Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 30

The Takeaway: Reverend Al Sharpton is "Loudmouth"

'The new movie Loudmouth highlights the career and activism of Sharpton from the late 1980s through the death of George Floyd. Director Josh Alexander and Rev. Al Sharpton join The Takeaway to discuss the film and Sharpton’s life.'

New Books Network: Riché Richardson – ‘Emancipation's Daughters: Re-Imagining Black Femininity and the National Body'

'In Emancipation's Daughters: Re-Imagining Black Femininity and the National Body (Duke UP, 2020), Riché Richardson examines iconic black women leaders who have contested racial stereotypes and constructed new national narratives of black womanhood in the United States. Drawing on literary texts and cultural representations, Richardson shows how five emblematic black women—Mary McLeod Bethune, Rosa Parks, Condoleezza Rice, Michelle Obama, and Beyoncé—have challenged white-centered definitions of American identity. By using the rhetoric of motherhood and focusing on families and children, these leaders have defied racist images of black women, such as the mammy or the welfare queen, and rewritten scripts of femininity designed to exclude black women from civic participation. Richardson shows that these women's status as national icons was central to reconstructing black womanhood in ways that moved beyond dominant stereotypes. However, these formulations are often premised on heteronormativity and exclude black queer and trans women. Throughout Emancipation's Daughters, Richardson reveals new possibilities for inclusive models of blackness, national femininity, and democracy.'

Host Mickell Carter is a doctoral student in the department of history at Auburn University. She can be reached at mzc0152@auburn.edu and on twitter @MickellCarter.

How this Genius Uses Energy to Combat Climate Change

'Meet Tyler Greene — a technological wizard fighting to eliminate energy waste through the creation of a quantum operating system for energy management. The energy sector as we know it suffers from a lack of optimization and an overwhelming amount of data to process, resulting in excessive energy waste. This affects so many people across the globe…and now, we have a genius who is on a mission to change that. Winner of our 2023 #OZYGenius Awards in partnership with AT&T’s Dream in Black, Tyler joins four geniuses from #HBCUs, along with seven other geniuses, all working to change the world.'

Afropop Worldwide: The Black History of Tap Dancing

'Foundational for Broadway and the movies, intertwined with jazz, tap dancing is a Great American Art.  Afropop Worldwide traces the history of tap and celebrate the Black artists and innovators who built--and continue to build--this art form. From its murky origins melding African percussion and Anglo-Irish step dancing, to tap's golden age and its ongoing evolution.'

Afropop Worldwide · The Black History of Tap Dancing

Millennials Are Killing Capitalism: "If We Must Die, Let It Not Be Like Hogs" – Winston James on Claude McKay: The Making of a Black Bolshevik

'Winston James is the author of A Fierce Hatred of Injustice: Claude McKay’s Jamaica and His Poetry of Rebellion, The Struggles of John Brown Russwurm: The Life and Writings of a Pan-Africanist Pioneer 1799-1851, and Holding Aloft the Banner of Ethiopia: Caribbean Radicalism in Early Twenty Century America. James has held a number of teaching positions, most recently as a professor of history at UC Irvine. James joins Millennials Are Killing Capitalism to talk about his latest work, Claude McKay: The Making of a Black Bolshevik. The book examines McKay’s life from his early years in Jamaica to his years at Tuskegee and Kansas State University and his time in Harlem, to his life in London. Drawing on a wide variety of sources, James offers a rich and detailed chronicle of McKay’s life, political evolution, and the historical, political, and intellectual contexts that shaped him. The work also locates McKay’s closest interlocutors, and those he debated with, as well as McKay’s experiences as a worker and within communist and anarcho-syndicalist organizations like the Worker’s Socialist Federation and the IWW.'

The Takeaway: Gugu Mbatha-Raw On Subverting Conventions

'Gugu Mbatha-Raw stars in the psychological thriller series Surface as the subversive character, Sophie. Sophie is a woman without a past — as far as she remembers. The Apple TV+ series was just renewed for a second season, which will see Sophie attempt to find that past, even as she runs from it. Mbatha-Raw is also an executive producer on the show, and she joins The Takeaway to talk about filming in iconic San Fransisco locations and challenging Hollywood conventions — both on screen and behind the scenes.'

'Drummer Nate Smith Arranges Funky Grooves with Strings Attached

'If you are a fan of jazz, or groove for that matter, then you're probably acquainted with the artistry of Nate Smith. Whether it's with the bass master Dave Holland or funk supergroup The Fearless Flyers, the copious joy felt from those projects should in no small part be attributed to this drummer (and his odd time signatures). Over the last decade, mostly with his band Kinfolk, Smith has really spread his wings and amplified his voice, especially as a composer. "I am kind of incapable of having small ideas," he explains. "I guess that's just my thing: I need as much sound as possible".'

Leonard Cohen and His Most Famous Song Explored in Documentary Film 'Hallelujah'

\

'The documentary Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song explores the life of the music icon and his most famous song. Here & Now's Scott Tong speaks with music journalist Larry "Ratso" Sloman, who appears in the documentary.'

Poet Warsan Shire Hopes You Can Make the Voices in Your Head Your Friends

'Somali British poet Warsan Shire has had many projects, including running a popular Tumblr page and collaborating with Beyoncé. Now, she is out with a new collection of poems called Bless The Daughter Raised By A Voice In Her Head. That title is an ode to how she was raised, having to take on a lot of responsibility from a young age. But Shire told NPR's Sarah McCammon that it's also an ode to the children who are able to turn those voices into their friends instead of struggling with them as she has.'

Left of Black S13 · E8 | Black Women's Buying Power with Dr. Aria Halliday

What is the influence of Black women over how markets pivot and react to consumer demand? And what is the history behind how American pop culture is influenced by Black women? Dr. Aria S. Halliday, Assistant Professor in the Department of Gender and Women’s Studies and program in African American and Africana Studies at the University of Kentucky joins Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal to discuss her new book, Buy Black: How Black Women Transformed US Pop Culture, published by University of Illinois Press.