Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 54

Black Veterans Came Together at an Empowerment Conference to Make Their Stories Heard

'Groups made up of Black veterans recently came together in Washington, D.C., like they never have before. They're hoping by joining forces and telling their stories they can make their voices heard.'

Black Planet: Black, Connected, and Copied

'BlackPlanet interviewed some of the most brilliant minds in the social media / technology space as well as some of those who have benefitted from social media to get their insight on the role Black people played and continue to play in technology and social media. We will find the through-line that ties most of what we experience now back to BlackPlanet as one of the first social media platforms. This piece will take us on a journey from current day and link the success of social media to BlackPlanet as one of the leaders of social media while in its embryonic stages.'

Millennials Are Killing Capitalism – “A Threat To This Day": Jared Ball on the Distortion and Erasure of Black Revolutionaries in Corporate Media

'In this episode Millennials Are Killing Capitalism, Dr. Jared Ball returns to discuss the tactics used to distort, misrepresent, or erase entirely the legacies of figures like Malcolm X and Kwame Ture. We also get Jared’s take on whether or not Judas and the Black Messiah represents a break from a history of demonization of Black revolutionaries in US mainstream media as well as some of Jared Ball’s favorite radical movies. Ball is a professor of communication studies at Morgan State University. He is the author of The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power and I Mix What I Like!: A Mixtape Manifesto and he is the co-editor along with Dr. Todd Steven Burroughs of the book A Lie Of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable’s Malcolm X. He is one of the founders of Black Power Media and the host of the iMiXWHATiLIKE program, which can be found on that platform. He is also a co-host of BPM’s Remix morning show.'

Welcome To Fatherhood w/ Kelly Jean-Philippe: "They Never Saw Black Men As Fathers" feat. Mark Anthony Neal

'This episode of Welcome to Fatherhood with Kelly Jean-Philippe features a conversation  with Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of African & African American Studies and Chair of the Department of African & African American Studies at Duke University where he offers courses on Black Masculinity, Popular Culture, and Digital Humanities. He is the author of several books including recently published Black Ephemera: The Crisis and Challenge of the Musical Archive (NYU Press) as well as What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture (1999), Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic (2002) and Looking for Leroy: Illegible Black Masculinities (2013).  The 10th Anniversary edition of Neal’s New Black Man was published in 2015 by Routledge. Neal is currently writing a book on the cultural significance of Black fatherhood.'

From Bebop to Hip-hop: Gary Bartz's Sax Sound Shapes Many Eras

'For more than 60 years, saxophonist and composer Gary Bartz has been a central figure in jazz history. But for some reason, he hasn't received his due. With that said, the late jazz critic Stanley Crouch, who often leaned into tradition, described Bartz as "one of the very best who has ever picked up the instrument." In this episode, we'll also hear stories of his many collaborations with those in the pantheon — Sonny Stitt; Max Roach; Art Blakey; Miles Davis; Charles Mingus — but we also learn why his artistry remains so present today, even perceived as an elder statesman in the hip hop music tradition. Bartz's stamp on the music continues to be absorbed by future generations via projects like Jazz Is Dead with Ali Shaheed Muhammad (Tribe Called Quest) and producer Adrian Younge. And now that he's in his 80s (but looks at least 20 years younger), he's rightfully getting his due.'

Immortality and the Future of Anti-Aging

'Humans live meaningful lives with the knowledge they will eventually die, but an increasing amount of money and resources are being put into researching whether we can significantly prolong the aging process. There’s a growing field of scientific research dedicated to staving off both the physical and mental changes that tend to accompany older age. According to The New Statesman, this anti-aging industry, also referred to as the “immortality industry” will be worth 610 billion dollars by 2025. But if we do extend life beyond the bounds of present day medicine, what would that mean for humanity, and the planet? For more on this, The Takeaway spoke with Thomas Fink, founder and director of the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences, about his understanding of anti-aging and immortality, and the physics behind it.'

Historic Bowling Alley Tied to 1968 Orangeburg Massacre Gets Restored to Commemorate the Tragedy

'On Feb. 8, 1968, a peaceful civil rights protest turned deadly when state police opened fire. Three people were shot dead and dozens left injured on the South Carolina State University campus in the city of Orangeburg. Students from South Carolina State University and Claflin University joined protests at a downtown bowling alley that refused to desegregate on Feb. 5. During the second night of demonstrations, police clubbed protesters and eight students landed in the hospital. Three days later, SCSU students Samuel Hammond Jr. and Henry Smith were killed, along with high school student Delano Middleton. The shootings at Orangeburg received little national attention compared to the Kent State massacre two years later. But now, after 54 years, plans are underway to restore the bowling alley where the protests started and to tell the story of the Orangeburg massacre while highlighting civil rights. Nonprofit Center for Creative Partnerships is working to restore the bowling alley. President Ellen Zisholtz described the project as, “the first-ever civil rights bowling lanes”.'

#IAmVanessaGuillen Documentary Explores the Culture of Toxicity at Fort Hood

'The murder of Spc. Vanessa Guillén shed a light on the widespread problem of sexual misconduct in the military. A new documentary in English and Spanish looks at what's changed and what work remains. Morning Edition host A Martínez spoke with director Andrea Patiño Contreras about the problems highlighted by the film, the reforms that Guillén's death made possible and the work that remains.'

The History of Queer Hip-Hop in New York -- 'Hip Hop Heresies: Queer Aesthetics in New York City' with Shanté Paradigm Smalls

'A new book explores experimental collaborations in hip hop cultural production in New York City from the 1970s through the early twenty-first century. St. John’s University associate professor Shanté Paradigm Smalls joins All Of It to discuss their research and book, Hip Hop Heresies: Queer Aesthetics in New York City (NYU Press).'

Artists on Writers | Writers on Artists: Dewey Crumpler and Saidiya Hartman

'Artist Dewey Crumpler and author and scholar Saidiya Hartman first met years ago in the Bay Area, and in the hour they spent together for this episode of Artists on Writers | Writers on Artists, they discuss many subjects including their work, the responsibilities that attend a calling, the exhaustive process of transformation, and the powerful “hum”— the potent frequency—of Black lives.'