Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 78

Photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier's Exhibit Reveals the Resilience of the People of Flint, Michigan

 

'LaToya Ruby Frazier spent five years photographing people and places in Flint, Michigan. Her photos tell a story about a community in struggle, confronting the water crisis and ultimately triumphing through the community. Karen Michel reports.'

The Long History of Violence Against Asian Women

'From March 2020 to December 2021, the advocacy coalition Stop AAPI Hate received nearly 11,000 reports of hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islanders.  In her Nation article, "Sex, Death, and Empire: The Roots of Violence Against Asian Women," Panthea Lee, an ethnographer, activist, and writer, interrogates a long history of sexualized and gendered violence against Asian women. She finds the roots of contemporary anti-Asian hate are far deeper than Covid-era rhetoric. And when Panthea found a 38-second video from the summer of 2020 in her own iPhone, she discovered she was less than one degree removed from Christina Yuna Lee, whose startling murder in February rocked New York’s Chinatown.'

A Jamel Shabazz Retrospective at the Bronx Museum of the Arts

'The Brooklyn born and raised photographer Jamel Shabazz has been capturing the diverse characters of New York City streets for over 40 years, particularly joyous scenes of black and brown people in neighborhoods like Flatbush, Brownsville, and Harlem. Now, some of his work is on display at the Bronx Museum of the Arts, in an exhibit called, Jamel Shabazz: Eyes on the Street, which includes over 150 of Shabazz's photographs. Jamel Shabazz joins All Of It to discuss his career, his mission with his camera, and the exhibit.'

How a Bookstore Went From Big Box 'Villain' to Hero

'People who once lamented Barnes & Noble's presence are now rooting for its success. Elizabeth Harris, New York Times reporter covering books and publishing, explains the big-box bookstore's new role in the publishing and retail ecosystem.'

Into America with Trymaine Lee: How Basquiat Earned His Crown

'Jean-Michel Basquiat was an iconic American artist who rose to fame in the downtown New York City cultural scene of the late 1970s and early 80s. In the years to come, Basquiat would transition from street tagger to gallery artist, taking the world by storm. Today, Basquiat’s legacy looms over us, larger than ever. His images and symbols grace Uniqlo t-shirts and Tiffany & Co jewelry campaigns. In 2017, Basquiat’s powerful 1982 painting of a skull was purchased for $110.5 million, becoming the sixth most expensive work ever sold at auction.  Into America host Trymaine Lee speaks with Basquiat’s former bandmate and friend, Michael Holman, about the young artist’s coming of age in 1980s New York. Then we explore the crisis of Basquiat’s archive with American art historian Jordana Saggese. And finally we take a trip to Basquiat’s childhood and speak with Basquiat’s younger sisters, Jeanine Heriveaux and Lisane Basquiat, to unfold their early relationship and a new April 2022 exhibition they are curating in honor of their late brother.'

Columbia University Professor Farah Jasmine Griffin’s 'Brief But Spectacular' Take on Black Life and Literature

'Columbia University professor Farah Jasmine Griffin was deeply troubled by the political turmoil happening across the U.S. during the 2016 presidential campaign. She began writing a literary memoir, Read Until You Understand, which explores what democracy means for the lives and work of Black authors and activists, and herself. Here's her Brief But Spectacular take on Black life and literature.'

Jazz Night In America: The Nouveau swing of Donald Harrison Jr., Big Chief and NEA Jazz Master

'"This music that we call jazz is one of the greatest achievements in the history of mankind," declares Donald Harrison, Jr., with the air of someone who knows. To be sure, Harrison is hardly an objective source on the matter, as an alto saxophonist and bandleader with a lifelong connection to the culture of New Orleans, where he's also known as Big Chief of the Congo Square tribe. His commitment to cultural preservation recently earned him the 2022 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship for Jazz Advocacy — a prestigious title for the work he does every day as a matter of course. Jazz Night in America caught up with Harrison on his home turf to talk about the formative lessons of his father, Big Chief Donald Harrison, Sr., whose legacy he carries forward; the bedrock influence of another mentor, drummer Art Blakey, whose Jazz Messengers served as a crucible for bright young talent; and the eventful path that led Harrison through his own career as a bandleader.'

Left of Black S12 · E21 | Christopher Freeburg on Black Social Life in the Time of Slavery

Decades of research and scholarship around New World slavery limit the scope of the actions of the enslaved to political resistance while seeking only one goal: freedom. But what if Black life went beyond just the pursuit of liberty in order to encompass broader meaning through creative expression, spirituality, and self-awareness? Dr. Christopher Freeburg joins Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal to discuss these ideas through his latest book, Counterlife: Slavery after Resistance and Social Death (Duke University Press, 2021). 

 

A Brush with...Kehinde Wiley

'Ben Luke talks to Kehinde Wiley about his influences, including artists, writers, composers, musicians and filmmakers, and the cultural experiences that have shaped his life and work. Perhaps more than any other contemporary artist, Wiley has situated himself within the history of Western portrait painting. He makes direct reference to the art of the past, quoting from artists like Holbein, Titian, Rubens, Gainsborough and David, but replacing the royal, noble and ecclesiastical figures depicted by the Old Masters with ordinary people he has encountered on the street. These “moments of impact” happen mostly in New York, where he lives much of the time, but also—in his grand ongoing project The World’s Stage—in cities in Jamaica, India, Haiti, Nigeria, Brazil and beyond.'

In Her Shoes: Leah Thomas

'Sustainability is often framed as an obstacle to a successful business in today's world, but Leah Thomas -- aka Green Girl Leah -- has carved out a career marrying the two. On this episode, host Lindsay Peoples talks shop with Leah, diving into the coinage of Intersectional Environmentalist, bringing Black joy to the environmental movement, and how she's made a career out of making the world a little more equal for everyone and a little nicer to our home planet.'