Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 509

Behind the GIF: Jasmyn Lawson Does It for Black Girls

'As the culture editor at GIPHY, Jasmyn Lawson is coming through for black girls in a major way.' -- The Root 

Thundercat on 'Drunk', Kendrick, Zappa & Kenny Loggins

'Thundercat talks about his relationship with Kendrick Lamar, his fascination with Frank Zappa, enlisting Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald, and takes us through a few of his songs from Drunk.' -- q on cbc

sister amina and other new Black poems by Lamont Lilly

Gordon Parks: "American Gothic"sister amina and other new Black poems(inspired by Gordon Parks and “American Gothic”)by Lamont Lilly | @LamontLilly | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile)
she was amazing stunning, actually.beautiful like the kind you don’t see very often.
even with that iron dish towel and heavy vacuum cleaner. even with that broom and dust pan in her left hand.
black. proud. working. serving.cleaning for ms. jane cuz she was too dang lazy.
but still she was amazing stunning, actually. beautiful like the kind you don’t see very often.
so beautiful even the dirt and ms. jane couldn’t hide her.

just visiting from north carolina
sirens screeching ghetto boys and policemen.
sex workers cold buildings and city toll.
city life sure gets old after a while.
heading back down to where things sound familiar.
the crickets. the klan. the south.


night of the uprising(to: Baltimore, Penn and North)
there was free milk and bread for the homeless. free nap mats to replace their cardboard mattresses.
there was free fruitfish, beans and rice so the ghetto can eat good tonight. fine sofas and free love seats for the recently married. free shoes, free sweaters and free socks for all the poor kids on our block.
after all these years of being in need we didn’t mind bleeding for liberation.it was our duty.we didn’t mind at all.

sowing seeds
from the master’s huts slave quarters and humble slums grew strong men.    
from the open fields war kitchens and vast auction blocks grew diamond rocks.
from their battered hopes and buried dreams grew wildflowers that refused to bow bend or be broken.


Copyright © 2017 by Lamont Lilly. All rights reserved.
Lamont Lilly was the 2016 Workers World Party Vice-Presidential Candidate. In 2015 he was an Indy Week “Citizen Award” winner for his activism and journalism. The presented selections are from his forthcoming debut Honor in the Ghetto. Plain but poignant, his poetry directly derives from the marginalized, from the streets of mass struggle, from the Black experience and U.S. South.

Jelani Cobb: "The Half-Life of Freedom: Demagogues of American History"

'New Yorker staff writer and Columbia Journalism School professor Jelani Cobb delivers the second part of a  lecture on politics, journalism, and history entitled "The Half-Life of Freedom: "Demagogues of American History".' -- New York Public Library

Anthropologist Nazia Kazi on the Politics of Class and Complicity in an Age of Anti-Muslim Surveillance

'Anthropologist Nazia Kazi examines the modern mechanisms of surveillance and policing turned against Muslims in America - from the bipartisan growth and maintenance of Islamophobic policies for half a century, to liberalism's attempts to divide Muslims against each other, and in service of America's racial and imperial order. Kazi wrote the article "Against a Muslim Misleadership Class for Jacobin". -- This is Hell! 

The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America -- a Conversation with Ibram Kendi

'In Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, a deeply researched and fast-moving narrative, historian Ibram X. Kendi chronicles the entire story of anti-Black racist ideas and their staggering power over the course of American history. Stamped from the Beginning uses the life stories of five major American intellectuals to offer a window into the contentious debates between assimilationists and segregationists and between racists and antiracists. From Puritan minister Cotton Mather to Thomas Jefferson, from fiery abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison to brilliant scholar W.E.B. Du Bois to legendary anti-prison activist Angela Davis, Kendi shows how and why some of our leading proslavery and pro-civil rights thinkers have challenged or helped cement racist ideas in America.' -- Making Contact 
 

Understanding Capital's Class War on Labor -- and the Killing of Detroit

'Sociologist Joshua Murray explains how capital manufactured the Detroit auto industry's long decline - as managment of the Big Three adopted anti-union policies that hamstrung production and flexibility in the face of Japanese and European competition - and why we miss the truth about the story when we believe class warfare is only waged against capital. Murray  is co-author of the paper "Collateral Damage: How Capital’s War on Labor Killed Detroit" for the journal Catalyst.' -- This is Hell! 

We Might Not Have Justice, but We Still Have The Village

Jamel Shabazz -- ["Flying High," Brooklyn, 1980.]We Might Not Have Justice, but We Still Have The Villageby Froswa' Booker-Drew | special to NewBlackMan (in Exile) | The OpEd Project
Our children are not safe, and the village is no longer paying attention.
In the last few months, there have been endless stories of young people being violated: the teenage girl being gang-raped while others watched live on Facebook; the teenage boy bullied to the point of suicide; the 16-year-old girl who died following a fight in a high school bathroom; the stepfather killing the daughter he impregnated; the teacher who had sex with her former student in her car.
In many of these instances, people were aware, watched and did absolutely nothing. Co-workers at Dairy Queen knew the young boy was being bullied; they often joined in. Other young girls videotaped the bathroom death of the high schooler but did nothing to help. Several people watched the Facebook live stream of the girl being raped and many threatened her life after she reported it.
These young people were not safe in environments where they should have felt safe, and their lives apparently did not matter to those who watched them being victimized.  A large part of the problem is that we have become isolated in our communities. Many of us don't know our neighbors or trust many people.  This limits our circle of support.
Our communities and our children do not thrive when we live in fear, hide and are isolated from one another. Research shows the well-being of a community is based on the connections and relationships that members of the community have with one another. The work of McMillan & Chavis (1986) created a framework of multiple elements for having a sense of community. Communities with actively engaged residents create a sense of belonging.  When we feel connected, valued, and heard, we experience emotional safety and personal investment.  In our current environment, whether urban or suburban, there are deficits in many of these areas and our communities are suffering because of it, especially our children.
It was not always this way. When I was growing up in Shreveport, LA, there were many people outside of my family — teachers, neighbors, and church members — who looked out for me, made sure I was safe and cared for.  They offered advice (even when I didn’t want it) and intervened when other children, or even other adults, behaved inappropriately. Today, many of our young people do not have reliable safety nets. Community has been sacrificed to our busy lives, limited conversations, information overload and unwillingness to get involved.  When it comes to the well-being of our children, we need to reconstitute "the village."
The village is not just a neighborhood of homes. It is filled with people of various backgrounds, life experiences and ages who all want better for their families and recognize that there is strength in unity. The village understands that if one succeeds, all succeed; that collective knowledge and resources are necessary for growth and support. It is a place of protection, safety, and care. Relational theorists maintain that when the village listens and welcomes different opinions, those who live there have a sense of worth, mutual empathy and empowerment, authenticity and growth-fostering relationships. It isn’t Mayberry and Andy Griffith isn’t the sheriff, but it is a place where we work and play together, where we say hello and acknowledge each other by name. We sometimes grab coffee and just sit and talk. It’s scary, but we should be willing to take the risk of building community.
Protecting our children is essential. To change the tide of abuse, neglect and disconnection, we must return to building the basic blocks of community, creating spaces where everyone belongs. It isn’t about whether I like you or not. It is about respecting the life and dignity of every human being.  We all deserve to be safe and confident that others will come to our rescue knowing that the next time it may be them in need.  It is a personal investment in our children and in our communities, something that goes beyond lip service to ensuring that we are modeling the behavior we’d like to see in them and in other adults.
I am grateful for the protection from my village, and I’m glad to be that for my daughter’s friends and the young people I mentor in my community. All of our children deserve active, caring, involved participation from the adults in their lives: mentoring, advocating, teaching our children compassion. It means changing our mindset from me to we.
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Froswa' Booker-Drew, Ph.D., is the director of Community Affairs/Strategic Alliances for the State Fair of Texas and the author of two workbooks for women. She is a Dallas Public Voices Fellow.

The Truth About Job-Taking Machines, Globalization, and Mexican Trade

'The US economy has spawned a vicious cycle that few people are talking about, but it's one that affects us all. You, right now, are likely caught in that ugly loop. In fact, it's what may one day send you packing from your job. It's called technology-enabled disruption. And the worst part? (There's a worse part!?) You contributed to it in a big way, explains Robert S. Kaplan. Advancements in retail technology gave consumers the power to shop smarter and put pricing pressure on manufacturers. That pressure is "rippling back, through impacts on workers and their wages, and maybe encouraging businesses to increasingly replace workers with technology," says Kaplan. In a nutshell: every time a consumer finds a bargain, a robot gets a job.' -- Big Think 
    

Art21-- Extended Play: Theaster Gates on Collecting

'From his Chicago studio, Theaster Gates reflects on the various collections he has acquired and created artworks with, including the Jet magazine archives and the inventory of an entire hardware store. In addition to serving as source material for the artist, the collections provide Gates with insight into how one person or institution sees the world. “It's like this little time capsule of things that were important to someone,” he says.  The majority of the collections come from his immediate surroundings on Chicago’s South Side. “How do you catalog the everyday, especially as the phenomena of the everyday is changing?” Gates asks, “And is this another way of tracking Black space?” The materials function as an archive when shown in their original state, or they can be amalgamated and transformed into a painting or sculpture. “It's the thing, and it's the thing that makes the thing,” says the artist.' -- Art21