Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 837

Talib Kweli talks Nelson Mandela & Amiri Baraka on 'The Questions'

The Questions | OkayPlayer
In the latest episode of "The Questions" Okayplayer Talib Kweli invited us to the set of his music video for "Violations" from his album Gravitas featuring Raekwon the Chef to talk about Nelson Mandela and Amiri Baraka's legacies. 

"Black Trans Bodies Are Under Attack": Activist CeCe McDonald, Actress Laverne Cox Speak Out

Democracy Now
After serving 19 months in prison, the African-American transgender activist CeCe McDonald is free. She was arrested after using deadly force to protect herself from a group of people who attacked her on the streets of Minneapolis. Her case helped turn a national spotlight on the violence and discrimination faced by transgender women of color.
McDonald joins us on her first trip to New York City. We are also joined by one of her supporters, Laverne Cox, a transgender actress, producer and activist who stars in the popular Netflix show, "Orange is the New Black."  She is producing a documentary about McDonald called "Free CeCe." We also speak to Alisha Williams, staff attorney with the Sylvia Rivera Law Project. 

Michel Martin: Michael Dunn And Miami Dolphins Show It's Time To Step Up

Janet Mock Talks Transgender Awareness on The Colbert Report

Colbert Repor t
"Redefining Realness" author Janet Mock expands on her heated interview with Piers Morgan and the challenges facing the transgender community.

Untold History: More Than A Quarter of U.S. Presidents Were Involved in Slavery, Human Trafficking

Democracy Now
As the country marks Presidents' Day, we turn to an aspect of U.S. history that is often missed: the complicity of American presidents with slavery. "More than one in four U.S. presidents were involved in human trafficking and slavery. These presidents bought, sold and bred enslaved people for profit. Of the 12 presidents who were enslavers, more than half kept people in bondage at the White House," writes historian Clarence Lusane in his most recent article, "Missing From Presidents' Day: The People They Enslaved."

Film Trailer: 'The Hip-Hop Fellow' (dir. Kenneth Price)

PriceFilms
The Hip-Hop Fellow is a 78 minute documentary following Grammy Award winning producer 9th Wonder's tenure at Harvard University as he teaches 'The Standards of Hip-Hop' course, conducts research for his thesis and explores hip-hop's history, culture and role in academia. The film centers on the emerging significance of incorporating hip-hop studies into the academy and spotlights the scholars and musicians at the forefront of preserving 40 years of hip-hop culture.
Interviewees include Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Kendrick Lamar, Young Guru, Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, Phonte, Dr. Marcyliena Morgan, Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Ab-Soul, Rapper Big Pooh & DJ Premier.

Left of Black S4:E20: The Divided Mind of the Black Church

Left of Black S4:E20:  The Divided Mind of the Black Church

Left of Black host and Duke University Professor Mark Anthony Neal is joined via Skype by Pastor Raphael G. Warnock,  Senior Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Churchin Atlanta and the author of The Divided Mind of the Black Church: Theology, Piety, and Public Witness (NYU Press).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.
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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: @LeftofBlackFollow Mark Anthony Neal on Twitter: @NewBlackMan Follow Rapahel G. Warnock on Twitter: @RaphaelWarnock

New Book: The Cultural Impact of Kanye West (ed. Julius Bailey)

New Book: The Cultural Impact of Kanye West (ed. Julius Bailey)Palgrave Macmillan, 3/6/2014
The ability of popular art to offer societal critiques and challenge received ideas has been recognized throughout history. Through rap and hip-hop, composers, singers, and entertainers have recently provided a voice questioning and challenging the sanctioned view of the times. This book offers an in-depth reading of the works and cultural impact of Kanye West. Looking at the moral and social implications of West's words, images, and music in the broader context of Western civilization's preconceived ideas, the contributors consider how West both challenges religious and moral norms and propagates them.
Table of Contents 
Foreword; Davey D

Preface ; Julius Bailey

PART I: REVISITING THE PHARMAKON: ARTISTIC GIFTS/HUMAN COMPLEXITIES

1. Now I Ain't Saying He's a 'Crate Digger': Kanye West and the Soul Archive; Mark Anthony Neal
2. Kanye West: Asterisk Genius?; Akil Houston
3. Afrofuturism: The Visual Imagery of Kanye West; Reynaldo Anderson and John Jennings 

4. You got Kanyed: Seen But Not Heard; David J. Leonard 

5. 'An Examination of the Kanye West Higher Education Trilogy; Heidi R. Lewis 


PART II: UNPACKING HETERO-NORMATIVITY AND COMPLICATING RACE AND GENDER

6. 'By Any Means Necessary': Kanye West and the Hypermasculine Construct; Sha'Dawn Battle 

7. Kanye West's Sonic Cosmopolitanism; Regina Bradley 

8. 'Hard to Get Straight' Kanye West, Masculine Anxiety, Dis-identification; Tim'm West

9. You Can't Stand the Nigger I See!: Kanye West's Analysis of Anti-Black Death; Tommy Curry 


PART III: THEORIZING THE AESTHETIC, THE POLITICAL, AND THE EXISTENTIAL
10. When Apollo and Dionysus Clash: A Nietzschean perspective on the work of Kanye West"; Julius Bailey

11. The God of the New Slaves or Slave to a Religion and a God?; Monica Miller

12. Trimalchio From Chicago: Flashing Lights & The Great Kanye in West Egg; A.D. Carson

13. Confidently (Non)cognizant of Neoliberalism: Kanye West and the Interruption of Taylor Swift; Nick Krebs

14. Kanye Omari West: Visions of Modernity; Dawn Boeck

Advance Praise
"Provocateur, egotist, sage, and artist, no figure in the past decade of popular culture has reflected and defined the zeitgeist better than Kanye West. This collection lays bare the tangle of complexities and contradictions that have made the artist and the art indispensable to our era and proves that if game recognizes game, wisdom does too." 
-Jelani Cobb, author of The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama & the Paradox of Progress

"If Julius Bailey was a song, he would be that surprise banger DJ Red Alert drops around one in the morning as the party is at its peak. He is humbly one part scholar and two parts philosopher, yet all hip hop. Respected for his integrity as a cultural critic and archivist, it's no surprise that like a master beat maker finding the perfect sample, he was ahead of the curve ball when he proposed to explore the cultural impact of Kanye West . . . but right on time." 
- Toni Blackman, US Hip Hop Ambassador

"The Cultural Impact of Kanye West is a much-needed addition in today's diluted hip hop cultural criticism. By deeming West, his chameleon persona and iconic brand worthy of scholarly examination, this book takes us on a philosophical odyssey like no other in the modern academy." 
- Rahiel Tesfamariam, founder and editor-in-chief, Urban Cusp
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Julius Bailey is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at Wittenberg University, USA. He is the editor of Jay-Z: Essays on Hip Hop's Philosopher King (2011) and author of Philosophy and Hip-Hop: Ruminations on Postmodern Cultural Form (2014) and numerous articles on hip-hop pedagogy and social justice issues.

Brittney Cooper of Crunk Feminist Collective Talks 'Love' with Kiese Laymon

Crunk Feminist Collective
CFC discusses the politics of love for our annual love series. You can check out more of Kiese Laymon's work here :http://kieselaymon.com. His two books are Long Division: A Novel and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America: Essays.

Between the Lines: Rebecca Walker Reads from Her Latest 'Ade: A Love Story'

Schomburg Center
Rebecca Walker is joined by writer and editor Veronica Chambers, for a conversation about her new book, Ade—a transcendent love story turned tale of survival.