Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 390

#FreeBlackMamas Campaign Aims to Reunite Families for Mother’s Day

'Marbre Stahly-Butts is the executive director of the Law for Black Lives organization and founding member of National Bail Out (NBO), a Black-led collective seeking to end systems of pretrial detention and mass incarceration. She recently sat down with EBONY to discuss the #FreeBlackMamas initiative, which works to raise funds to bail Black mothers out of “cages”.' --EBONY Magazine

How Choreographer & Tony Nominee Camille A. Brown Empowered The Choir Boy' Cast Through Movement

'First-time Tony Nominee and Choir Boy choreographer Camille A. Brown reveals her process for choreographing the musical about the African diaspora, explaining that some historical moments are already contained in a young black man’s heritage.' -- BUILD Series

Harvard Professor Anthony Abraham Jack Reveals How Being Privileged and Poor Effects Lower-Income Students

'While excellence is a standard for many black people; privilege and opportunity aren’t often as synonymous as linguistics suggests for those pursuing higher education at predominantly white colleges and universities. In the book, The Privileged Poor: How Elite Colleges Are Failing Disadvantaged Students, Dr. Anthony Abraham Jack, Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows and Assistant Professor of Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, explores the complexities that lower-income students face in the world of academia.' -- Black Enterprise

Free Speech on College Campuses: A Bottom-up Approach is Best | Emily Chamlee-Wright

'There are 2 different approaches to governing free speech on college campuses; one is a morality/order approach and the other is a bottom-up approach.  Emily Chamlee-Wright says there are many benefits to having no one central authority on what is appropriate speech. Dr. Chamlee-Wright is the president and CEO of the Institute for Humane Studies, which supports and partners with scholars working within the classical liberal tradition. She was previously Provost and Dean at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. Prior to joining Washington College, she was Elbert Neese Professor of Economics and Associate Dean at Beloit College in Beloit, Wisconsin.' --Big Think

Building Black Wealth -- Racial Disparities in Wealth Across American Society

'Significant racial disparities in wealth-building persist across American cities, owing in part to the devaluation of black assets and homeownership gap between black and white residents. How can investing in business and workers (including immigrant populations) make cities more sustainable and attractive city to residents and outsiders alike? Andre Perry, David M. Rubenstein Fellow, The Brookings Institution, Anika Goss-Foster, Detroit Future City and Mark Yates, Black Business Association of Memphis took the stage to discuss.' -- AtlanticLIVE 

Stanley Nelson: The Filmmaker on His New Miles Davis Doc and the Jazz Musician's Complicated Legacy

'Miles Davis was an incredible musician, but he also had his demons. A new documentary by acclaimed filmmaker Stanley Nelson takes a close look at all of this.' -- Q CBC

#BackChannel: Remembering John Singleton & Nipsey Hussle, Plus The Style & Swag Of Lizzo And Beyoncé

'Hollywood trailblazer John Singleton recently died at the age of 51. The director is best known for his 1991 film Boyz n’ the Hood, for which he became the first African American and youngest person to receive an Oscar nomination for best director. Singleton died just one month after the murder of Grammy-nominated rapper Nipsey Hussle, another artist whose work was strongly rooted in South LA. Hussle’s music commented on gang violence, murder and the power of telling one’s own story. State of Things contributors Mark Anthony Neal and Natalie Bullock Brown remember the artistic legacies of Singleton and Hussle in the latest installment of #BackChannel. They also review a new book about the friendship and falling out between writers Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes and share their thoughts on the PBS documentary  BOSS: The Black Experience In Business ,  Beyonce's Homecoming and Lizzo's new album Cuz I Love You.'

'See You Yesterday' is a Sci-Fi Black Lives Matter Anthem for the Next Generation

'While the blockbuster Marvel franchise Avengers: Endgame breaks box office records with its epic, grand-scale story about the power and risk of using time travel, a smaller — but no less epic — independent film has two black Bronx Science students way ahead of the whole inventing time travel curve. It's especially poignant that the See You Yesterday 's two young protagonists, CJ and Sebastian, attend Bronx Science, given reports last month of the abysmal admission numbers for black students at NYC's specialized schools. Director Stefon Bristol told WNYC's cultural critic Rebecca Carroll that it was especially important to have the students attend Bronx Science, which gave only 12 of its 800 slots to black students for 2019.' -- WNYC News
         
        

If You’re a Rapper, Your Lyrics Can Send You to Jail

'In the latest episode of Boom! Lawyered, Imani Gandy and Jessica Mason Pieklo discuss the case of Jamal Knox, a young rapper who was convicted for terroristic threats and witness intimidation based on the lyrics of his music. When are words “true threats,” and when are they protected free speech? And why do most court cases on speech seem to be decided in whichever direction benefits white Christian patriarchy?' -- Rewire.News 

Policing Life and Death: Race, Violence, and Resistance in Puerto Rico

'Latina/o Studies scholar Marisol LeBrón explores the rise of punitive governance in Puerto Rico - as social and material inequality deepen under the colonial burden, the hobbled client state imposes order on a disorded society through increased surveillance and police violence. LeBrón is author of the new book Policing Life and Death: Race, Violence, and Resistance in Puerto Rico from University of California Press.'