Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 762

Left of Black S5:E17: Honoring Our Own Black Superheroes

Left of Black S5:E17:  Honoring Our Own Black Superheroes

Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal (@NewBlackMan) is joined via Skype by artist Joel Christian Gill, who talks about using Graphic Novels  to teach Black History.  Gill is the author of STRANGE FRUIT vol. 1: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History and BASS REEVES: Tales of the Talented Tenth (Fulcrum Books) and the Associate Dean of Student Affairs at the New Hampshire Institute of Art.

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

In 'Dear Father, Poet J. Ivy Disrupts The 'Cycle Of Pain'

In his new book Dear Father: Breaking the Cycle of Pain , Poet J. Ivy addresses the separation from and eventual loss of  his father.--Weekend Edition Sunday.

Sunday Dinner: Feta-Brined Roast Chicken

Melissa Clark soaks chicken in feta brine before roasting it to season the bird and lock in moisture.

Meet the Dancehall Queens of Brooklyn

Jamaican Dancehall in BK.

South African Writer Malika Ndlovu: "How do you raise the next generation of men?"

"Malika Ndlovu, an internationally published South African poet, playwright and performer responds to the question about how to raise sons — the next generation of men. This video is part of The World's series about women who are helping build post-apartheid South Africa." -- PRI 

Restaurant Revolution: The Cecil's Afro-Asian Menu

Harlem's The Cecil "draws on American History to change American Cuisine";  The Cecil, which specializes on Afro-Asian Fusion, was named best new restaurant by Esquire Magazine .

#1World1Family Helps Build A Racial Justice Toolkit Through Photography

Through A Lens Darkly Screening, Cardinal Ritter High School, St. Louis, 2014Using Transmedia to Create a More Diverse & Inclusive Culture & Strengthen Community
Filmmaker Thomas Allen Harris launches a crowdfunding campaign to expand the reach his DIGITAL DIASPORA FAMILY REUNION: 1WORLD1FAMILY project to "spark cross-cultural and inter-generational dialogues on issues of race, visual representation, self-identity, self-determination and how we "see" one another." The funds raised will be used to build Racial Justice Tookits to be utilized by educators, community organizers and businesses. Thomas Allen Harris's most recent film Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People premieres on PBS on February 16, 2015.

Where Iconic Blackness Meets the Politics of Abandonment: NOLA Artist Brandan Odum

Portrait of Huey P. Newton by Brandan Odums, part of Project Be (Photo by Doug MacCash / NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)New Orleans resident and artist Brandan Odum paints murals of inspirational Black leaders in an abandoned Housing Project as part of Project Be .-- Red Bull Music

New Orleans Artist Pays Tribute to Black Leaders in Abandoned Housing Project

Portrait of Huey P. Newton by Brandan Odums, part of Project Be (Photo by Doug MacCash / NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)New Orleans resident and artist Brandan Odum paints murals of inspirational Black leaders in an abandoned Housing Project as part of Project Be .-- Al Jazeera America

Duke #ShondaLand Symposium to Explore Impact of ‘Scandal’ TV Producer Shonda Rhimes

Duke Symposium to Explore Impact of ‘Scandal’ TV Producer Shonda Rhimes
DURHAM, NC - The popular television shows “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder” that comprise ABC’s Thursday night primetime viewing have become “must-see TV” for millions of Americans.  All were produced by black screenwriter Shonda Rhimes. 

A Duke symposium, Jan. 29-30, will explore Rhimes’ impact on mainstream television through her inclusion of richly drawn, complex black female characters such as Olivia Pope. Pope, played by actress Kerry Washington, is the first black female lead of a primetime drama since the mid-1970s. 

ShondaLand, the Symposium , named for Rhimes’ production company, will bring together female scholars in the fields of history, women’s studies, law, cultural studies, gender and sexuality studies, black diaspora studies and media studies to explore the implications of Rhimes’ work.

The event begins with a 7:30 p.m. reception and 8 p.m. season premiere watch party of all three ABC shows on Thursday, Jan. 29, at Durham’s Full Frame Theater on the American Tobacco Campus (320 Blackwell St.). The event, as well as parking, is free and open to the public. 

The symposium continues the following day at the Forum for Scholars & Publics (011 Old Chemistry building) on Duke’s West campus. 

“I woke up like this”: Desire & Respectability in ShondaLand Friday, Jan. 30 2015
9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Natalie Bullock Brown, Saint Augustine's University (Film and Interactive Media Studies)
Joan Morgan, New York University (American Studies)
Treva Lindsey, The Ohio State University (Women and Gender Studies)
Lisa B. Thompson, University of Texas at Austin (African & African American Diaspora Studies)

Moderator: Anne-Maria Makhulu, Duke University
This panel will address issues around the desirability of Black Women, the importance of sexual desire in the lives of Black Women and the ways tropes of respectability might police Black Women’s identity and expressive culture.

“You gotta testify because the booty don’t lie”: The (Il)Legality of Black Womanhood
Friday, Jan. 30 2015
12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Brittney Cooper, Rutgers University (Women's and Gender Studies; Africana Studies)Jessica Marie Johnson, Michigan State University (History)
Martha Jones, University of Michigan (History)
Blair LM Kelley, North Carolina State University (History)
Moderator: Karla FC Holloway, Duke University
This panel will examine the “equal protection clause” in the context of the intersectionality of Black Womanhood. In what ways are Black Women's bodies protected and/or unprotected by the law? How are Black Women emboldened in the context of ShondaLand to protect, embody or undermine legal structures that won’t/don’t protect them?

The two panels will be livestreamed and viewers will be able to share thoughts and questions via Twitter using #DukeShondaLand.

The symposium is co-sponsored by the Duke Forum for Scholars and Publics, the Center for Arts, Digital Culture and Entrepreneurship, the Durham County Library, and the Department of African & African-American Studies

For more information, visit the Duke Forum for Scholars and Publics website.