Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 34

“Thinking Gender in the Interstice”: C. Riley Snorton's Keynote Talk at the Hortense J. Spillers Symposium

Conversations in Atlantic Theory • Dannelle Gutarra Cordero on 'She is Weeping: An Intellectual History of Racialized Slavery and Emotions in the Atlantic World'

'A conversation with Dannelle Gutarra Cordero on She is Weeping: An Intellectual History of Racialized Slavery and Emotions in the Atlantic World, published in 2021 by Cambridge University Press. She earned a Ph.D. in History from the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus in 2012. Gutarra Cordero specializes in the Intellectual History of the Caribbean and the Atlantic World, and her research and teaching interests include the topics of scientific racism, slavery, gender, sexuality, and colonialism.'

New Books Newwork: Jasmine Nichole Cobb – ‘New Growth: The Art and Texture of Black Hair"

'From Frederick Douglass to Angela Davis, “natural hair” has been associated with the Black freedom struggle. In New Growth: The Art and Texture of Black Hair (Duke University Press,  2022), Jasmine Nichole Cobb traces the history of Afro-textured coiffure, exploring it as a visual material through which to reimagine the sensual experience of Blackness. Through close readings of slave narratives, scrapbooks, travel illustrations, documentary films, and photography as well as collage, craft, and sculpture, from the nineteenth century to the present, Cobb shows how the racial distinctions ascribed to people of African descent become simultaneously visible and tactile. Whether examining Soul Train’s and Ebony’s promotion of the Afro hairstyle alongside styling products or how artists such as Alison Saar and Lorna Simpson underscore the construction of Blackness through the representation of hair, Cobb foregrounds the inseparability of Black hair’s look and feel. Demonstrating that Blackness is palpable through appearance and feeling, Cobb reveals the various ways that people of African descent forge new relationships to the body, public space, and visual culture through the embrace of Black hair. Professor Cobb is in conversation with Mickell Carter, a doctoral student in the department of history at Auburn University.'

Latin Jazz Legend Eddie Palmieri Calls Himself an Eternal Student

'Eddie Palmieri is one of the most renowned Latin jazz band leaders of the last century. The 10-time Grammy winner has created musical magic on stages around the world for the past seven decades. Palmieri describes himself as “a bandstand warrior.” He grew up in New York during the surge in popularity of Latin dance music. As a kid in the Bronx in the 1940s and 50s, he worked at his parent’s luncheonette that he named El Mambo, as he loaded the jukebox with mambo songs. When asked what he wants his legacy to be, Palmieri says “that’s simple.” He wants to be known as “a great musical student,” because he says being a great student “leads to preparation, and preparation then leads to quality in your presentations and recordings”.'

How We Can Influence the Courts that Influence Our Lives? by Ben Jealous

How We Can Influence the Courts that Influence Our Lives?

by Ben Jealous | @BenJealous | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile)

 

As I write this, the final few races are being called in the midterm elections that were held weeks ago. It’s clear that that the House will be closely divided, with Republicans holding a very small majority. History shows that in midterm elections, the party that doesn’t hold the presidency typically gains a lot of seats in Congress – oftentimes in a wipeout of the party in power. Republicans’ gains were comparatively tiny this year – but they probably should have been even tinier. 

 

The reason is the far-right Supreme Court, and two rulings that hurt Black voters this cycle. 

 

Two Deep South states, Alabama and Louisiana, redrew congressional maps months before the midterms. Incredibly, given the high proportion of Black voters in those states, the maps allowed for only one majority-Black congressional district in each state. That is almost certainly a violation of the Voting Rights Act, which prohibits states from packing minority voters into fewer districts in a way that reduces their power. And you don’t have to take my word for it; federal courts said the same thing and ordered both states to redraw their maps. 

 

But state officials opposed to Black voting power fought back. And in both instances, the Supreme Court allowed them to go ahead with this year’s midterm elections with maps that just happened to preserve “safe” Republican seats. 

   

It’s infuriating. And those are only two of the infuriating decisions that have come out of this Court since Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell succeeded in stacking it with enough ultraconservative justices to make a supermajority.  

 

I know that the inner workings of the courts, especially the Supreme Court, can seem really remote in our day-to-day lives. Most people don’t know any judges, and if they meet one in court it’s probably happening on a very unpleasant day.  In fact, my guess is that a lot of people would rather not think much about the courts at all. But we have to. 

 

We need to pay attention to who sits on our courts and how they get there, because there is such an enormous impact on our lives whether we realize it or not. The Supreme Court’s impact on the House majority is just one example. Those actions by the Court will affect what business gets done in Congress and what laws get passed – or not passed – that impact how we live and what rights we have. 

 

Judges get their seats in different ways, especially at the state level. If you live in a place where state-level judges are elected, it’s critically important to get informed and vote in those judicial elections. When it comes to federal judges, the Senate decides who will be confirmed. So every time you cast a vote for a senator, it should be for the candidate who will vote to confirm fair-minded judges with a commitment to civil rights. The Biden administration has been doing a very good job nominating diverse, highly qualified judges who have this commitment. I believe in supporting senators who have voted to confirm these judges and withholding support from those who haven’t. 

 

The same goes for the presidential election, which we will face again in less than two years. In 2016, Donald Trump ran on a platform to name far-right judges to the Supreme Court who would ultimately overturn Roe v. Wade.  That’s exactly what happened when he won, and now the Court is moving on to do other damage, too – like denying Black voters fair representation in Congress. 

 

So what do we do? We get informed, we organize, and we vote in the next election – the same thing we do to confront so many issues this country faces.  Next election seems too far away? There is something you can do in the meantime. Call your senators and tell them to confirm the federal judicial nominees that are still waiting for a Senate vote between now and the end of the year. There are literally dozens of nominees picked by President Biden, including many people of color and nominees with strong civil rights backgrounds, just waiting for Senate action to take their seats on the courts. We can show we care by calling our senators and telling them to confirm these nominees now.  

 

Courts are going to keep showing us how much of an impact they have on our lives.  We need to exercise every option we have to impact who sits on them.    

 

***   

 

Ben Jealous serves as president of People For the American Way and Professor of the Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. A New York Times best-selling author, his next book "Never Forget Our People Were Always Free" will be published by Harper Collins in January 2023.

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Helga: Michael R. Jackson

 'Safe' also has another connotation of being not willing to take risks or to push a boundary.

'Michael R. Jackson is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Strange Loop, a play into which he poured almost 20 years of self-investigation. He’s also fresh from a Tony Award for Best New Musical as well as being named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2022. In this episode, Jackson talks with Helga Davis about what it means to be fearless as an artist, the lies of our “if this, then that” culture, and how the illusion of identity is a powerful means to foster understanding.'

In 'The Book of Jose,' Fat Joe Remembers His Rise in Hiphop

'Fat Joe (Joseph Cartagena)'s career spans three decades – but before he was performing on stages around the world, he was a little kid getting bullied in the Bronx. His new memoir, The Book of Jose, goes back to his childhood in New York and his early days rapping in the Diggin' in the Crates Crew. In this episode, he opens up to NPR's Ayesha Rascoe about why he's committed to his community and how becoming a "big boy, financially" might mean putting a pause on new music.'

'Blackout' reporting explores NFL's failure to promote Black coaches equitably

'The Washington Post has been reporting a series called "Black Out" on why the NFL has failed to equitably promote Black coaches to top jobs. One flashpoint in this story has been the racial discrimination lawsuit brought against the league this year by former Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores, who is Black and Latino. He was fired, he says, because of his race. The team denies that. We take a closer look at what's been happening in the NFL. Adam Kilgore, national sports reporter for The Washington Post, joins Here & Now's Deepa Fernandes.'

The Divided Dial: Episode 1 - The True Believers

'In 2016, Christian talk radio host Eric Metaxas begrudgingly encouraged his listeners to vote for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. By 2020, he pledged his life to fighting the “stolen election” while talking with Trump on the air. Ahead of the midterm elections, Metaxas and many of his fellow talk radio hosts made sure the falsehood of massive 2020 election fraud was top of mind — on the airwaves and beyond. And while election-denying candidates didn't do as well as many on the right had hoped, at least 170 such candidates have been elected to state and national offices, some of whom will be in charge of future elections. We meet the company whose hosts never backed down from the lies of the stolen 2020 election: Salem Media Group, the largest Christian, conservative multimedia company in the country – and perhaps the most influential media company you’ve never heard of.

The Divided Dial is hosted by journalist and Fulbright Fellow Katie Thornton. '

"The Hair Tales" Explores Black Womens' Stories

'The experiences of Black womanhood in America are often bound up with a hyper-awareness of how one's natural hair could be perceived — and all the simultaneous trauma and joy that comes with it. A new docuseries, The Hair Tales, uses the complex world of Black hair as a portal to explore Black women’s cultural contributions, unique identities, and dynamic humanity. The six-part series is now available on-demand on OWN and streaming on Hulu.  The Takeaway is joined by the show's creator and co-executive producer, and esteemed fashion writer and editor,  Michaela Angela Davis.'