Mark Anthony Neal's Blog, page 955

CBC Radio: Portraying Nina Simone

(Paul Bergen/Redferns) the current with Anna Maria Tremonti | CBC Radio 
Portraying Nina Simone in a New Biopic
Zoe Saldana caused no controversy when she played a blue-skinned alien in Avatar. But her skin colour is sure an issue in her latest project. Some people think she's not dark enough to portray the singer Nina Simone. We examine the issue of light-washing, and whether the outrage being expressed over the casting for the Nina Simone movie might be enough to change things. 
Guests Include:
Simone Kelly is a singer, songwriter, performer and the daughter of Nina Simone. She's concerned about the film's casting. She joined us from Miami.  
Camille Charles is the chair of Africana Studies at the University of Pennsylvania and Yaba Blay is an Africana Studies scholar and the author of One Drop: Shifting the Lens on Race . They were both in Philadelphia.
Listen HERE    

Ruby Dee reads from 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'

GreeneSpaceNY  After 75 years, Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, still resonates in the hearts and minds of contemporary audiences, but it had particular significance for black women writers and artists who were working at the time of its rediscovery. The Greene Space convened three luminaries who are all intimately connected to the novel -- Alice Walker, Sonia Sanchez and Ruby Dee -- to share their stories and describe how they saw Janie and Zora's horizons on their own journeys. Zora Neale Hurston's niece Lucy Anne Hurston, author of Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston, served as the evening's moderator.

Here, the legendary Ruby Dee reads her favorite excerpt from Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Professor Christopher Emdin @ TEDxNYED

TEDxTalks  Christopher Emdin is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University, where he also serves as Director of Secondary School Initiatives at the Urban Science Education Center. He is author of the book, Urban Science Education for the Hip-Hop Generation, and also a columnist for the Huffington Post, where he writes the "Emdin 5″ series. Dr. Emdin holds a Ph.D. in Urban Education with a concentration in Mathematics, Science and Technology, Masters degrees in both Natural Sciences, and Education Administration, and Bachelors degrees in Physical Anthropology, Biology, and Chemistry.

Dr. Emdin has coauthored proposals to start New York City Public Schools, taught middle school mathematics and general science, and high school physics, and chemistry. He has also been a researcher on many NSF funded research projects in mathematics and science education.

Dr. Emdin was recently awarded the "Best paper for Innovation in Teaching" by the The Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE) and was named "Groundbreaking Educator" by Arrive Magazine. He was also awarded the Phi Delta Kappa (PDK) Outstanding Dissertation and Emerging Leader Awards.

His research focuses on issues of race, class, and diversity in urban science classrooms, the use of new theoretical frameworks to transform education, and urban school reform. Dr. Emdin researches, consults, and delivers speeches on various issues in schools such as science technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, urban education, school and classroom climate, fostering dialogue in schools, and student engagement.

He is a noted public speaker on issues such as the Obama Effect on Urban Education, Hip-hop culture and education, improving STEM education, and various educational and socio-political issues related to urban youth of color.

Sonia Sanchez on Learning the Legacy of Zora Neale Hurston

GreeneSpaceNY  After 75 years, Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, still resonates in the hearts and minds of contemporary audiences, but it had particular significance for black women writers and artists who were working at the time of its rediscovery. The Greene Space convened three luminaries who are all intimately connected to the novel -- Alice Walker, Sonia Sanchez and Ruby Dee -- to share their stories and describe how they saw Janie and Zora's horizons on their own journeys. Zora Neale Hurston's niece Lucy Anne Hurston, author of Speak, So You Can Speak Again: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston, served as the evening's moderator.

Here, Sonia Sanchez discusses her beginnings as a writer and poet, and her discovery of Zora's work.

Ill Doctrine: The Tale of the Tapes

How Mitt Romney’s 47 Percenter drama restored my faith in humanity.

:@IssaRae Presents - "Roomieloverfriends" | Episode 03

actingrl112

Episode 3: "Cold Busted" - Tamiko puts herself out there...way out there.

"Roomieloverfriends" is a BLACK&SEXY.TV production (http://youtube.com/blackandsexytv)

50 Cent Discusses Jay Z & the Death of Chris Lighty with Marc Lamont Hill

HuffPostLive  50 Cent chats with Marc Lamont Hill about assuming too much responsibility with G-Unit, his thoughts on Jay-Z's career and his inability to understand the recent death of manager Chris Lighty.

New Episode of 'Stereotypes': "A Woman's World?"

i am OTHER  Pharrell Williams and StereoTypes host Ryan Hall speak to men and women on the street about what a woman's role is in today's society and in politics. One woman goes toe-to-toe with Pharrell.

Pictures, Progress and Raising Black Daughters in the Obama Era on the September 24th Left of Black

Pictures, Progress and Raising Black Daughters in the Obama Era on the September 24th Left of Black
One of the most endearing images from the recent Democratic National Convention was the photo of President Barack Obamaand his daughters Sasha and Malia, as they sat on a couch watching the First Lady, Michelle Obama, deliver her convention address.  Whether this was a photo that captured the family in a moment of relaxation or one that was staged to project the closeness of the First Family Obama (or both), the photo elicited pride in President Obama’s supporters, particularly his Black supporters.
Photography has long been a means in which Black citizens have attempted to lay a claim on citizenship, patriotism, respectability and the fitness of the “race” for leadership.  The role of early photography and notions of Black progress are the themes of Pictures and Progress: Early Photography and the Making of African American Identity (Duke University Press), a new book edited by Duke University Professor Maurice Wallace and Shawn Michelle Smith.
Professor Wallace joins host Mark Anthony Nealin the Left of Black studios in the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University in a wide ranging conversation about the new book, raising Black daughters in the Obama era and the politics of “Professorial Style” in the contemporary academy.
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Left of Black airs at 1:30 p.m. (EST) on Mondays on the Ustream channel: http://tinyurl.com/LeftofBlack . Viewers are invited to participate in a Twitter conversation with Neal and featured guests while the show airs using hash tags #LeftofBlack or #dukelive. 
Left of Black is recorded and produced at the John Hope Franklin Center of International and Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University.
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Follow Left of Black on Twitter: @LeftofBlackFollow Mark Anthony Neal on Twitter: @NewBlackManFollow Maurice Wallace on Twitter: @mauricewllc

Troy Davis One Year Later: Execution Fuels National Movement to Abolish Death Penalty

Democracy Now 
We speak with three people who joined us for our special live broadcast on the night Troy Davis was executed in Jackson, Georgia, including his sister, Kimberly Davis. "This is a tough time both for me and my family, but as my brother said, he always wanted us to continue the fight and to keep the faith, and that's what we've been doing," Kimberly Davis says. As Texas executed its eighth prisoner of the year on Thursday, Californians are set to vote this November on abolishing capital punishment. We discuss the legacy of Troy Davis and how his case has fueled the anti-death penalty movement with NAACP President Benjamin Jealous and Laura Moye of Amnesty International USA. "We know that Troy Davis was not the first person who had not killed anybody to be put to death in this country, and he won't be the last," Jealous says. Moye also gives us an update on the case of Missouri death-row prisoner Reggie Clemons, whom many are comparing to Troy Davis.