Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 401

Author Marlon James on Never Outgrowing the Magical

'Marlon James is best known for writing literary fiction, including A Brief History of Seven Killings, which won the prestigious Man Booker Prize. But his latest book, Black Leopard, Red Wolf,  draws on a lifelong love of comics and fantasy. James sits down with Jeffrey Brown to discuss why he still seeks "a sword and some sorcery" and the importance of seeing oneself reflected in narrative.' -- PBS NewsHour

"Ain't Too Proud": Bringing The Temptations' Sounds to Broadway

'Tracy Smith visits the cast and creators behind the new musical Ain't Too Proud: The Life and Times of The Temptations, which recreates the music of the legendary Motown group, and talks with Otis Williams, one of the founding members of The Temptations.' -- CBS Sunday Morning
 

African American Women and Jamaican Travel

'Annette Joseph Gabrielle talks with Bianca Williams about African American women who travel to Jamaica as tourists looking for happiness, intimacy, and new identities free from the limits of American racism. Joseph-Gabrielle is an assistant professor of French at the University of Minnesota. Williams is an associate professor of Anthropology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Williams is the author of The Pursuit of Happiness: BlackWomen, Diasporic Dreams, and the Politics of Transnationalism .' -- Time to Eat the Dogs

Branford Marsalis Quartet - The Making of 'The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul'

'The Branford Marsalis Quartet announce the release of their new album, The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul. With like minded support from pianist Joey Calderazzo and bassist Eric Revis (each with 20 years of service to the group) and drummer Justin Faulkner (the “rookie” who has been aboard since 2009), the band has long been a model of how to sustain and enlarge a musical outlook that is both historically and stylistically inclusive.  Successive recordings have revealed new plateaus, and The Secret Between the Shadow and the Soul, the band’s first since 2016’s acclaimed Upward Spiral with guest Kurt Elling and first pure quartet effort since 2012’s Four MFs Playin’ Tunes, captures a new emphasis on both how to express and how to document the music.'

Intersectionality Matters with Kimberlé Crenshaw: I Believe I Can Lie: R. Kelly (Still) In Denial

'R. Kelly’s serial abuse of Black women and girls has been one of the entertainment industry’s worst-kept secrets for the entirety of the 21st century. In 2017, a Buzzfeed exposé alleged that the man who famously crooned “I’m a bad man/And I’m not ashamed of it” held several women captive in his home in a cult-like harem. Yet it took the convergence of the #MuteRKelly movement, the January 2019 release of documentary Surviving R. Kelly and popular culture’s broader reckoning with the pattern of sexual violence perpetrated by powerful men for the self-proclaimed Pied Piper of R&B to face consequences for orchestrating his salacious symphony. At long last, Kelly has now been charged with 10 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse involving four women, three of whom were minors at the time. On this timely and trenchant episode of Intersectionality Matters, host Kimberle Crenshaw goes beyond the sheet music with #MuteRKelly co-founder Kenyette Barnes to rupture the rhythm Kelly has used to give Black women and girls the blues for decades. ' -- Intersectionality Matters with Kimberlé Crenshaw

REBEL: Actor and Author Karyn Parsons on the Power of Storytelling

'Actor and author Karyn Parsons has made it her mission to bring stories about black Americans to young folks in new ways, and as early as possible. "It would change the way they looked at the world as they entered it," she says. Whether through her organization Sweet Blackberry, which produces short animated films narrated by black celebrities like Queen Latifah, or in her debut novel, How High the Moon , Parsons is charting a new path for learning about the history of Black America.' -- WNYC News
         
        

Sudanese Jazz Musician Islam Elbeiti Says Young Women Like Her are Driving the Country's 'Revolution'

'Musician Islam Elbeiti is part of the face of the monthslong protests that have become the biggest threat to President Omar al-Bashir since he took over in a coup almost 30 years ago.' -- PRI's The World
         
        

Filmmaker Sam Pollard on 'Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me'

Director Sam Pollard joins All Of It to discuss his documentary, “Sammy Davis, Jr.: I've Gotta Be Me.”
         
        

Forceful Demands: Black Abolitionists and the Language of Violence

'Historian Kellie Carter Jackson explores the use of violence by Black abolitionists in the antebellum US - as a strategy of survival and solidarity between Black people, a forceful language in contrast to the half-measures of non-violent White abolitionists, and a model for oppressed people to win freedom from a violent system that denies their basic humanity. Carter Jackson is author of the book Force and Freedom: Black Abolitionists and the Politics of Violence from University of Pennsylvania Press.' -- This is Hell!

Funmilola Fagbamila: Black Lives Matter, White Allyship, & Emotional Intelligence

'Funmilola Fagbamila is a Nigerian American scholar, activist, playwright and artist. She currently serves as a professor of Pan African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles. As a founding member of the Black Lives Matter Movement, Funmilola has been organizing with BLM since its inception in 2013 and currently serves as the Arts and Culture director for the Los Angeles chapter. Her writing, political analyses and social commentary have been featured in publications such as the Guardian, NOW THIS news, and NPR. Funmilola has delivered keynote addresses at colleges and universities across the country. Her public commentary frequently touches on the topics of critical race theory, black complexity, criminal justice, health and wellness, modern pan-africanism, and the Arts.' -- LIFT Economy