Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 312

Bryant Gumbel on the 'Black Tax'

'#RealSports host Bryant Gumbel offers a personal commentary and shares what he calls ‘the black tax.' -- HBO

The Life and Work of Octavia E. Butler

'Natalie Russell, Assistant Curator of Literary Collections at the Huntington Library, Museum, and Botanical Gardens, discusses the life, work and legacy of award-winning science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler.' -- All Of It
         
        

Reconstructing Black Politics, Again

'The urgent needs of Black politics today have roots in the failures of the Reconstruction era. Today, a look at how that history led us to the present moment, and what the future could hold. On this episode of Brian Lehrer: A Daily Politics Podcast, Adam Serwer, staff writer at The Atlantic talks about how to be anti-racist now and the past and future of Black politics.'

Bernice Johnson Reagon On Leading Freedom Songs During The Civil Rights Movement

'In the 1960s, Bernice Johnson Reagon was a founding member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee's Freedom Singers. In 1988, she spoke to Fresh Air about the songs she sang as an activist.'

Black Wall Street And Its Legacy In America

'A century ago, O.W. Gurley built an empire of African American businesses in Tulsa. Though it all came burning down in the massacre of 1921, new generations of entrepreneurs rose from the ashes.' -- Forbes
 

"The Only Little Black Girl in Anthropology": Marina Magloire on Transnational Black Feminism

'Marina Magloire, Black feminist scholar of African American and diasporic literature, presented this paper that tells the story of a friendship deferred. When their paths first crossed in the 1930s, Katherine Dunham was a glamorous Midwesterner who would later be known for her popularizations of Afro-diasporic dance forms in American performance; while Zora Neale Hurston was a charming Southerner and student of anthropology who would later come to be known as one of the greatest literary stylists of American letters. As these African American women conducted pioneering ethnographic research in Jamaica and Haiti in the 1930s, their fieldwork overlapping both thematically and temporally, to such extent that Hurston accused Dunham of stealing her research itinerary and her funding. In a world of tokenized Black scholars and troubling white patrons, it is perhaps inevitable that the competing authenticities of these two women would clash. But in considering the parallel realities of their Haitian fieldwork as they grappled with their place as Black Americans in a space recently colonized by the United States, Prof. Magloire reconstructed this friendship that can serve as a metaphor for the peril and the promise of Black feminist kinship across national boundaries.' -- Duke Franklin Humanities Institute
 

Jennifer L. Eberhardt: How Racial Bias Works—and How to Disrupt It

'Our brains create categories to make sense of the world, recognize patterns and make quick decisions. But this ability to categorize also exacts a heavy toll in the form of unconscious bias. In this powerful talk, psychologist Jennifer L. Eberhardt explores how our biases unfairly target Black people at all levels of society -- from schools and social media to policing and criminal justice -- and discusses how creating points of friction can help us actively interrupt and address this troubling problem.' -- TED
 

Lynn Whitfield Talks Greenleaf, Justice for George Floyd, and COVID-19

On the episode of The New Norm with Selena Hill, actress Lynn Whitfield discusses her series Greenleaf, the killing of George Floyd, and COVID-19 crisis. -- Black Enterprise
 

Shane Battier: The 'inspiration gap' kills innovation. How can we do better?

'What is the inspiration gap? Inspiration comes in many forms: successful role models who went before us, positive words, and coaching from the people in our lives, even the act of setting a goal for ourselves and sticking to it. But inspiration is in some ways a luxury. The financial, familial, and infrastructure constraints that children in at-risk communities face every day must, by necessity, come first. Without inspiration, innovation stalls—and the trek up Maslow’s hierarchy becomes insurmountably steep. Two-time NBA champion Shane Battier believes addressing the inspiration gap is crucial to breaking this cycle and uplifting the most vulnerable communities.' -- Big Think

Unladylike2020: Gladys Bentley—Gender-Bending Performer and Musician

'Gladys Bentley (1907-1960) joined New York’s Harlem Renaissance jazz scene at age 16 and became an instant sensation and gender identity pioneer, performing piano and vocals at the most popular gay bars, wearing men’s clothing, and openly flirting with women in the audience.' -- American Masters PBS