Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 338

Jessie Reyez On The Power Of Sad Songs

'The 28-year-old Colombian-Canadian singer Jessie Reyez makes emotional music that has connected deeply with fans. She recently received her first Grammy nomination for best urban contemporary album for her EP, Being Human in Public .' -- Weekend Edition Saturday



 

How Black Women Were 'Skimmed' By Infant Formula Marketing

'Here & Now's Tonya Mosley speaks with Andrea Freeman — whose book Skimmed: Breastfeeding, Race, and Injustice looks at how formula was marketed to black women in the late 20th century.'

Writer Danez Smith Discuses New Collection 'Homie'

Photo by Hieu Minh Nguyen. Danez Smith joins All Of It to discuss their work and latest book, Homie: Poems .
          
        
 

Blair Underwood on 'A Soldier's Play'

'Actor Blair Underwood returns to Broadway in A Soldier’s Play, a revival of Charles Fuller's Pulitzer Prize winning drama.' -- Black Enterprise
 

The Incredulity of Jacolby Satterwhite

'In the midst of career-marking solo exhibitions at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn and the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia, artist Jacolby Satterwhite contemplates some of the most fundamental questions around the relationship between an artist and the works they create. Referencing both a long running fascination with Renaissance painter Caravaggio's "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas" and his own traumatic experience of surviving childhood cancer, Satterwhite muses that "maybe I've been skeptical of mortality my whole life and I've been making things to make myself witness these objects and say I'm still here".' -- Art21

Where Did All The Black Farmers Go?

'The United States was built on the agricultural strength and skill of Black slaves who knew how to farm. But even after slavery ended, Black people who worked as farmers have continued to face systematic barriers — and still do today.' --  AJ+

Black Images, Black Histories: Richard J. Powell on The Obama Portraits

'The From Slavery to Freedom Lab presented a two-day conference to explore iconic images and popular constructions of blackness in culture. Richard J. Powell co-wrote the book, The Obama Portraits, published by Princeton University Press, along with authors Táina Caragol, Dorothy Moss, and Kim Sajet. Powell is the John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art & Art History at Duke University.'-- Duke Franklin Humanities Institute

Tricia Rose's 'Black Noise' at 25 – Annual Meeting of the American Studies Association 2019

'In 1994, Tricia Rose published the award-winning Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Notable for its pioneering and critical engagement with the complex cultural traditions, structural relations, and political interventions embedded in the production and consumption of rap music, Black Noise remains a foundational text for the study of hip-hop and has defined what is now an entire field of study. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Black Noise, this roundtable considers its long-term influence in and beyond American Studies, its relevance to contemporary debates about Black culture and racial inequality, and its usefulness as a model for interdisciplinarity and serious engagement with and analysis of Black cultural production. In keeping with the conference theme of “Build As We Fight,” panelists will also reflect on the capacity of hip-hop and other Black expressive forms to advance political critiques and envision alternative futures in this historical moment.'


Panelists 
• Amanda Boston, New York University 
• Aisha Durham, University of South Florida 
• Tanisha Ford, University of Delaware 
• Janell C. Hobson, SUNY at Albany 
• Robin D. G. Kelley, University of California-Los Angeles 
• Mark Anthony Neal, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African and African American Studies, Duke University 
• Gwendolyn D Pough, Syracuse University 
• Tricia Rose, Brown University

The Overlooked Activist Power Of Marlena Shaw

'As part of NPR's "One-Hit Wonders/Second-Best Songs," Vanderbilt professor Emily Lordi recommends "Woman of the Ghetto" by Marlena Shaw. She's known mostly for her 1969 hit, "California Soul".'-- Morning Edition

Honoring A Legend & A Life: Walter "Buck" Leonard & The Negro Baseball Leagues

'"If there hadn't been a Walter "Buck" Leonard (1907-1997)... what wouldn't - have happened?" ...the integration of Black players into professional sports teams, an advancement of awareness of the need for social change. Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Chair of Duke University's African & African American Studies Department and Jonathan Fox Hunter, grandson, historian and spokesperson for the Buck Leonard Museum & Foundation for Sports & Cultural Enrichment joined Seeking Justice host Mary Hope on this episode to discuss the life and legacy of the pivotal yet mostly unknown figure in our American history.'