Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 321

Jimmy Cobb: Live At The Village Vanguard (2013)

'Jimmy Cobb (1929-2020) was the drummer when Miles Davis recorded his late-1950s and early-1960s masterpieces, and then toured with Sarah Vaughan for nearly a decade. He's freelanced with just about every great of his generation. He's still touring around the world, these days often fronting the bands and recordings. Cobb brought an international trio to New York's Village Vanguard for a week in 2013 — and, for one night, welcomed trusted tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson. WBGO and NPR Music presented a live video webcast and radio broadcast of that quartet.' -- WBGO

Janelle Monáe Wants To Represent The Underdog — In Music And Onscreen

'Janelle Monáe  stars as a veteran struggling with memory loss in season 2 of the Amazon series Homecoming. The role continues the themes of identity and representation she explored on her album Dirty Computer. "One of the things that really drew me in [to Homecoming] is getting an opportunity to play this vet and have a deeper conversation about how we treat our vets who are ... dealing with PTSD," she says.' -- Fresh Air

Ilhan Omar On Her Memoir And Moving The Needle Toward Progressive Policies

'"I wasn't afraid of fighting," Ilhan Omar writes about her childhood in Somalia in her new memoir. "I felt like I was bigger and stronger than everyone else — even if I knew that wasn't really the case." In This Is What America Looks Like: My Journey from Refugee to Congresswoman , Omar chronicles her childhood in a middle-class family compound in Mogadishu, followed by civil war, four years in a refugee camp, a journey to the United States and ultimately her election to Congress as a Democrat representing Minnesota's 5th district.' -- Weekend Edition Sunday

Left of Black S10:E14 – Kinohi Nishikawa and Black Pulp Fiction of the 1970’s

The rise of Black pulp fiction was largely attributed to the success of Blaxpoitation films, like Dolemite, which offered a more raw depiction of African American daily life in the 1970’s. Princeton Professor of English Kinohi Nishikawa sat down with Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal to discuss these trends and his newest publication, Street Players: Black Pulp Fiction and the Making of a Literary Underground   (University of Chicago Press, 2018). 

Dezron Douglas And Brandee Younger: Alone Together Duets

'Before the lockdown, harpist Brandee Younger and double bassist Dezron Douglas were constantly on the road, usually spending time apart as they toured with artists such as Makaya McCraven and Enrico Rava. This quarantine has allowed these college sweethearts to shine radiantly together as a duo. Their weekly "Brunch In The Crib" Facebook live streams from their East Harlem, N.Y., apartment provide many tranquil moments to their fans. They say necessity is the mother of invention, and that's exactly what prompted the couple's co-composition in the time of COVID-19: "Toilet Paper Romance." "When we wrote the song, toilet paper was the theme of the month," Douglas explains. "People were hoarding and getting violent and evil over toilet paper. It just fit with the mood of society." -- Jazz Night in America

Wealth Gap: Wider Than Gender with Professor Anne-Maria Makhulu

'Capitalism and patriarchy are intrinsically linked. In this episode with Duke University Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and African & African-American Studies Anne-Maria Makhulu, we explore the origins of wealth suppression and oppression across gender, race, and class. Makhulu has conducted research for over two decades in South Africa and is author of Making Freedom (Duke University Press 2015) about South Africa’s transition to democracy. She is also co-editor of a collection entitled Hard Work, Hard Times (University of California Press 2010), which examines African migration, the global search for livelihood, and questions of cultural resilience.' -- I ALSO Want Money

Tale of Two NC Sheriffs: Pitt County's Paula Dance (dir. Dilsey Davis)

'When one thinks of a sheriff in North Carolina, it’s easy to go back to the good ole days when the most popular sheriff around was Andy Griffith, in the make believe Mayberry. But today, North Carolina is more diverse, and so are the sheriffs in charge. Sheriff Paula Dance of Pitt County is serving her first term as the first African-American female sheriff in the state. She’s admired for not partnering with ICE to specifically target Hispanic populations. Independent Television ITVS producer Dilsey Davis teamed up with WUNC Radio’s Race and Southern Culture Reporter Leoneda Inge to tell the Tale of Two North Carolina Rural Sheriffs and their choices to manage growing jail populations.'

Tanisha C. Ford: Dressed in Dreams with Natalie Yvonne Moore

'Clothes are never just clothes. Instead, argues Tanisha C. Ford, they’re “a powerful social skin,” a way of expressing who we are--or at least how we want to be seen. Ford sees this as particularly true for the Black community, for whom dressing has always been political, from dashikis to baggy jeans. In Dressed in Dreams, Ford discusses the history of Black style, drawing from both her scholarly work and also her personal style journey as a Black teen coming of age in the Midwest. Ford is in conversation with Natalie Yvonne Moore at the Chicago Humanities Festival'

The Long Haul: A Comic Book Store's Fight To Survive

'Comic book store owner Rob Reese outlines the unique challenges facing the niche industry. When he took the reins of 41-year-old Alternate Worlds Comics last fall, he could never have anticipated what he's up against today.' -- Forbes
 

The American Project: Reparations and the American Creed with William 'Sandy' Darity

'In this wide-ranging conversation, prize-winning economist Sandy Darity discusses his plan for reparations for American slavery and its legacy. Based on thirty years of research, Professor Darity’s plan is pragmatic, at once fiscally sound and deeply moral. He is co-author, with A. Kirsten Mullen, of the just-published book: From Here to Equality: Reparations for Black Americans in the 21st Century , which has been hailed as “a vital intellectual history and a roadmap for these times.” -- The American Project with Osha Davidson.