insight into the mercurial art world, what motivates him to continue making work, and reflections on a scene that continues to change.' -- hyperallergic.com