Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 403

Nina Chanel Abney | Spray Paint Stairwell

'Nina Chanel Abney uses spray paint to create large-scale murals in bright colors and shapes that reflect the tempo of modern life. Abney utilizes tape, stencils, and spray paint to create her bright, colorful artworks. She incorporates many simple symbols that are familiar to everyone, such as hearts, hands, and eyes, to evoke a personal response in each viewer. In her work "Untitled," Abney responds directly to this specific site, creating a totally new composition specifically for Crystal Bridges. The work is located in the stairwell between the Contemporary Art Gallery and the museum’s Eleven restaurant, and is on view through Spring of 2019.'

Doreen Garner's Invisible Man Tattoo

'In 2018, at the height of the Black Panther motion picture excitement, Doreen Garner hosted Invisible Man Tattoo, a pop-up tattoo shop in Brooklyn's Recess art space. A noted sculptor and licensed tattoo artist, Garner swaps sculpture for skin, and inks iconic Black American heroes and imagery on those who identify as being of the African Diaspora. Tattooing can be considered a violent act of body modification; but, in this case, Garner positions it as an act of self-care. "These tattoos are so celebratory of Black excellence and Black history, it's kind of initiating a healing for Black people".'--Art21 

#BackChannel: What Hollywood Gets Right & Wrong, The Contradictions Of College Sports and The Lives and Music of Two Soul Men

Mark Anthony Neal and Natalie Bullock Brown share their takes on the 2019 Oscars with The State of Things host Frank Stasio in the latest installment of #BackChannel. They also discuss new documentaries: ReMastered: The Two Killings of Sam Cooke on Netflix traces Cooke’s legacy as an activist and performer, and interrogates the factors that may have contributed to his death, while  Showtime’s Teddy Pendergrass: If You Don’t Know Me uses archival audio and video footage to pay tribute to Pendergrass’ musical legacy and comeback after he nearly died in a car crash. Later, Neal and Brown review the new BET series American Soul that tracks the career of Don Cornelius and his series Soul Train, and they share their analysis of the shoe malfunction of Duke basketball player Zion Williamson and the conversation it has opened about the contradictions in college sports.

Will The 'Slim Shady LP' Still 'Stand Up'? 20 Years Of Eminem's Breakout Album

'Eminem’s Slim Shady LP at 20. We look at the legacy of the landmark album that courted as much controversy as record sales with host Meghna Chakrabarti. Guest: Brian McCollum, music writer and critic for the Detroit Free Press, where he's covered music for more than two decades. (@freep) and Bakari Kitwana, author of "Why White Kids Love Hip Hop," among other books. Director of "Rap Sessions: Community Dialogues on Hip-Hop." (@therealbakari)'

Left of Black S9:E13: Liberator Magazine and Black Activism in the 1960s – a Conversation with Christopher Tinson

[image error] Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal(@NewBlackMan) is joined in the studio by professor and historian, Christopher Tinson ( @Dahktin ), author of Radical Intellect: Liberator Magazine and Black Activism in the 1960s (University of North Carolina Press, 2017), which Jennifer Guglielmo describes as, “An illuminating, nuanced, and beautifully written history that explores community-based print culture as a critical nexus for black radicalism in the 1960s and 1970s. Tinson is Associate Professor of History and the Director of African American Studies at Saint Louis University.

'Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval'

'Saidiya Hartman, Guggenheim Fellow and Columbia University professor, joins us to discuss her new book, Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval . This social history centers the young black woman at the heart of early-20th century radicalism.' -- All Of It
         
        

Romare Bearden's Life & Art

'Dr. Mary Schmidt Campbell, president of Spelman College and dean emerita of the Tisch School of the Arts, discusses her book, An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden.' -- All Of It
         
        

Racism In American South Inspired Gary Clark Jr.'s 'This Land'

'On his latest multigenre album, Gary Clark, Jr. is unapologetically angry. He tells NPR's Michel Martin what inspired it: "That's what came out as a result of ... life being Black in this country".' -- All Things Considered 

Brittney Cooper: An 'Unapologetic' Black Feminist on Accelerating the Pace of Change

'Brittney Cooper is a cultural theorist, author and professor. Her new book, Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower, discusses the history of oppressive power structures and the intersection of race and feminism. She gives her brief but spectacular take on “eloquent rage.” -- PBS NewsHour

Oscar-Winning Documentary Tackles Global Stigma Surrounding Menstruation

'In many places around the world, including rural India, menstruation can mean the end of young woman’s ability to go to school or even to move around her village freely. It's an obstacle that has a lot to do with the shame that keeps women from talking about periods in the first place. The Oscar-winning short documentary, Period: End of Sentence, follows what happened when a group of teenage girls in North Hollywood started a fundraising drive to send a low-cost sanitary pad machine to a village outside of New Delhi, India. The Takeaway spoke with the film's director, Rayka Zehtabchi .'