Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 563

'We've Always Had A Seat At The Table': Solange On Conversations That Heal

'Solange Knowles' newest album, A Seat At The Table, is her most commercially successful yet — it hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts last month. It's also her most political. On the record, Solange explores what it means to be black in America today. The songs in this album celebrate black culture, confront prejudice and explore the trauma of witnessing black people killed. Solange shared stories about her family and about the healing process of making A Seat At The Table with NPR's Ari Shapiro.' -- +NPR  

Left of Black S7:E4: Dandy Lions + Black Pete + Black Visual Culture

Left of Black S7:E4: Dandy Lions + Black Pete + Black Visual Culture
On this episode of Left of Black, host Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) is joined in-studio by curator Shantrelle P. Lewis (@APshantology) in a conversation about her forthcoming book based on  The Dandy Lion Project, the Dutch blackface tradition embodied in Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) and the role of Black Studies in inspiring her interest in Black Visual Culture.

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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Episodes of Left of Black are also available for free download in  @ iTunes U
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Follow Left of Black on Twitter: @LeftofBlack

"Mandate My Ass" -- Recovering Gil-Scott Heron in Trump's America

Gil Scott-Heron was both timely and prescient when he recorded "B-Movie," which appears on his 1981 album Reflections.  Public Policy on a 12-inch, replete with  Scott-Heron's singular wit, the song offers a critical assessment of an electoral politics that would elect a former actor -- Ronald Reagan -- as the face of empire. 35 years later the title "B-Movie" could be replaced by "Reality TV Show" and yet much of the critique remains intact. Another reminder that the archive continues to provide.

Bill T. Jones: The Transcendent Artistry of a Legendary Dancer [video]

Profile of the dancer + choreographer Bill T. Jones who offers a meditation on Black Masculinity.

Jay Smooth: Trump's America--This is What Happens Now

Jay Smooth on "Trump's America."

I Did and Did Not Vote Today--Here’s Why. by Lawrence Ware

I Did and Did Not Vote Today--Here’s Why.by Lawrence Ware | @Law_Ware | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
Today is a mournful day. I'm not going to post a smiling picture of me voting that is subtly meant to shame those who did not. Nor will I say something like you should vote because our ancestors fought and died for the right to do so.
Yes, they fought--but for the right to choose. That's the nuance that is often missing.
As I wrote earlier, Du Bois made the choice to not participate in the election process in 1956. He said, “I shall not go to the polls. I have not registered. I believe that democracy has so far disappeared in the United States that no ‘two evils’ exist. There is but one evil party with two names, and it will be elected despite all I can do or say.”
If I would not send Du Bois a selfie of me with an 'I voted' sticker meant to shame him, if I would not lecture him on how our ancestors died for him to exercise his right, then I will not do so to those who decide not to vote. Especially since I did not vote. Well, I did, but I didn’t—let me explain.
I live in an overwhelmingly conservative state. No matter what I do, this place will not be anything other than the shade of a very embarrassed Bill O'Reilly. If I were in a swing state, following Eddie Glaude's analysis in Democracy in Black, I might feel compelled to vote against Trump. I do not, and, so, I did not.
In short: I did not vote for any presidential candidate.
This is not about Bernie Sanders. I supported him, but I was also quite critical of him.  This is about making a decision that I can live with. I would clearly not vote for Trump, and I was too conflicted to vote for Hilary.
I did vote for my state questions and my judges and representative. I will continue to vote on local ballot measures because, if the cliché is right, all politics is local anyway, but I will not be shamed into casting a vote for a candidate whose neoliberal ideology will almost certainly lead to worse conditions for black, brown and red people in this country and across the world.
The Democratic Party had me. They could count on me to vote for them no matter what. I can’t now. Blind allegiance gifted us an exploding prison population, mass deportations and toothless politicians intent on compromising with individuals elected on the promise of being inflexible.
Y'all can have this corrupt party, and y'all can continue your love affair with this corrupt system. I will vote for what and whom I deem appropriate. I do not see the sense in voting for the lesser of two evils when I do not see a lesser that is sufficient to earn my support—especially in a state where that vote does not matter anyway.
My dear friend Elon Dancy, professor of education and associate dean for community engagement and academic inclusion at the University of Oklahoma and author of The Brother Code: Manhood and Masculinity Among African American Males in College, once commented on how Harriet Tubman was almost certainly viewed through disparaging eyes when she told her cohorts on the plantation that she was going to run away:
Can you imagine how many people must have called Harriet Tubman "crazy" in her day for actually leaving Massa plantation and helping others do the same?
To be sure, she probably got a few, 'but Massa is good white folks'—but she left anyway. Most likely because she understood that a slave owner, no matter how benevolent, was a part of an evil system, and, therefore, has a measure of culpability.
I am not saying politicians are as bad as those who profited from the free labor of enslaved Africans, but let's be honest about our political system; It was founded to be responsive to white, landowning men. If oppressed people have gained anything, it was through agitating the system.
If I were in a swing state, I may have made a different choice, but since this state will go red no matter what I do, I decided to vote my conscious.  
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Lawrence Ware is an Oklahoma State University Division of Institutional Diversity fellow. He teaches in OSU’s philosophy department and is the diversity coordinator for its Ethics Center. A frequent contributor to Counterpunch and Dissent magazine, he is also a contributing editor of NewBlackMan (in Exile) and the Democratic Left. He has been a commentator on race and politics for HuffPost Live, NPR’s Talk of the Nation and PRI’s Flashpoint. Follow him on Twitter.

Art and Identity — An Evening with Kwame Anthony Appiah

'Philosopher and author Kwame Anthony Appiah presents "Art and Identity," as part of a new lecture series organized by The International Council of The Museum of Modern Art." -- The Museum of Modern Art

Films at the Schomburg: "Chisholm '72 — Unbought & Unbossed" with Shola Lynch + Dr. Niambi Carter,

'Shirley Chisholm was the first African American to seek the Democratic Party presidential nomination in 1972. Faced with opposition from established politicos and the media, this documentary showcases the tenacity of Chisholm who remained unbought and unbossed throughout her campaign.  In collaboration with Women In Islam, Inc., and in honor of the 2016 election year, the +Schomburg Center  was thrilled to host a screening of Chisholm ‘72 - Unbought & Unbossed, followed by a talkback with director Shola Lynch, Curator of our Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division, and Dr. Niambi Carter, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Howard University and co-author of Gender and Black Presidential Politics: From Chisholm to Moseley-Braun.'

#BlackFolkDont: Get Anywhere on Time

'Is there really such a thing as "CP Time"? Clear your calendar for this provocative Series Finale: "Black Folk Don't: Get Anywhere on Time"!' -- +BlackFolkDont 

Digital Youth Divas: STEM Weekends for Chicago Girls

'The Digital Youth Divas (DYD) is a blended online and face- to- face program developed and run by the Digital Youth Network at DePaul University. The program, led by PI’s Nichole Pinkard and Sheena Erete, is designed to engage girls in Chicago, particularly those from underserved communities, with computational circuitry and programming through fabrication and design. This video submission shares the story of one cohort of girls over the course of two months as they go through a curricular unit of the DYD program focused on electronic fabrication.'
Digital Youth Divas: STEM Weekends for Chicago Girls from videohall.com on Vimeo.