Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 341

The Lost Black Neighborhood Under New York's Central Park

'If you’ve been to New York, you’ve probably visited Central Park. But there’s a part of its story you won't see. It’s a story that goes back to the 1820s, when that part of New York was largely open countryside. Soon it became home to about 1,600 people. Among them was a predominantly Black community that bought up affordable plots to build homes, churches and a school. It became known as Seneca Village. And when Irish and German immigrants moved in, it became a rare example at the time of an integrated neighborhood. Everything changed on July 21, 1853. New York took control of the land to create what would become the first major landscaped park in the US -- they called it “The Central Park”.' -- Vox

"To be Black is to be a dissident": In Interview with Author Howard Bryant

'NPR's Scott Simon speaks to ESPN senior writer — and regular Weekend Edition contributor — Howard Bryant about his new book, Full Dissidence: Notes from an Uneven Playing Field.'

How To Like Deep House, For The Uninitiated

'Chris Campbell, host of WDET's The Progressive Underground, walks NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro through the history and sound of deep house music.' -- Weekend Edition Sunday

Sax Great Jimmy Heath 'Walked With Giants'

'Because he played alto in the style of Charlie Parker, whose nickname was Bird, and because he's small in stature, Jimmy Heath (1926-2020) became known as "Little Bird". When he left Dizzy's band, he switched to tenor saxophone. "I wanted to get away from being called Little Bird," Heath says in this 2014 interview, "I liked the idea at first, but I wanted to be Jimmy Heath. So, I say, 'Well, I'll get the tenor and try this,' and you know, lo and behold, I still sounded like Bird on tenor".' -- Weekend Edition Saturday

Artist Otobong Nkanga: 'Imagining the Scars of a Landscape' |

'Otobong Nkanga reflects on the politics of land and body through tapestry, drawing, photography, installation, video and performance. Her work engages with the difficult histories of land acquisition and ownership, as well as the processes and consequences of the extraction of natural resources. This ongoing exploration into the transformation of minerals into desirable commodities - including the use of mica in make-up to give glimmer and shine - is a commentary on the value placed on material culture, often at the expense of the environment.' -- Tate

 

Ebony Elizabeth Thomas: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to the Hunger Games

'Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Dr. Ebony Elizabeth Thomas taught in public schools for several years after graduating from Florida A&M, a historically Black university in Tallahassee, Florida. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 2010, she returned to her master's degree institution, Wayne State University, as an assistant professor of Reading, Language, and Literature in the College of Education. In July 2012, she came to Penn GSE, where she is Associate Professor in the Division of Literacy, Culture, and International Education. She has also published two books: Reading African American Experiences in the Obama Era: Theory, Advocacy, Activism (Peter Lang, 2012), and The Dark Fantastic: Race and the Imagination from Harry Potter to The Hunger Games (NYU Press, 2019).' -- The Brainwaves Video Anthology
 

The Veiled Rapper Breaking Taboos for Women in Senegal

'Mina La Voilée is a female rapper from Parcelles, Dakar, who is breaking taboos by rapping about women's rights. As a woman who chooses to wear a veil, she explains how criticism from industry professionals who told her "the veil and hip hop don't flow together" drove her to succeed, and inspired her to tackle other controversial societal issues in her lyrics such as child marriage, rape and infanticide. She performs both as a solo artist and as part of an all-female rap movement, Genji Hip Hop, who use their music to fight cultural stereotypes and gender violence.' -- The Guardian 

#BackChannel: The Year of Lizzo, Nipsey Hussle’s Booklist, Plus the Ghost of Atlantics, The Tulsa Race Riots and 1960s Harlem

On this episode of #BackChannel, State of Things host Frank Stasio is joined by regular contributors Natalie Bullock Brown and Mark Anthony Neal to discuss the impact of Lizzo, the late Nipsey Hussle’s reading list, as well as HBO’s The Watchman, EPIX’s The Godfather of Harlem and the new film Atlantics, directed by Mati Diop.

Left of Black S10:E7: Historian Peter Cole on Race, Activism and Dock Workers in South Africa and San Francisco

Left of Black S10:E7: Historian Peter Cole on Race, Activism and Dock Workers in South Africa and San Francisco 
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) is joined in the studio by Dr. Peter Cole (@ProfPeterCole), an assistant professor in the Department of History at Western Illinois University. His latest book Dockworker Power: Race and Activism in Durban and the San Francisco Bay Area (University of Illinois Press 2018), won the Philip Taft Labor History Book Award in 2019 awarded by the Labor and Working-Class History Association and the Cornell ILR School. Dr. Cole is also the author of Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era Philadelphia (University of Illinois Press, 2007), and co-editor of Wobblies of the World: A Global History of the IWW (Pluto Press, 2017).  

Sanborn Sessions: Kandace Springs

'The Season Premiere of Sanborn Sessions: Kandace Springs, joins legendary saxophonist Dave Sanborn and the band for song and conversation at Sanborn's home studio in New York.'