Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 533

Jeffrey Sachs on Trump's Economics: Populism Won't Save the Rust Belt

'The Rust Belt was promised a lot this election – will those promises, which are now transitioning into policies, be made good? Economist and UN advisor Jeffrey Sachs is a Rust Belt native himself, and believes it’s in the hands of people in that area to take an informed look at the economic proposals of the Trump administration – will these proposals benefit the average person, or is there misdirection and populist scapegoating at play that will only serve to make the rich richer? Sachs provides some red markers to watch for when listening to policy proposals, and offers a question to keep in mind: “Who is going to pay for that tax break?” It may not be the answer the people of the Rust Belt signed up for. Jeffrey Sachs's most recent book is Building the New American Economy: Smart, Fair, and Sustainable .' -- +Big Think  

Mic Exclusive Interview: Eric Holder

'Former attorney general Eric Holder sits down for an exclusive interview with Mic senior staff writer Aaron Morrison. Holder shares his concerns about the Trump administration, his thoughts on race relations in the U.S. and what he’s been up to since leaving the Department of Justice in 2015.' 
 

'The Racial Politics of Time' -- The Brittney Cooper TED Talk

'Cultural theorist Brittney Cooper examines racism through the lens of time, showing us how historically it has been stolen from people of color, resulting in lost moments of joy and connection, lost years of healthy quality of life and the delay of progress. A candid, thought-provoking take on history and race that may make you reconsider your understanding of time, and your place in it.'-- via +Ted Talks  

Peele’s Clever GET OUT [no spoilers]: More Hitchcockian Thriller than Horror Flick

Peele’s Clever GET OUT [no spoilers]: More Hitchcockian Thriller Than Horror Flickby Stephane Dunn | @DrStephaneDunn | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
To watch Jordan Peele’s GET OUT is to be transported to what it must have been like in a 1971 theatre full of black hero hungry people that have stood around the block to get in to watch Sweetback or Shaft for the very first time. GET OUT is tagged as a horror film, earning applause as a smart entry in slasher cinema, but the real wondrous horror of GET OUT is how Peele as writer-director with cinematographer Toby Oliver and editor Gregory Plotkin achieve an emotionally layered story, a genre bending, genre flipping thriller where the label horror is too small and inadequate to signify a film that pulls off the daring feat of refreshing Alfred Hitchcockian suspense.
The plot – a young African American man, Chris Washington [Daniel Kaluuya] goes home with his white bourgeois girlfriend Rose Armitage [Allison Williams] to meet her parents for the very first time in a 1972 Stepford Wives--(1998) Pleasantville-ish community [instantly creepy]– where the several black folk appear to be Uncle Tom throwbacks who are robotically devoted to  serving white people. Blood and gore are minimal until the film heads towards the denouement; Peele chooses not to ride on blood spurting, trusting his comedic timing and deftness.
With its explicit racialized plot, GET OUT would register as more dangerous than it will be thanks to Peele’s identity as an established comedian and the use of his craft to entertain while taking on historic and contemporary white liberalism and racial paranoia. The present day and the early 1970s share a parallel. Shaft was produced out of an American cultural environment shaken by the 1960s black freedom struggle and the anti-war, second wave feminist, and gay rights movements.  
Today, race and gender remain at the fore of the politicized cultural wars along with religion and sexuality.  Peele’s insightfulness about these undergird his narrative. The humor, particularly in the figure of Lil Rel Howery who plays the hero’s best friend Rod Williams, balances a heavyweight satire. The delicious suspense, the oh no dread then relief then dread again provokes spectators to, well, lose their mind being so engaged and invested in the trip that it cannot help but to collectively talk back, curse, and yell at the screen.
It’s the deceptively placid pauses broken by jarring interruptions that cause the jumping and seat arm clutching as Peele spins a racially charged, fantastical psychological trip, using some classic shot choices - check the French new wave jump cut love, the unnerving, nervy extreme close-ups and the montage. All of these are wrapped into a smart film that violates a couple of key rules of the horror film. Like don’t get too attached to the brother cause you know he’s going down sooner usually, but inevitably,  and another rule of contemporary Hollywood films where race is problematized, and the story is supposed to be about a black character – cue at least one white hero.
Recognize that Peele’s even got the Blaxploitation down [used here with full awareness of its contradictions]. The hero’s win is not just about his being the hero and therefore  his survival is a given; he’s a distinctly black male hero in a fight to the death with white foes. He’s gotta defeat them and win. With this latter element alone, ‘horror’ as a category to hold GET OUT is frustratingly narrow. Moviegoers with an automatic antipathy to a designated horror movie will assume a type of scary associated with that genre and they’ll miss out on a flick so seriously clever and tripped out that you don’t mind Peele laughing at us and our racial extremities.
Know what it means when a film makes audiences teeter on the edge of their seats ready with call and response, signifying in overt vernacular racial language - 'Nigga leave, get the FUCK OUT' [real quote] , and screaming in fear and satisfaction while not missing a turn of the head on screen?  One thing, the film is baadassss.
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S​tephane Dunn is a writer and professor and the director of the  Morehouse College Cinema, Television, & Emerging Media Studies Program​ (CTEMS). Her ​publications include the 2008 book Baad Bitches & Sassy Supermamas: Black Power Action Films (U of Illinois) and a number of articles in mediums such as Ebony.com, The Atlantic, The Root.com, Bright Lights Film journal, and others.  Follow her on Twitter at twitter @DrStephaneDunn and www.stephanedunn.com.    

Left of Black S7:E16: Speculative Blackness + The Future of Race in Science Fiction

Left of Black S7:E16: Speculative Blackness + The Future of Race in Science Fiction
On this episode of Left of Black, Professor André M. Carrington (@prof_carrington), author of Speculative Blackness: The Future of Race in Science Fiction (University of Minnesota Press), joins host Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) in the Left of Black studio.  Carrington was at Duke University to deliver a keynote address at the Black Is, Black Will Be: On Black Futures symposium.
Left of Black is a weekly Webcast hosted by Mark Anthony Neal and produced in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University and in conjunction with the Center for Arts + Digital Culture + Entrepreneurship (CADCE) and the Duke Council on Race + Ethnicity.
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Follow Left of Black on Twitter: @LeftofBlack

#TheRemix: Dr. Sheena Howard Talks Education + Race + Her Film 'Remixing Colorblind'

'On this episode of #TheRemix, host James Braxton Peterson talks to Dr. Sheena Howard about her film, Remixing Colorblind. The documentary examines perceptions about race on college campuses through discussions with students and educators. The film looks at how the educational system shapes students' understanding of race and race relations.' 

Killer Mike talks Run The Jewels + Gentrification in Inner Cities and Protest Music of Our Times

'Killer Mike is one half of Hip Hop duo Run the Jewels. The Atlanta born activist and rapper made some time during the RTJ world tour to speak with Jesse Menendez and Jill Hopkins. Mike spoke about his association with Bernie Sanders, gentrification in our inner cities and the rise of protest music in turbulent times.' -- Vocalo
 

The Mask has Slipped: On the Possibility of Freedom Beyond Liberalism

'Artist Raoul Martinez examines the limits of freedom as personal ethos and economic ideology in a time of spiraling inequality and political instability, and calls for a fundamental shift in the way we think of ourselves, our values and each other if humans are to achieve liberation and equality for all. Raoul is author of Creating Freedom: The Lottery of Birth, the Illusion of Consent, and the Fight for Our Future from Pantheon.' -- This Is Hell! Radio

A Black Man in a White Coat [Ep. 1]: Dr. Kevin Thomas

A profile of Dr. Kevin Thomas from the series A Black Man in a White Coat from +Duke University School of Medicine 

Casting “Moonlight” and the Intersectionality of Black Masculinity

' Moonlight is already up for eight Oscars, but if there were an Academy Award for casting, it’d probably get a nomination in that category, too. The production team had to cast six actors to play two different characters as they age from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. They also decided to choose several non-professional actors for authenticity, and did it all on a small indie budget. Kurt talks with the movie’s casting director, Yesi Ramirez, about her unique challenges with Moonlight.' -- Studio 360