Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 309

Artist Shaun Leonardo Wants to Expand the Conversation on Police Brutality Through His Work

'In March, the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland canceled a show by artist Shaun Leonardo  featuring charcoal drawings depicting several high profile incidents of police brutality. At the time, the museum released a statement saying that, “we encountered troubling community response that suggested at this time we were not prepared to engage with the lived experiences of pain and trauma that the work evokes.” In early June, Leonardo, who identifies as Afro Latino, criticized the museum’s decision saying “institutional white fragility led to an act of censorship.” Leonardo has said that he spoke out in response to statements being put out by a number of museums in support of Black Lives Matter, which he found to be hypocritical. Leonardo joins The Takeaway to discuss his show’s cancellation and how art institutions can be held accountable moving forward.'

Kenan Thompson, “S.N.L.” ’s Longest-Running Cast Member

'Kenan Thompson found his calling as a performer at the advanced age of twelve. “I was cutting grass for twenty dollars a lawn—not dependent on the size of the lawn,” he told Vinson Cunningham at the 2019 New Yorker Festival. “People were getting over on ten-year-old Kenan, it wasn’t cool.” Once he began acting, he says, “I got professional at a young age and I took that very seriously.” Having been a child star on Nickelodeon's “All That,” Thompson made his way to “Saturday Night Live” by twenty-five and is now the longest-running cast member in the show’s history. He’s unafraid to appear as the accused sex offender R. Kelly, or as Bill Cosby. Thompson has also been around long enough to watch the program evolve from having one Black cast member to becoming a more diverse team that can perform sketches like “Black Jeopardy.” But he acknowledges that, for comedians, the current “woke times” can be difficult. “It’s very touchy out there, and you have to be very responsible with what you’re doing”.' -- The New Yorker Radio Hour

Uncle Bobbie's Presents: Bakari Sellers 'My Vanishing Country'

' Uncle Bobbies own Dr. Marc Lamont Hill stayed home with author and state representative Bakari Sellers to discuss his newest work My Vanishing Country: A Memoir .'

People's Party: Talib Kweli & Reginald Hudlin Talk Black Excellence, Afrofuturism and Happy Rap

'In this full episode of People's Party, Talib Kweli and co-host Jasmin Leigh sit down with acclaimed screenwriter, director, and producer Reginald Hudlin (House Party, Bernie Mac Show, Django Unchained, Boondocks) about entertainment, music, and culture, all tying back to a central theme: Black Excellence.' -- UPROXX Video
 

Actors on Actors: Anthony Mackie & Daveed Diggs

'Anthony Mackie ("Altered Carbon") and Daveed Diggs ("Snowpiercer") join Variety Studios Actors on Actors #At Home for a discussion about race, politics, and Marvel.' -- Variety 

A Brief History of Police Impunity in Black Deaths

'Until recent years, there was no reliable data on how many people in the US were killed by police every year, or on the legal outcomes of those killings. But data collected by the Mapping Police Violence project provides some answers, including one that has held steady every year for which we have data: Police are almost never charged with killing someone, and are even less often convicted. The data shows that less than 3% of police killings lead to the officer being charged with a crime, and fewer than 1% of them result in a conviction, and that these rates are the same regardless of the victim’s race. But it also shows that a Black American is three times more likely to be killed by police than a white American.' -- Vox

This Is America: Black Lives, Structural Violence, Protest and Change

'Presented by Brown University's Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice. Panelists include Dr. Joy James (Ebenezer Fitch Professor of Humanities at Williams College), Felicia Denaud (PhD candidate in Africana Studies at Brown), Dr. Brian Meeks (Chair of the Department of Africana Studies at Brown), moderated by Dr. Anthony Bogues (CSSJ Director).'

How Black-Owned Businesses Are Surviving Without Stimulus

'Black small-business owners have faced hurdles accessing the Paycheck Protection Program. Here’s how the African-American owners of MahoganyBooks in Washington, D.C., have kept their small business afloat.' -- Wall Street Journal

Rodney Evans: "I Was Inspired by a Void in Representattion"

'Filmmaker Rodney Evans talks WORLD Channel through his experience as an LGBTQ+ African American man with a disability. This journey includes his documentary, Vision Portraits, and how a lack of representation deeply informs his work.'

The Afro-Latinx Experience Is Essential To Our International Reckoning On Race

'"Blackness is heterogeneous." On this episode of Alt.Latino, deep conversations about the Afro Latinidad and Blackness.'