Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 59

Running While Black: Ashley Toussaint

'Introducing Running While Black, a series that changes the conversation in sports; promoting equality and highlighting runners like Ashley Toussaint, track coach and founder of Running Edge 305, an organization that fosters a running community while working to preserve culture and combat gentrification.'

Why Fast Internet Has Been Slow to Reach Rural America

'The federal government has set aside billions of dollars aimed at improving internet speeds for rural Americans. But, despite multiple government programs designed to fix the problem, many in those communities are still waiting for faster speeds. WSJ reporter Ryan Tracy joins host Zoe Thomas to discuss how communities are being impacted by slow internet. Photo: Jenn Ackerman for The Wall Street Journal.'

Yvonne Battle-Felton in The Black Writer's Studio

'Yvonne Battle-Felton, author of Remembered, is an author, academic, host, creative producer, and writer. Remembered, was longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction (2019) and shortlisted for the Jhalak Prize (2020). Winner of a Northern Writers Award in fiction (2017), Yvonne was commended for children’s writing in the Faber Andlyn BAME (FAB) Prize (2017) and has six titles in Penguin Random House’s The Ladybird Tales of Superheroes and The Ladybird Tales of Crowns and Thrones. Yvonne teaches creative writing at Sheffield Hallam University where she is a Principal Lecturer and Humanities Business and Enterprise Lead. Host of Write Your Novel with Yvonne Battle-Felton, a write-along podcast series developed with New Writing North, Yvonne creates and hosts literary and storytelling events and opportunities and has completed her second novel for adults and her first children’s book.'

Monica: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

'It's only right to think "New Monica!" when her Tiny Desk (home) concert begins. Surrounded by candlelight, dressed in pink, Monica stands ready to deliver a vibrant vocal masterclass. With her rich alto, Monica broke onto the music landscape in 1995 with her debut album, Miss Thang. In her class of '90s artists, the singer brought a mature sound, yet still tempered by youth, that made her relatable to audiences of any age who were growing into their own. Monica's albums are grounded in the here and now, the ups and the downs of life and love. For fans, she feels like a longtime friend to root for, not only for her talent, but because her realness is valued — an energy she brings to this performance.'

'P-Valley' Shines a Spotlight on Strip Club Culture

'The Starz drama P-Valley, created by noted playwright Katori Hall, is set in a Black strip club in the Mississippi Delta. The dancers are acrobatic, artistic and independent. The show is about their labor, but also about a wide variety of stories about power, money, and a community's identity. It recently returned for a second season.'

Left of Black S12 · E28 | Dr. Oni Blackstock, M.D. on Her Work with HIV/AIDS in the Black Community

 

Dr. Oni Blackstock, M.D. has built her career on the care of patients, particularly from marginalized groups disproportionately impacted by society-wide health crises, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic and the HIV/AIDS epidemic that damaged the Black community more than any other. In this special episode of Left of Black, Dr. Blackstock joins Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal to discuss her career path that ultimately led to the founding of Health Justice, a consultancy that supports health-related organizations to prioritize anti-racism and equity in the workplace and to reduce health inequities in the communities they serve. Their discussion was a part of a Zoom event hosted by the National Clinicians Scholars Program (NCSP) in November, 2021.

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Raising Kids is 'Essential Labor.' It's Also Lonely, Exhausting and Expensive

'During the pandemic, when schools and day care facilities shut down abruptly, millions of parents — especially mothers — dropped out of the workforce to pick up the slack. Author Angela Garbes was one of them. In her new book, Essential Labor: Mothering as Social Change, Garbes makes the case that the work of raising children has always been undervalued and undercompensated in the U.S. "We live in [a culture] that doesn't value care work and that doesn't value mothers and that doesn't value women," she says. "America doesn't have a social safety net; America has mothers".'

Former NBA player Al Harrington on Overcoming Stigma and Building a Cannabis Company

'One of Al Harrington's biggest takeaways from his 16-year run in the NBA? Never let a rookie take your spot. The former power forward constantly found ways to evolve the game to outsmart new competitors — and, in his words, "provide a new offering." In his post-game career, he's used that mindset to build the cannabis company Viola, which sells high-quality forms of marijuana. But Viola's mission isn't solely to sell product. Instead, Al wants to ensure that Viola gives entrepreneurs of color significant opportunity in the legal, multibillion-dollar cannabis industry. Al sat down with The Limits with Jay Williams to discuss the stigmas he has overcome as a Black former NBA player building a cannabis company, the challenges he's facing bringing up Black entrepreneurs in the space, and why Viola is the LVMH of weed.'

Becoming Afropunk: James Spooner on his Graphic Novel Memoir

'James Spooner, who directed the documentary Afro-Punk in 2003 and co-launched the Afropunk music festival in 2005, recently published a graphic novel memoir. The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere. focuses on his childhood as the son of a Black dad and a white mom, living in a small California town where white supremacy flourished. The Takeaway speaks with him about growing up afropunk, and how afropunk itself has grown since he helped establish the movement.'

In Philadelphia, a Black Gun Owner Explains His Unease About Gun Control Debate

'Akin Olla, a Nigerian-American socialist organizer and gun owner, explains why he thinks conversations about gun control often lack complexity and an understanding of the racial history of gun laws in America.'