Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 433

Viggo Mortensen & Mahershala Ali Talk Contemporary Parallels of 'Green Book'

'Stars Viggo Mortensen, Mahershala Ali, Linda Cardellini, and writer/director Peter Farrelly join THR at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival to talk about their upcoming drama Green Book; inspired by the real-life 1960s tour in the deep south by pianist Don Shirley and his driver and bodyguard Tony Lip.'

Dulce: A Mother Guides Her Daughter Through a Rite of Passage [Op-Docs]

'How do you get a child to swim when she’s scared of the water?  Guille Isa and Angello Faccini’s entrancing short, Dulce. takes place in a small village among the mangrove swamps of Colombia’s Pacific coast and tells the story of a mother patiently challenging her young daughter to face her fears.' -- The New York Times

In This Room: Sanaa Lathan Gets Emotional Discussing Representation

'Star of the new Netflix movie Nappily Ever After Sanaa Lathan stopped by In This Roomto discuss the movie, what it took for her to shave her head, representation and more.' -- MadameNoire

Lorraine Hansberry: Radiant, Radical — And More Than 'Raisin'

'A new biography of the African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry shows that she was so much more than her most famous work: A Raisin in the Sun. Karen Grigsby Bates talks with Imani Perry, author of Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry.' 

Young Puerto Rican Journalists Work to Tell Their Own Story

'When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico one year ago, coverage dominated mainland US headlines. But people on the island were shrouded in darkness, some for months, and that meant access to reporting from within Puerto Rico was often limited. Sofia Bozzo Gutierrez is a journalism student at the University of the Sacred Heart in Puerto Rico. Our host Tanzina Vega met up with her in San Juan to talk about the significance of the work of journalists after the storm. This project is supported in part by the Puerto Rico Relief & Rebuilding Fund of the Partnership for New York City, funder of Kinesis Foundation, which helps talented but financially challenged students in Puerto Rico achieve academic excellence. Info at kinesispr.org' -- The Takeaway 

'Antigone in Ferguson'

'Bryan Doerries, director and translator of Antigone and artistic director of Theater of War, NYC community activist Marcelle Davies Lashley and Latricia Allen, a St. Louis police lieutenant, talk about the new play "Antigone in Ferguson," which gives voice to police violence through the lens of Sophocles' Greek tragedy.' -- The Brian Lehrer Show
         
        

Remembering Dancer And Choreographer Arthur Mitchell

Arthur Mitchell was the first African American principal dancer for the New York City Ballet (1956) and in 1969 became the founding director of the Dance Theater of Harlem, the country's first black ballet company, which he charged with diversifying classical dance in the United States. He was 84. Karen Grisgby Bates reports for NPR.

"It's About Damn Time": Venture Capitalist Looks to Help Other Black, Queer Businesspeople

'Venture capital is how companies like Uber and Airbnb get funding to transform from a small company with an idea into multi-billion dollar powerhouses. But the venture capitalists deciding who gets their money are overwhelmingly white and male. And the people who receive seed funding are also disproportionately white and male. Now there are investors who want to change that. One of those entrepreneurs is Arlan Hamilton , a black, queer woman who has made it her mission to grant funding to startups with founders who are female, people of color or LGBTQ through her own firm Backstage Capital. And her success there (she’s about to launch a new $36 million fund called “It’s About Damn Time”) has landed her on the cover of the October issue of Fast Company.' --  The Takeaway

Soledad O'Brien Explains How The #MeToo Movement Has Affected The Media Industry

'Journalist Soledad O'Brien discusses how the #MeToo Movement has affected multiple industries, including the media sector, and how it's important to include a range of voices in the conversation.' -- BUILD Series

This Is Happening: Cultural Critic Henry Giroux Unpacks The Filthy Fascist Hordes in DC.

'Cultural Critic Henry Giroux, author of American Nightmare: Facing The Challenge of Fascism joins This Is Happening to discuss his new article about how the starting point for fascism is in the destruction of those social spheres and public spaces that make community possible, dialogue crucial and dissent essential. When spaces disappear in which people can think, act, speak, organize and hold power accountable, politics is emptied of any substance and freedom loses its ability to resist an impending fascism.' -- This Is Happening