Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 289

#BackChannel: 'The Killing of Breonna Taylor', Lovecraft County & Black Women's Fight To Vote

'A new documentary from The New York Times Presents digs into official reports and documents to piece together what went wrong. The Killing of Breonna Taylor also paints a picture of who she was as a person through interviews with Taylor’s friends and family.  Host Frank Stasio talks about the story with Natalie Bullock Brown and Mark Anthony Neal as well as untangle the many threads of HBO’s new series Lovecraft Country, starring Jonathan Majors and Jurnee Smollett, the recent deaths of Chadwick Boseman, Ronald Bell of Kool & the Gang,  Soul singer D.J. Rogers and baseball Hall of Famer Lou Brock.  They are also joined by historian Martha S. Jones, who discusses her new book Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted On Equality For All (Basic Books/2020).'

Songs Without Words by Guitarist Yasmin Williams

'Guitarist, composer, and songwriter Yasmin Williams is both a multi-instrumentalist and multi-tasker. She’s a fingerstyle lap-tapping guitar player who sits and rests the guitar in her lap, to make the guitar into a table on which she sometimes mounts a kalimba; her distinct style also leaves her tap shoe-wearing feet available for her to make beats. Williams also plays banjo, bass, kora, and as she puts it - “anything with strings.” During the conversation, Williams explains that her use of extended techniques: tapping the guitar from above with both hands, playing the strings with a cello bow, hammering with what looks like a Patellar reflex test hammer in a dulcimer-like fashion, a pick that she sometimes wears on her thumb, the hammer-ons and pull-offs, and beat-making on the guitar (and with her feet) – are all in the service of her songwriting.'

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Krista Franklin and Nate Marshall on Black Futures

'In their latest poetry collections, Krista Franklin and Nate Marshall both offer visions of liberation. Franklin’s Too Much Midnight explores portraiture and collage as strategies for radical imaginings, while Marshall’s FINNA celebrates Black vernacular as uplifting “Black possibility, Black future, Blackness as tomorrow”. Franklin and Marshall are joined by the poet Parneshia Jones for a discussion about the intersections of poetry, visual art and popular culture. This annual lecture is presented in honor of Esther S. Saks and her 90th birthday in celebration of her lifetime commitment to culture, curiosity, and social justice and is presented in partnership with Blanc Gallery and Young Chicago Authors.' -- Chicago Humanities Festival

Public Enemy - Fight The Power (2020 Remix) feat. Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG & QuestLove

The 2020 remix of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" featuring Nas, Rapsody, Black Thought, Jahi, YG and QuestLove.

Why So Many Black People Are Buying Guns

'The number of Black gun buyers in the U.S. is rising and it’s not because of the NRA, which historically supported limiting Black people’s right to bear arms publicly. Black gun owners in the U.S. find Second Amendment rights apply differently to them. So what does it mean to be a Black gun owner in a nation with a history of limiting Black people’s access to firearms?' -- AJ+

Tight Rope Funk Edition: Bootsy Collins and the Power of the One

'Bootsy Collins transforms The Tight Rope on this Special Funk Edition. Bootsy, Dr. Cornel West, and Professor Tricia Rose talk all things funk in the context of the perils of following trends, the process of self-acceptance and self-discovery, confronting fear, and the “manipulation of the funk.” Bootsy shares details about his upcoming album The Power of the One. Hear what funk means to Bootsy Collins and how we must be funky in our own lives on this episode of The Tight Rope.'

How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

'Writer Anne Helen Petersen, creator of the newsletter Culture Study, joins us to discuss her new book, Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation. The book expands upon Petersen’s viral article on millennial burnout, which was Buzzfeed News’ most-read article in 2019, with thousands of interviews with millennials across the race, gender, socioeconomic, and ability spectrum.' -- All Of It

Black Protest Leaders To White Allies: 'It's Our Turn To Lead Our Own Fight'

'"It's our turn to lead our own fight, to frame our own conversations," said Benjamin O'Keefe, a Black political organizer in Brooklyn where protests have continued since late May after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis.' -- All Things Considered

Oddisee: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

'In 2015, Oddisee visited the Tiny Desk with a drummer and a keyboardist. For his Tiny Desk (home) concert, he assembled his full band, Good Company, for the first time since the global pandemic cancelled their tour last spring. The five captivating songs are from his new EP, Odd Cure, "a record I didn't want to write but needed to," Oddisee said in July. He wrote it in eight weeks, between March and May, while in self-isolation. He had just returned from a performance in Thailand and wanted to protect his family. Oddisee says these songs were inspired by the deluge of news, social media, misinformation and conspiracy theories generated during the first weeks of the pandemic.'

 

'Regarding Paul R. Williams' Honors Legacy Of LA's Barrier-Breaking Black Architect

'Photographer Janna Ireland aims to capture intimacy and relationships in her work, which she says focuses primarily on Black life in America. In a new book, Ireland turns her lens outward, to showcase the legacy of barrier-breaking architect Paul R. Williams, and introduce his work to a larger audience. Regarding Paul R. Williams: A Photographer's View is a collection of 280 photographs by Ireland that celebrate the career of the first Black licensed architect west of the Mississippi. His work helped shape the landscape of Los Angeles and brought good design within reach of all, regardless of race.'