Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 645

If You’re Overly Critical of Cam Newton, It’s Probably Because He is Black by Law Ware

If You’re Overly Critical of Cam Newton, It’s Probably Because He is Blackby Law Ware | @Law_Ware | NewBlackMan (in Exile)
Awful Announcing recently compiled a list of what sports writers and fans said about Cam Newton when he came into the NFL in 2011. Unsurprisingly, almost all of the analysis was grounded in a white supremacist understanding of black masculinity. Consider the following from NFL Network’s Mike Lombardi:
“What worries me about Cam Newton is: is he a person who is going to work hard? Will he be dedicated? Is the money going to spoil him?”
This quote is racially coded language centered in questions about Cam’s character. It essentially calls him lazy. Consider this quote from USA today in a similar vein:“Very disingenuous — has a fake smile, comes off as very scripted and has a selfish, me-first makeup. Always knows where the cameras are and plays to them. Has an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law — does not command respect from teammates and will always struggle to win a locker room . . . Lacks accountability, focus and trustworthiness — is not punctual, seeks shortcuts and sets a bad example. Immature and has had issues with authority. Not dependable.”The most baffling assessment comes from the beloved Mel Kipper, Jr. He said:
“We know he loves to play the game of football, but this isn’t the NBA.”
I have no idea what that means, but I can assure you that few quarterbacks have had to contend with the levels of hateration that Newton has had to endure.
And yet, despite all this, Cam Newton stood strong. He is the 2015-2016 NFL MVP. He has had an amazing season. He single handedly made the Carolina Panthers offense Super Bowl worthy—and although he did not achieve his goal, I am still in awe of all he has accomplished.
After the Super Bowl, Cam Newton, understandably dejected, was emotional and uninterested in answering questions from the media. This drew the ire of many who were looking for an excuse to attack Newton’s character. Bill Romanowski, former Bronco, jumped at that chance by tweeting:
You’ll never last in the NFL with that attitude. The world doesn’t revolve around you, boy! #CamNewton”
To be sure, Cam could have performed with a bit more professionalism in his post-game interview.
I would have liked to see him walk out with his head held high, but he had just lost the Super Bowl. It was the nadir of his professional career. I would have probably reacted in a similar way—especially after having to endure dimwitted questions all week from white journalists both attracted and repelled by my blackness. I, too, may have stormed out after my mandatory three minutes were up if I was forced to be interviewed in the same room with an opponent. I will not hold Newton to a standard that I, myself, cannot achieve.
Yet, the racism in the response from Romanowski is hardly concealed. To call a grown man ‘boy.’ Is something that would not be said to Bill Belichik—a man notorious for being terse in interviews. No one called Peyton Manning ‘boy’ when he ran off the field and refused to shake hands with opponents after losing Super Bowl XLIV. No, they said Manning was just deeply competitive:
Apparently some think this is a sign of poor sportsmanship from the NFL's greatest player. It's not. Walking off the field without congratulating Drew Brees may go against our misguided notion of what sportsmanship should be, but it wasn't at all disrespectful or bitter. It shows how much Peyton Manning wanted to win the game. And who can argue about that?
The amount of vitriol, the depths of covert racism, which Newton has had to endure is unconscionable; the double standard is staggering. Nothing he does will be, or is ever, enough for those looking for something to criticize—and, let’s just be honest, they are overly critical for no reason other than the fact that he is black.

Trailer: The Art of Organized Noise (dir. Quincy "QD3" Jones )

'As pioneers of the Dirty South music movement, Organized Noize is responsible for Outkast, CeeLo, the Goodie Mob and the Dungeon Family. Their production shaped the landscape of hip-hop with their own distinctive sound, created in the confines of a dungeon. Featuring interviews with Andre 3000, Big Boi, Puff Daddy, Future, Ludacris, LA Reid, 2 Chainz, CeeLo and more, this is the story of the rise and fall of music's most prolific unsung heroes.  The Art of Organized Noize premieres at SXSW2016.' -- +Flavor Unit 
 

Yusef Komunyakaa on Politics + Imagery + Memorizing Poetry

'Pulitzer Prize-winning American poet Yusef Komunyakaa visited the New York Public Library  to celebrate the release of his latest book, The Emperor of Water Clocks . In this engrossing conversation with NYPL’s Jessica Strand, Komunyakaa talks about music, Langston Hughes, and his literary coming of age.'  

BlackademicsTV: on the Experience of Being a Black Female Professor + Women’s Empowerment Through Dance

On this episode of BlackademicsTV , Dr. Omi Jones (University of Texas at Austin) discusses the experience of being a black female professor; Former Ailey dancer Dr. Aimee Meredith Cox (Fordham University) discusses women’s empowerment and dance.Cox is the author of Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship.  

'For the Record: Storytelling and Conversating' with Kiese Laymon and Zandria F. Robinson

Author and Professor Kiese Laymon and noted Sociologist Zandria F. Robinson in conversation at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN.  Laymon is the author the novel, Long Division  and a collection of essays,  How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America.  Robinson is the author of This Ain’t Chicago: Race, Class, and Regional Identity in the Post-Soul South. 
RHODES COLLEGE "For the Record: Storytelling and Conversating" with Kiese Laymon and Zandria F. Robinson from Eric Swartz on Vimeo.
 

Critic Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah on Fearlessness and Black Art

'She's written about Jimi Hendrix, Toni Morrison and Dave Chappelle, but essayist and critic Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah says she's more interested in the moments that these legends have been true to themselves. Ghansah offers her Brief but Spectacular take on fearlessness and black art.' -- +PBS NewsHour 

Democracy Now: Michael Eric Dyson on "The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America"

'Georgetown professor Michael Eric Dyson talks with +Democracy Now!  about his new book The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America. From the protests in Ferguson to the church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, to the controversy over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Dyson explores how President Obama has changed how he talks about race over the past seven years.'

Artist-in-Residence: Blitz the Ambassador at Duke University

'These stories of everyday Africans in America, where bodies are simply rendered “black” and thus—in a context that makes sense only in the U.S.—criminal, counter the celebrated examples of Afropolitan artists like Nigerian-born writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Kenyan-born visual artist Wangechi Mutu and even Blitz Bazawule himself. Indeed, Afropolitan Dreams narrates a much more liminal existence in which Blitz Bazawule finds that his music is “not hip-hop enough” for some and “not African enough” for others, notably the “world music” crowd.' -- The Root.com

Ghanaian-born artist Blitz the Ambassador (Samuel Bazawule) begins a three day residency at Duke University hosted by Duke Performances , from February 9th to 11th and culminating with a performance at Motorco on Thursday, February 11th at 8pm.

HIP-HOP & THE REVOLUTION: A CONVERSATION ON HIP-HOP & GLOBAL ACTIVISM WITH BLITZ THE AMBASSADOR & ANGEL DOZIER
Ghanaian-born, Brooklyn-based rapper Blitz the Ambassador will speak with Angel Dozier, director of talent booking at Durham’s Beyù Caffè, about hip-hop in communities across the African diaspora. They’ll explore how hip-hop culture can mobilize those communities toward social and political change.
Tuesday, February 9, 7 – 8:15 PM
Beyù Caffè
335 West Main Street, Durham
Free & open to the public.
### <!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></b></span></span></div>--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b><b><span style="text-transform: uppercase;">Beyond Afropolitan Dreams:  Blitz the Ambassador talks Diasporadical with Yaba Blay and Gloria Ayee </span></b></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b> </b> </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Blitz the Ambassador joins North Carolina Central University Visiting Scholar Yaba Blay as guests in the popular Duke University course <a href="http://www.newblackmaninexile.net/201... History of Hip-Hop</b></i></a>, curated and co-taught by Grammy Award winning producer 9th Wonder (Patrick Douthit) and the Mark Anthony Neal.  The discussion will be moderated by Gloria Ayee, a doctoral candidate in Political Science at Duke University.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><style><!-- /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:3 0 0 0 1 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} </style></div>--> <div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Wednesday, February <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">10</span>, 6:15 pm—7:30 pm</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i> </i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>White Lecture Hall</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Duke University, East Campus</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Free & open to the public.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">###</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><b>TALKING MUSIC: A CONVERSATION WITH BLITZ THE AMBASSADOR AND YABA BLAY</b></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Ghanaian-born, Brooklyn-based rapper <b>Blitz</b> <b>the</b> <b>Ambassador</b> will speak with <b>Dr.</b> <b>Yaba</b> <b>Blay</b>, Dan Blue Endowed Chair in Political Science at North Carolina Central University, about his career and hip-hop culture today. The two will cover <i>Afropolitanism</i>, urban hip-hop, and Blitz’s unique trajectory.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><i>Thursday, February 11, 12 - 1 PM<br />Forum for Scholars & Publics, 011 Old Chemistry Building, Duke West Campus</i> (<a href="https://fsp.trinity.duke.edu/find-us" target="_blank">Directions</a>)<br /><i>Free & open to the public; a light lunch will be served for all attendees starting at 11:45 AM.</i></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>

'The Movement Revisited': Christian McBride's New Oratorio Celebrates the Black Liberation Movement

"Teaming with choral director JD Steele,  bassist and Jazz Night in America host Christian McBride composed a bluesy and soulful oratorio for big band, gospel choir with soloists, and four speakers representing great figures of the Civil Rights Movement. The Movement Revisited  is inspired by the written words and speeches of Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, Jr. and President Barack Obama.'

 
 

#TheSpin: Nate Parker's Nat Turner + A Black History of Britain

'Esther Armah, host of #TheSpin is joined by Joan Morgan and Brittney Cooper in a conversation about Nate Parker's new film The Birth of a Nation and David Olusoga's new BBC series of the history of Black Britain.'