Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 453

The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

Brynn Anderson / Reuters'Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools is an examination of the experiences of Black girls across the country whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged “by teachers, administrators, and the justice system” and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. In her book, Monique W. Morris, Ph.D, shows how, despite obstacles, stigmas, stereotypes, and despair, Black girls still find ways to breathe remarkable dignity into their lives in classrooms, juvenile facilities, and beyond.' -- Making Contact  
  

Hip Hop & the Rise of a Multibillion-Dollar Industry

'Zack O'Malley Greenburg discusses his new book, 3 Kings: Diddy, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, and Hip-Hop's Multibillion-Dollar Rise . This history of contemporary hip-hop traces how these three superstars went from musicians to tycoons and expanded their net worth by widening their output to well outside the bounds of music. This segment is guest hosted by Hari Kondabolu.' -- Midday on WNYC
         
        

How Taking A Stand For Justice Can Threaten The Careers Of Black Athletes

'Journalist Howard Bryant discusses the history of social protest among African-American athletes. His new book, The Heritage, traces the tradition back to Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and others.' -- Fresh Air

Flatbush + Main: The Police Killing of Arthur Miller Jr.

'In Episode 26 of Brooklyn Historical Society’s podcast Flatbush + Main, co-hosts Zaheer Ali and Julie Golia discuss the tragic 1978 killing of Crown Heights resident Arthur Miller Jr. by police, and consider his important legacy as a community leader, activist, and businessman.'

The Writers@Work Series at Fredonia: Mark Anthony Neal Talks Writing and Finding Passion in Your Work

Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal returned to his undergraduate alma mater, the State University of New York at Fredonia, as part of their Writers@Work Series.

New Language, New Strategy, New Politics: Henry Giroux on Radical Resistance

'Cultural critic Henry Giroux explores the rise of neoliberal fascism and the construction of political dystopia in America, and calls for today's social and worker-led movements to resist the dead end reformism of the Democratic party, and build an inclusive, communal vision of a world to fight for - and to win. Giroux is the author of American Nightmare: Facing the Challenge of Fascism from City Lights .' -- This Is Hell Radio!

The MusiQology Podcast Episode 6 – Ursula Rucker

'Poet, musician, and activist Ursula Rucker joins host Guthrie Ramsey at Turtle Studios for a wide-ranging discussion on her upbringing, influences, and finding her voice. They discuss her important activism in Kensington, the responsibilities of an artist, and the “I am an artist” moment. This look into the magic of artistic generation is as entrancing as Rucker’s poetry.' -- MusiQology 

Adrian Younge & Ali Shaheed Muhammad Discuss Their Creative Chemistry on New Album 'The Midnight Hour'

'After an acclaimed collaboration on the Netflix original series Luke Cage, producers Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Mohammad teamed up to release a proper joint effort titled The Midnight Hour. The 20 track album features Younge and Mohammad creating a Hip Hop flavored Jazz and Soul record featuring cameos from Rafael Saadiq, Eryn Allen Kane, Lady Bug, Marsha Ambrosious and others.'  -- Vocalo Music

How A Black Detective Infiltrated The KKK

'In Black Klansman, Ron Stallworth writes about an undercover investigation in which he — an African-American police detective — convinced the Ku Klux Klan that he was one of them.' -- Weekend Edition Saturday

Chicago Shows the Price We Pay for Segregation is Too High by Jessyca Dudley

Chicago Shows the Price We Pay for Segregation is Too High by Jessyca Dudley | @shewhoeatsmud | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
The recent shooting death of YouTube star Zack Stoner highlights a troubling reality of being black and brown while striving in Chicago. The 30-year-old known for being the ’hood CNN joins the list of “lost but not forgotten” Facebook tribute pages that invite comfort to those celebrating yet another life lost on city streets. Whether virtual or real, like the 500 stone markers displayed by Kids Off the Block, a program that reorients at-risk children, these memorials are a ubiquitous reminder of concentrated violence faced by a handful of Chicago’s  For a while now, violence in Chicago has negatively affected certain communities, particularly poor ones. We have poured money into understanding why violence happens to some and not others and why some young people are willing to pick up a gun, while others are picking up a camera, a pen or a ball, redirecting their energies to more positive pursuits when they can. We know a lack of jobs, inferior (and dirty) schools, trauma, and interactions with cops and courts contribute to a person’s involvement with gun violence. 
The root causes of gun violence are well documented, yet we have put little effort into addressing the tie that binds them: segregation.  
Nearly 85 years after passage of the National Housing Act, designed to make housing more available to low- and middle-income families, we find ourselves increasingly aware of practices that have worked to keep the African-American community confined to neighborhoods where services are limited, transportation difficult to access and mortgages unattainable. These are neighborhoods where people clearly eat every day but can’t draw viable grocery stores. It’s where talented kids in marginalized areas must trek across town to get a quality education. The enduring impact of redlining and unfair lending practices has taken its toll on the health, safety and economic comfort of not only African-American communities —‑ but all residents. 
A new equity and inclusion report by the Metropolitan Planning Council lays it out plain and simple: With some of the highest levels of segregation in the nation, Chicago has squandered opportunities to improve the economic well-being, educational attainment and safety of residents by failing to address segregation.
The follow up to its groundbreaking 2017 Cost of Segregation report shows our willful disregard for ending this phenomenon has stopped billions of dollars from entering the economy, kept thousands from attaining bachelor’s degrees and cost the lives of hundreds of promising Chicagoans who were the victims of homicides.  
“We all share the costs when our justice system is colorblind to an infrastructure built on race and class,” according to the new report. 
The price we pay for segregation is too high. 
In 2016, when the violence epidemic was at its peak, 762 Chicagoans lost their lives and drove national attention to the policies, institutions and organizations responsible for maintaining safety. Imagine for a moment, if instead of continuing practices that segregated our communities, the city had bought and repurposed vacant buildings like Cincinnati, invested in quality education programs like Atlanta, or improved housing options for low-income residents like Baltimore. Could we have saved the lives of these Chicagoans? 
The council’s report says, “yes.” 
If, in 2016, Chicago had reduced its level of economic and racial segregation to the median level of cities in our nation – there would have been 229 fewer homicides. 
Chicago’s civic and governmental leadership has dedicated ceaseless energy to exploring causes and solutions to gun violence. These solutions often focus on the supply-side of the issue by addressing where the guns come from, rather than the demand-side by addressing why people are seeking to own a gun. 
It is well understood the sheer number of guns and easy availability drive gun violence: The Chicago Police Department recovers more guns than any police department in the United States. The Combatting Illegal Gun Traffic Act, a bipartisan attempt to enact legislation to license gun dealers that was vetoed by Gov. Bruce Rauner in the weeks after the deadly Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Florida, is critical but will not address the lack of jobs and educational opportunities driving gun violence in our communities.  
Stoner will be mourned because of his good nature and visible attempts at crafting a well-rounded narrative of Chicago that shows how all our communities contribute to the ideal of being a world-class city. It has become increasingly clear that without a clear and compelling agenda for addressing racial equity and racial segregation, we may succeed in taking more guns off the street but won’t address the cause of violence in the first place.
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Jessyca Dudley, a BMe Public Voices Fellow, is an adviser to the Community Justice Reform Coalition, a Washington-based organization that advocates for evidence-based policies and programs to prevent gun violence and supports criminal justice reform in urban communities of color.