Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 485

Brooklyn Artist Jordan Casteel Paints Her Community

'Where does a painter find her subject matter? With a process that takes her from the streets of Harlem to her studio in DUMBO, Brooklyn, artist Jordan Casteel paints vibrant large scale portraits, making visible the often unrepresented humanity of Black men. Together Casteel’s paintings illustrate the multiplicity of Black male experience; The film follows Casteel as she travels from a brunch at her aunt’s Harlem home to a studio visit with university students, to an informal hangout with friends and finally back to the streets of Harlem, mirroring the artist’s own navigation of New York’s diverse racial and cultural spaces. Recognizing her complex position as a Black woman painting the bodies of Black men, Casteel nevertheless feels present in the work.' -- Art21

The Rape of Recy Taylor (dir. Nancy Buirski) -- Official Trailer

'Recy Taylor, a 24-year-old black mother and sharecropper, was gang raped by six white boys in 1944 Alabama. Common in Jim Crow South, few women spoke up in fear for their lives. Not Recy Taylor, who bravely identified her rapists. The NAACP sent its chief rape investigator Rosa Parks, who rallied support and triggered an unprecedented outcry for justice.  The Rape of Recy Taylor (dir. Nancy Buirski) exposes a legacy of physical abuse of black women and reveals Rosa Parks’ intimate role in Recy Taylor’s story. An attempted rape against Parks was but one inspiration for her ongoing work to find justice for countless women like Taylor. The 1955 bus boycott was an end result, not a beginning.'

The Rape of Recy Taylor - Official Trailer from Nancy Buirski on Vimeo.

Bringing Coltrane Back to North Philly

'When the original John Coltrane mural was torn down to make way for a new development, there was an uproar from residents in North Philadelphia's Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. Now, mural artist Ernel Martinez is bringing the legendary saxophonist back to North Philly.' -- The Root

Kendrick Lamar on 'Stranger Things,' 'Get Out,' why Tupac Inspired Him

'Kendrick Lamar dishes on Compton, Twitter, Get Out, Stranger Things, Tupac, Sade, Anita Baker, Snoop Dogg and more in his Variety magazine cover shoot.' -- Variety

Baltimore Lives Matter: Sonja Sohn [The Wire] on Her New Documentary 'Baltimore Rising'

'Actress Sonja Sohn is best known for role in The Wire as the police officer Kima. Now she gets behind the camera for the HBO documentary Baltimore Rising following activists and police officers after the death of Freddie Gray.' -- Documentary of the Week
         
        

Stuffing and 9 Other Black Thanksgiving Faux Pas That Will Earn You a Side Dish of Side Eye

Stuffing and 9 Other Black Thanksgiving Faux Pas That Will Earn You a Side Dish of Side Eyeby Lawrence Ware | @Law_Writes | NewBlackMan (in Exile) 
I have a complicated relationship with Thanksgiving. It has historically been framed as a day, every year, when we are gluttonous to celebrate the fact that white people were saved by Native Americans. Therefore, it is only fitting that Thanksgiving, like the word “nigga,” has become one of the blackest things in America.
As with that word, we took something rooted in white supremacy and filled it with ontological cultural blackness. The food (there may be chitterlings—pronounced “chitlins”), music (Frankie Beverly) and traditions of black Thanksgiving (the long prayer of the matriarch before dinner is served) are, to me, sacred.
Contrary to white supremacist narratives about what it means to be black, we, as a people, do not all like the same things. Our preferences vary according to region and class, and our traditions sometimes differ. We are a complex, beautiful people, and we should celebrate our variations instead of seeking uniformity.
Yet, despite the fact that we are a diverse, the following statements will almost certainly cause a difficult conversation (and maybe a few side eyes) at almost any black home during Thanksgiving dinner.
1. “Do y’all have anything other than Louisiana?”
I have a frat brother in Oklahoma who SWEARS by Frank’s RedHot hot sauce. Since I discovered that about him, our friendship has never been the same. You just can’t trust a man who chooses warm ketchup over Louisiana.
2. “Pass me that stuffing.”
This is a regional thing, and I get it—there are many black families that serve stuffing instead of the cornmeal-based dressing. Y’all can do that. Just know that the same thing is being served at the home of Clarence Thomas.
3. “I don’t want my son to sit at the kids table.”
This is a case of what Bomani Jones, The Root 100 gala’s host, calls insufficient daddyin’. Tables specifically for kids are a staple in many black homes during Thanksgiving. You can try to sit your little bad-ass 8-year-old in a seat at the adult table if you want to; just know that the wine and spirits will be flowing. If he hears something that scars him for life, that’s on you.
4. “I wish Granny had made pumpkin pie instead.”
Blank stare.
Someone will probably respond with, “That’s why you need to leave those white girls alone.”
5. “Why hasn’t dinner started yet? I need to get to Wal-Mart.”
Fool, you know that Thanksgiving dinner never starts on time. You better try to catch that Black Friday online deal.
6. “You know, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad says in Eat to Live … ”
Shut up. I’m eating this ham today. Ain’t nobody got time for that. It’s Thanksgiving.
7. “Why y’all gotta argue about spades?”
I get mad suspicious if someone starts walking jacks at the spades table. Makes me think something funny is going on. Listen, I once knew a man in rural Texas who got a roscoe (large-caliber handgun) pulled on him because he was caught cheating in a game of spades. Legend has it that no one ever played with, nor spoke to, him again. Yes, it’s that serious.
8. “I really wish this was Jiffy cornbread.”
Apparently that sweet cornbread is what these millennial black folks eat. They can have it. For me, hot-water cornbread is preferable, but regular cornbread will suffice. Asking for Jiffy is just disrespectful; you’re looking for a fight. That mess is, as my friend Imani Perry, the Hughes-Rogers Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, once said, “post-civil-rights processed-food gentrification.” I’m inclined to agree.
9. “Stop slamming those dominoes!”
I honestly don’t know how to put dominoes down on a table quietly. I’m not sure it can be done. And even if such a thing were possible, it feels disrespectful to the ancestors to do it.
10. “I made these greens myself. They’re from Neiman Marcus.”
The Root staff recently tasted the store’s widely discussed $66 greens. It didn’t end well. Bring that to the house if you want to. Just know we gon’ talk about you when you leave.
Because of the complexity of the black experience, the aforementioned are forgivable—and, to be sure, centered in my Southern bias. There is one black Thanksgiving deal breaker, though: “Yeah, Trump said some mean things, but … ” Utter this and you’ll probably get the taste slapped out your mouth—and you will have deserved it.

BK Stories: Tarana Burke, Creator of The #MeToo Campaign, On Joining The Movement

'Brooklynite Tarana Burke created the #MeToo campaign almost 2 decades ago. Here, she speaks out on the difficulty of processing pain, finding the language to discuss sexual violence, holding ourselves responsible as advocates for survivors, and how we can reshape the conversation around sexual violence by thinking beyond individuals and critiquing the institutions in place that allow that violence to flourish.' -- BRIC TV 

Policy 360: How to Really Help American Workers -- a Conversation with William 'Sandy' Darity

'The latest research on poverty indicates that a federal job guarantee is economically feasible. Such a guarantee could help address big American issues like crumbling infrastructure while at the same time ensuring workers aren't living in poverty. Policy 360 host Kelly Brownell talks about the topic with William "Sandy" Darity, the director of the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University.'

Making Contact: Fantastic Negrito and The Last Days of Oakland

'In the last three years, Fantastic Negrito, an Oakland-based black roots revivalist has gone from busking at bus stops to winning a Grammy and touring internationally. He’s done this by creating a unique sound -- melodic hooks, primal blues-rock chords, clever lyricism, a killer falsetto, and in-your-face social consciousness. On this episode of Making Contact, we learn about Fantastic Negrito’s journey, his creative process, and how he’s utilizing his artistic platform to advocate for social justice.' -- Making Contact 
 

Kevin Young Talks Bunk—Hoaxes, Hooey, Hocum; Cons, Plagiarists, and Forgers

'Kevin Young, the Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Poetry Editor of The New Yorker, traces the history of the hoax as a peculiarly American phenomenon in his most recent nonfiction book, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News. Young demonstrates that the contemporary smorgasbord of deception and fakery that refuses to get out of the headlines is part of a legacy of mendacity that goes back at least as far as the humbugs of the nineteenth century's great con artist and showman, P. T. Barnum. Young also makes the compelling case that the greatest and most insidious American hoax of them all is race. Young was joined in conversation by Garnette Cadogan, a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia, and a Visiting Scholar at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning and a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University.'