Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 285

Into Gettin' Fonky with Wynton Marsalis

'Wynton Marsalis was born into a musical tradition. He grew up in New Orleans, home of the best jazz musicians around – including his father, jazz-great Ellis Marsalis.  On Into America, Marsalis talks with host Trymaine Lee about his writing process, how politics influences his music, and the magic of New Orleans.'

Common Remembers J Dilla's and Working on "Thelonius"

'Common talks about making “Thelonius” with J Dilla, Baatin, and T3 for Slum Village’s Fantastic Volume II and his Like Water for Chocolate album.'

Nashville Sessions: The War And Treaty Perform Songs From 'Hearts Town'

'When you speak with The War and Treaty, you can feel the love that Tanya Blount-Trotter and Michael Trotter Jr have for each other and their fans, whom they credit as helping create the bubble of acceptance that is the duo's latest album, Hearts Town. On it, The War and Treaty tackle some tough topics, including jealousy in relationships gone wrong and one of Michael's lowest moments, when he wasn't sure he could keep going. The pair also hasn't shied away from this year's racial justice protests or the way in which they are paving the way for Black musicians in the Americana world.' -- Nashville Sessions

What’s at Stake with Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee: Health Care and Civil Rights by Ben Jealous

What’s at Stake with Trump’s Supreme Court Nominee: Health Care and Civil Rights

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

Republicans’ rush to fill the vacant U.S. Supreme Court seat before the election is a terrible threat to Black people’s civil rights and the health of our communities.

In her 27 years on the Supreme Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a champion of civil rights. During those same years, though, Republican presidents and senators moved the court further and further away from its duty to protect racial equity and the rights of working people.

During the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, we counted on the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the constitutional principle of equality under law. We have counted on federal courts to enforce the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights act, federal laws that finally put the force of law behind the idea that Black people are part of the Constitution’s “We, the people.”

But the Supreme Court we have today is a long way from the Court that did away with legal segregation, a long way from the court that upheld civil rights laws that were won with the blood of Black people and our allies in the struggle for equality.

Ginsburg was often a key vote in 5-4 decisions that protected civil rights. And as the right-wing took power, she was often a powerful prophetic voice dissenting from abominations like the gutting of the Voting Rights Act in 2013.

As part of a political deal to help him win the White House, Trump turned over selection of judges to a hard-right legal movement that wants to reverse many of the social justice gains of the past century.

Any Trump nominee would have been a threat to the causes for which Ginsburg devoted her life.

Judge Amy Coney Barrett believes Obamacare is unconstitutional—and there’s a case coming before the Supreme Court just a week after the election that will give her and other right-wing justices a chance to destroy access to health care and legal protections for people, right in the middle of a pandemic.

In a case that raises alarms about her commitment to racial equity, she voted to deny a hearing to a Black man who worked for a company that assigned staff to different stores based on their race.

If she is confirmed, our ability to count on federal courts to protect our rights will be diminished even further. Yet, this is Republicans’ top priority, just a month before Election Day, with many Americans already voting to turn out the president who is trying to create a Supreme Court that will protect his agenda long after he is gone.

Here’s what Senate Republicans aren’t doing while they confirm every new judge, no matter how extreme or unqualified, President Trump sends their way:

They aren’t dealing with the COVID crisis that is killing Black and brown people at a far higher rate than white people—and they aren’t providing relief for all the working people driven into economic crisis by the pandemic.

They aren’t taking up the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would bring back federal protections for voting rights that were once embraced by politicians from both parties.

They aren’t acting on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which would bring greater accountability to law enforcement and protect people of color from racist and discriminatory policing.

The push by Trump and Senate Republicans to pack the Supreme Court while ignoring the urgent needs of our community and our demands for justice is the ultimate evidence of how important this election is to America, especially to Black America.

Do not sit this one out. Get registered. Make a plan to vote. And vote like our lives depend on it.

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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.

Alvin Irby: How to Inspire Every Child to be a Lifelong Reader

'According to the US Department of Education, more than 85 percent of black fourth-grade boys aren't proficient in reading. What kind of reading experiences should we be creating to ensure that all children read well? In a talk that will make you rethink how we teach, educator and author Alvin Irby explains the reading challenges that many black children face -- and tells us what culturally competent educators do to help all children identify as readers.'

'The Forty-Year-Old Version' Is Fast, Funny, Multi-Faceted And No Small Feat

'Radha Blank plays a fictionalized version of herself — a struggling artist from Harlem, who was hailed years earlier as a promising playwright. The film is gorgeously shot in black-and-white.' -- Fresh Air

'Charm City Kings' Is An Exhilarating Tale Of Bikes, Boyhood And Baltimore

'Charm City Kings is a coming-of-age film based on the 2013 documentary 12 O'Clock Boys -- about riders who take to the city's streets on summer evenings, popping wheelies and performing daring stunts.' -- Weekend Edition Sunday

The Gen Z Candidate: How Chi Ossé Found His Voice

'After six months of protest, Gen Z candidates across the nation are taking their voice from the streets to the campaign trail, raising awareness for the importance of voting in local elections, where elected officials make some of the most critical decisions that affect us. In this episode of Complex World, we will be profiling the candidacy of Chi Ossé, a third-generation Brooklynite, son of Combat Jack and prominent Black Lives Matter activist who is running for New York City Council’s District 36.' -- Complex News

HISTORY This Week « » The Birth of Hip Hop with Mark Anthony Neal

'August 11, 1973.  At 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, 18-year-old DJ Kool Herc plays his first New York City party. The dance floor is packed, the energy is wild, and Herc gives the performance of a lifetime featuring one very specific innovation on the turntables. Herc and the partygoers don’t know it yet, but this event will go down in history as the birth of one of the most popular musical genres—Hip Hop. How did this party give way to a multi-billion dollar industry? And how has Hip Hop become so much more than the music? Special thanks to our guest, Duke University professor Mark Anthony Neal and to DJ Silva Sirfa and D-Nasty Tha Master for the music in this episode.'

Sarah Broom and Natasha Trethewey on Memoir

 

'As memoir has become an ever more popular mode of writing, experiments with the form have proliferated. Two recent and outstanding examples are Sarah Broom’s The Yellow House and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Natasha Trethewey’s Memorial Drive. Broom’s National Book Award-winning debut memoir tells a story of place, class, race, and family history. Trethewey’s Memorial Drive explores her family's legacy, the American South, and the effects of racism. Join Broom and Trethewey for a conversation moderated by CHF's Marilynn Thoma Artistic Director Alison Cuddy on memoirs, the complexity of writing about family trauma, and the limits of memory in piecing together the past.' -- Chicago Humanities Festival