Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 447

Verified: Black Thought on "Dostoyevsky"

'The Roots co-founder Black Thought released his debut solo project Streams of Thought, Vol. 1.. The EP is a collaboration with hip-hop producer 9th Wonder. The third track on the project “Dostoyevsky” includes a feature from Grammy-nominated North Carolina rapper Rapsody. The song is about how Black Thought strives to bring the wisdom of Russian philosopher Fyodor Dostoyevsky to the rap universe. The idea for the track came during an interview with writer and director Barry Michael Cooper for the New York Times. Cooper told Black Thought he’s “the hip-hop Dostoyevsky.”'

'Black Identity Extremists' Report Is FBI's COINTELPRO 2.0

'A 2017 report identified "black identity extremists" as a threat to law enforcement. Critics say this report is eerily similar to the FBI's counter intelligence program, a.k.a. COINTELPRO, which was established in the 1950's by J. Edgar Hoover to specifically target African-Americans who were fighting for justice and equality, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Fred Hampton, and many members of the Black Panther Party.' -- NowThis News

Lost Recordings Uncover John Coltrane’s Timeless Talent

'The lost recordings of jazz titan John Coltrane have been rediscovered and shared with the world. Jeffrey Brown visits the jazz great’s recording studio where the mystery began to take a listen to Both Directions at Once: The Lost Album, which features Coltrane at the height of his powers.' -- PBS NewsHour

Behind the Harlem Sound of ‘Luke Cage’

'On Luke Cage, the Marvel series on Netflix, music is almost everything. “I’m a hip-hop showrunner,” Cheo Hodari Coker says. “It just permeates every decision we make on the show because we’re not just making decisions about plot. The whole thing has to feel a certain way.' -- Studio 360

Authorities are Tracking Your Cellphone: It's Not Just 'Bad Guys'

'The Takeaway host Tanzina Vega discusses how authorities are tracking the general public's cell phones with Catherine Crump, the Director of the Samuelson Clinic for Law, Technology and Public Policy at UC Berkley.' --The Takeaway

Brazil, Bruce Lee, and Black Lives in the Music of Kamasi Washington

'For anyone who thinks of jazz as classic compositions played in dimly lit clubs, the music of the saxophonist and bandleader Kamasi Washington will come as a surprise and revelation. Washington’s concerts are wild dance parties. His albums draw on influences from Coltrane to Stravinsky to Fela Kuti to N.W.A. His eclectic style has made him a star in the jazz world, and has attracted some high-profile collaborators, including Lauryn Hill, Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar. And the political messages in some of his music led one critic to call him “the jazz voice of Black Lives Matter.” “The major effect that music has is it connects people,” Washington tells David Remnick, “That’s kind of the extent of what the music can do. In the end, the world changes as people decide to change.' -- The New Yorker Radio Hour

In Conversation: (De)constructing Images of Color

'Presented as part of the Racial Imaginary Institute Biennial, In Conversation: (De)constructing Images of Color brings together an interdisciplinary group of artists for an exploration of the connections among race, color theory, and the creation of decolonized oral histories. Co-hosted by curator Legacy Russell and WNYC’s Rebecca Carroll, the panel takes Sara Ahmed’s “The Phenomenology of Whiteness” as a point of departure for challenging whiteness as an inheritance and driving force of history. The panelists include writer Syreeta McFadden and interdisciplinary artists Joiri Minaya and Genevieve Gainard.' 

When Black Farms Blossomed on the American Frontier

'Historian Anna-Lisa Cox traces the westward journey of America's Black pioneers - as a first Great Migration of African American farming settlements spread across the Midwest, free Black families experienced new levels of self-determination and prosperity in frontier communities, as well as a White backlash against their advancements. Cox is the author of The Bone and Sinew of the Land: America's Forgotten Black Pioneers and the Struggle for Equality from Public Affairs.' -- This Is Hell! Radio

White Fragility and When White People Call the Police on Black Folk

'White people have called the police on African-Americans during everyday activities. NPR's  Karen Grigsby Bates look'e into the historical reasons authorities are called when white people felt uncomfortable with Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism.'

White Fragility and When White Peple Call the Police on Black Folk

'White people have called the police on African-Americans during everyday activities. NPR's  Karen Grigsby Bates look'e into the historical reasons authorities are called when white people felt uncomfortable with Robin DiAngelo, author of White Fragility: Why It's So Hard For White People To Talk About Racism.'