Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 562

"This is Not Fear" -- Robert Glasper Experiment

'The reality is my people have given the world
So many styles of music you know so many styles
So why should I confine myself to one?
We want to explore them all' -- Robert Glaspar

Music + Visuals: Rhiannon Giddens -- Freedom Highway (feat. Bhi Bhiman)

'Rhiannon Giddens performs The Staple Singers tune "Freedom Highway," with Bhi Bhiman, from Giddens' new album, due early 2017.

"I am a daughter of the South; of the white working class, of the black working class; of the Democrat, and the Republican; of the gay, and the straight; and I can tell you one thing—we are far more alike than we are different. We cannot let hate divide us; we cannot let ignorance diminish us; we cannot let those whose greed fills their every waking hour take our country from us. They can't take U.S. from US—unless we let them. I recorded this with Bhi Bhiman, all-American singer-songwriter from St. Louis, whose parents are from Sri Lanka. America's strength are her people, whether they came 4,000, 400, or 40 years ago, and we can't leave anyone behind. Let's walk down Freedom Highway together. Written by Pops Staples in 1965." —Rhiannon

Imagine If This Were You (2016) -- a Short Film by Carrie Mae Weems

Visual artist Carrie Mae Weems offers a portal into the anti-Black violence of our moment with Imagine If This Were You (2016). 

Heritage + History: Two Black Fathers Talk Hip-Hop + Education + the Politics of Blackness

The Hip-Hop Fellow -- Film. Talk. Beats.Thursday, November 17, 2016 | 6pm
The Underground @ The Music Factory 1000 North Carolina Music Factory BlvdCharlotte, NC 28206
6pm - 9pmDocumentary film screening of The Hip-Hop Fellow +  
Talkback with 9th Wonder and Mark Anthony Neal 
9 pm - 11 pm Beats. Gantt After Dark experience with music and mixing by DJ Chela
+++
North Carolina native, 9th Wonder (Patrick Douthit) is the subject of the 2014 documentary The Hip-Hop Fellow, which will be screened as part of this three-part Heritage & History program. The film traces his 2012-15 tenure as a Fellow at Du Bois Institute at Harvard University where he taught and explored hip-hop’s role in academia. Currently, 9th Wonder is a Lecturer in African + African American Studies at Duke University. 
In 1998 along with Phonte and Big Pooh, 9th Wonder formed the critically acclaimed hip-hop trio Little Brother. His first major label placement as a producer was the song “Threat” on Jay-Z’s Black Album, and since then he has worked with such artists as Erykah Badu, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Mary J. Blige for which he won a Grammy Award.
Joining the program is Mark Anthony Neal, Duke University Professor of African & African American Studies and English, who co-teaches The History of Hip-Hop with 9th Wonder. Dr. Neal is the author of numerous books, including New Black Man , and is host of Left of Black , a video webcast produced with the John Hope Franklin Center.
The Harvey B. Gantt Center is a proud partner with Duke Energy in presenting the new Heritage & History series. This program series features nationally noted artists and scholars who are preserving Black culture through an array of disciplines and media. In hosting each culture keeper, the Gantt Center invites public participation in special events and experiences that illuminate important stories and engage audiences.

NBA All-Star + NYC Schoolboy Legend Kenny Anderson Faces Life After Basketball

'NBA All-Star Kenny Anderson and director Jill Campbell  discuss their documentary, Mr. Chibbs. The film follows Kenny 10 years after his retirement basketball. He’s still dealing with his mother’s death when he loses a cherished coaching position, which sends him into a midlife crisis. Facing his personal demons head-on, he must come to terms with his past in order to find a way forward.' -- Leonard Lopate Show

Samaria Rice: Dear President--What You Need to Know About Being 'Woke'

'David Furst talks with Rebecca Carroll, editor for special projects, who has spearheaded our new series, Dear President: What You Need To Know About Race. Carroll explains that as part of her research for the series she talked with Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy who was shot and killed by police at a playground across the street from his house in Cleveland in 2014.' -- WNYC

Emmett Till's Father Was Also Hanged: A New Book Tells His Story

'A decade before his teenage son Emmet was lynched in Mississippi, Louis Till was serving overseas in World War II.  John Edgar Wideman's new book Writing to Save a Life: the Louis Till File explores how Till was convicted of rape and murder and put to death.' -- NPR

'Hidden Figures' and The Story of the Black Women Who Helped Compute NASA to the Moon

Julia Rendleman'From the 1940s through the 1960s, a group of elite black women mathematicians known as "human computers" helped NASA put rockets, and eventually astronauts, into space. In her new book, Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (William Morrow/2016), author Margot Lee Shetterly tells the little known story of the African-American women who helped with some of NASA's greatest accomplishments. WUNC's Frank Stasio talks with Shetterly about the racial climate of NASA during the space race and Shetterly's own experience growing up around scientists and engineers of color.' -- WUNC 

Jamilah King: Nothing Happens Without a Fight

'Mic's Jamilah King shares her thoughts on who are country is and where we are going.' 

First Step: New York Mets' Star Curtis Granderson Addresses Hunger + Food Deserts in New York City

'New York Mets outfielder and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson discusses his Grand Giving initiative, which addresses hunger and food deserts in New York City.  The University of Illinois at Chicago alumnus's efforts are an extension of his Grand Kids Foundation.' -- +The Players' Tribune